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I have been using Signal for two years now and I love it. However I really, really hope they can work on a good backup and restore process as losing my message

I have been using Signal for two years now and I love it. However I really, really hope they can work on a good backup and restore process as losing my message history because I have to reinstall the app on my desktop[1] or have to reset my phone is a horrible experience. Just build an encrypted blob and zip it up and pop it on my iCloud or Google Drive or leave it local and let me deal with it but I need something. As my Signal use moves from just messages with friends and family to business contacts I need a reliable way to backup my messages! [1] I should state I mean losing the desktop copy as it starts "fresh" and does not import any messages from the phone. Edit: I should probably clarify I am talking about the iOS/macOS applications as these are what I use. iOS does have a migration feature but that doesn't help if your phone is lost/damaged. I need a proper backup and restore process as well as the ability to import messages from the phone to the desktop app.

unicornporn 6y ago
Not a solution for the average user, but this works: https://github.com/bepaald/signalbackup-tools https://github.com/bepaald/signalbackup-tools
- pgalvin 6y ago
  Unfortunately that’s for the Android app. Signal iOS has no way of backing up your messages, at all.
FreakyT 6y ago
Exactly! The lack of this feature is completely baffling.
- bertmuthalaly 6y ago
  On iOS now, if you’re setting up a new device, Signal will prompt you to transfer your messages from your old device. Not exactly a backup feature but it covers one use case (I don’t want to lose my chat history when I switch devices).
  - codetrotter 6y ago
    I dont use Signal myself so I’m not inclined to put in the work for that but just wanted to point out that given what you said and the fact that Signal is open source [0] it should then be possible to figure out how they do transfers and adapt that code in order to sync data from Signal on iOS onto your computer. Unless it ties into some feature of iOS itself that provides data transfer between phones in which case it will be more difficult to work out. [0]: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-iOS https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-iOS
  - saurik 6y ago
    Putting aside the complaints people have that this feature was flakey and didn't really work, this one use case isn't sufficient, as I usually switch to a new phone because my old one was destroyed... and I imagine this is the only reason people poorer than me get a new phone. Users need the ability to do non-transfer backups (which it sounds like this feature doesn't support). The reality is that my iTunes (encrypted) backup should include my chat message history. That the Signal client on iOS (and maybe even on Android, as while it has backup I think it is a bespoke backup) has decided that somehow Signal chat message history isn't something one can backup at all (much less do using the user's standard backup and restore process) is kind of ridiculous.
- AnonC 6y ago
  It won’t be baffling but appalling to see how the Signal team (moxie in particular) have responded to requests for a backup and restore feature. They’re user hostile and prefer to do things their way. On iOS, Signal has always prohibited its data from being backed up with iTunes (doesn’t matter whether your iTunes backup is encrypted and protected by a password or not). Even now there’s only a recent “transfer data” feature from one phone to another in real time.
colordrops 6y ago
This already exists in Android.
- izacus 6y ago
  Existing and being usable are not the same thing. Try to have your mom restore Signal backups after her old phone dies and you'll quickly see why.
- ngrilly 6y ago
  Yes, but it's only local, not cloud, as far as I understand.
davemtl 6y ago
Signal has a method to backup chats, at least on Android. It's under Settings > Chats and media > Chat backup. Baffling if this feature isn't available on iPhone.
- Forbo 6y ago
  As mentioned elsewhere in the discussion they now provide a way to migrate data from one iPhone to a another, but that's assuming that you have the old device still.
  - Y-bar 6y ago
    I have an old device which I have saved because the messages on it are emotionally important to me, but that device is too old to transfer to my new device.
- officeplant 6y ago
  Main problem being you don't have access to the file structure on an iphone. So you can't simply drop a backed up folder in there like you can on Android. You are stuck needing the previous device.
  - leokennis 6y ago
    Since iOS 12 or so, iPhone has a built in files app. Every app can integrate with that. So when I create a file (let’s say chat backup) in app A, I can put it in the files app. Then in app B (or app A on a new phone) I can easily open that file from the same files app.
    - tinus_hn 6y ago
      Even before that every app got a documents folder that was shared between the app and iTunes
  - pgalvin 6y ago
    iOS has had a Files app for years, locally. You could easily export an encrypted .zip from Signal and save it locally, just like how Signal on Android saves it to your internal storage. For some reason, the Signal devs won’t even acknowledge this possibility and continue to say “we can’t enable iCloud backup” - which is fair enough, but nobody is asking for that and they’re simply putting their fingers in their ears.
cesarb 6y ago
Doesn't Signal already have backup? IIRC, when enabled it once per day saves all messages (encrypted with a backup key, which you have to write down somewhere) to /sdcard/Signal, and you can then use Syncthing or something similar to copy it to a new phone. If you put that /sdcard/Signal folder there before starting Signal for the first time, it'll ask to restore from that backup. WhatsApp has an identical local backup and restore flow (except that it gets the backup key from their servers, instead of requiring you to write it down).
- saurik 6y ago
  You are using the Android client. This feature is missing in iOS.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- izacus 6y ago
  It's a backup which demands that you WRITE down a very long numeric code, then manually copy files off and then hope your family doesn't lose all of it. It's a horrible user hostile process which isn't even implemented for iOS.
  - vinay427 6y ago
    To be fair (to iOS users, not to Signal), the device transfer procedure on Android is somewhat more cumbersome as a result. iOS gets the smooth new device-to-device direct transfer of the backup while Android users need to copy the encrypted blob (~2GB for me) to the new device and enter the encryption key. Admittedly, it does still allow for more flexibility than on iOS.
    - mystcb 6y ago
      It is nice that the iOS version has that, but it a major pain say, if you are asked to reset your phone and restore from backup. The recent issue with the Apple Watch not syncing health data meant that to get anywhere I had to wipe my phone, I had no where to transfer my Signal data too, thus - all gone. It's not ideal when dealing with members of your family who really don't want to lose data, and is probably one of the few things that stops me in my own situation going over. I do understand that in some cases this is actually a feature too, so I am not discounting it - just in my case this specific reason makes it really hard to justify a move over. Just annoying that there isn't really a viable alternative anywhere at the moment :( If iOS had that same option of a encrypted blob option then that would have solved my issue with the phone restore!
izacus 6y ago
> However I really, really hope they can work on a good backup and restore process as losing my message history because I have to reinstall the app on my desktop[1] or have to reset my phone is a horrible experience. I've tried to report bugs and talk to developers about this but there's one fundamental problem here - the Signal team fundamentally does not value chat history the same way a lot of people do. They think that destroying all chats is a reasonable thing to do when things get hard - which is the exact opposite to many WhatsApp users, which deeply value images and texts sent to them on that platform. As such, they've been very very resistant at making the backup process for Signal easy for people. This is also why deskop app regularly happily just trashes all its state and fails to resync. This is why they will never let you make the backup process easy and portable. It's not a technical issue - they just think you're wrong when you want to keep your conversations. Unfortunately that's can also be a significantly bigger issue than privacy for a lot of people.
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  I doubt they think you are wrong - they just don't value it themselves personally, and lack empathy for their users who have different values.
  - jstummbillig 6y ago
    This right here is the definition of a technicality -- so much so, that (on second thought) I wonder if this was meant to be tongue in cheek. If so, bravo.
  - simias 6y ago
    Signal's devs, for better or worse, are very opinionated. If you don't do it moxie's way then you're doing it wrong. I was once shut down on HN by the Signal posse because I said that I'd like to have a Signal client library that I could use to write my own custom lightweight client. Apparently I'm not worthy and clearly incapable of writing secure code. Meanwhile I have to use that crappy, gigantic official electron app that cost them at least one serious security vulnerability in the past (JS injection, if memory serves). If you want to make a nerdy niche chat client that's probably a good mindset, but if you hope to appeal to the masses you'll have to put some water in your wine eventually. I managed to convince a couple of my groups to migrate away from WhatsApp lately, but unfortunately always towards Telegram. Signal is just not there yet if you want a drop-in replacement.
jacoblambda 6y ago
I also use Signal but the thing that kills me about it is the lack of RCS support. I love everything on the Signal side but there just is not a realistic way to get people to migrate to it unless they can seamlessly transfer over from Google Messages or the other OEM message apps.
carderne 6y ago
It's super hacky but this [0] bit of code I adapted from some other hacky code will let you export to MarkDown/HTML. No hope of getting the messages back on my phone, but at least I have an archive of messages and media. [0] https://github.com/carderne/signal-export https://github.com/carderne/signal-export
Evidlo 6y ago
Matrix has this. You can save your recovery key somewhere to recover your chats on a brand new device. You can actually just use another logged-in device (e.g. your desktop) to recover your chats by scanning a QR code to trust the new device. Recovery key is just in case this isn't an option.
- WC3w6pXxgGd 6y ago
  I've always wondered why Matrix and Riot never blew up in popularity.
parliament32 6y ago
Why would you want this? You don't save history for other types of chats, like in person conversations or phone calls (even though you could, with your phone recording in your pocket or call recorder apps). If something important comes up, like an address or recipe, copy/paste it into your notes app. Otherwise set your messages to expire after a month and be done with it. I used to be a message-hoarder too, but I recently realized it was all utterly useless and the cost of maintaining and transferring that history around everywhere wasn't worth the twice-a-year I actually wanted to search for something. Signal isn't email.
- tonyztan 6y ago
  Exactly. Keeping message history is a liability. There is no need to keep all old messages beyond one week. If there is something specific worth saving, there are apps for taking/pasting notes.
  - FalconSensei 6y ago
    > There is no need to keep all old messages beyond one week. Based on what use case? Many times I searched old personal and group chats, to find what I wanted in a message from 1 year before
  - benhurmarcel 6y ago
    Well for example here Whatsapp is the main communication medium with your landlord. It's useful to keep that full communication history in case any disagreement comes up.
  - pgalvin 6y ago
    I can think of many reasons full message history is valuable. - a friend says something that you don’t realise is important until months later and need to reference - a friend or partner dies and you wish to revisit old times by reading your messages - a couple wish to nostalgically re-read random conversations from their early time together - a group chat for work or students shares valuable resources that you wish to reference, but is impractical to make copies of the dozens of messages - legal reasons if somebody accused you of saying or doing something you did not do - you’re going to an address (for example) that somebody sent you a week prior, but you forgot to save it People are forgetful, people are emotional and nostalgic, and people are argumentative. All very good reasons for a chat history. Disappearing messages are simply always opt-in precisely because most people do not want it.
wcerfgba 6y ago
I'd at least settle for having the messages sync properly between my devices. When I used Signal ~1 year ago on Linux desktop and Android phone, if I had it open on my mobile I would get the messages there, and then if I later opened the desktop client I didn't get the same messages there. Sometimes I purposefully move from phone to desktop because _typing on a small touchscreen sucks_ and I want to type on a keyboard. But fragmenting the message history just ruined usability for me. Hopefully it is better now.
DavidSJ 6y ago
Exactly this. I wanted to use Signal as my primary messenger. I really did. But I had a ton of sync problems between my phone and my desktop client, tried to report them, and the developers didn’t care. Then one day I got a new phone and discovered I’d lost my old Signal identity and there was no way to export my messages from my old phone. And the developers didn’t care about that, either. They always had some excuse for why it was the “right” behavior and the user’s fault. For example: clients just can’t sync more than 1000 messages, and if you go this long without using your desktop client, well, you’re out of luck, and you should have realized this. I just can’t recommend a platform on which the developers don’t care about usability.
skrowl 6y ago
Multiple devices / reinstall works flawlessly on Telegram. I can't walk my mom through the archaic Signal backup/restore all the time.
diebeforei485 6y ago
Agreed. I don't understand why iCloud backup is not a thing. When I broke my phone and needed a replacement, I lost all my groups. It's not even the message history I care about. It's the fact that people sent me texts in the group while having no idea I was no longer receiving them. If there was a way to back up just the group memberships, that would be great.
jl6 6y ago
Yeah I just looked into switching to Signal away from WhatsApp after the recent data sharing announcement - but not being able to export/archive messages is a dealbreaking misfeature. I will not enter important data into any system that I cannot get it out of.
- fsflover 6y ago
  Telegram solves it and at least the client is open source. Matrix is less developed, but it’s distributed, so I choose it.
dundarious 6y ago
The lack of options to backup and restore from Android to iPhone was extremely frustrating. I convinced my mother to use Signal as her default SMS app on Android, and when I bought her an iPhone, all her SMSs were lost (except to open up the old device). Not the worst problem in the world, but it leaves a very nasty taste. Never mind that transitioning between iPhones (we almost bought her a new phone this year) has the same problem. That this is not supported invalidates Signal as a replacement for SMS or Whatsapp for many many non-technical users.
- Frondo 6y ago
  For this and a few other problems I ran into with Signal early in its lifespan -- problems that burned not just me but people I persuaded to adopt it -- I'll never put my neck out for this software again. Reliability and a lack of surprises are the absolute most important features for the 21st century extension of the good ol' Plain Old Telephone Service, and it's sad and frustrating that anyone delivered chat software without getting that first.
forgotmypw17 6y ago
>Just build an encrypted blob and zip it up Better yet, how about a zip of text files?
zapita 6y ago
Same here. I used Signal a lot. Then it started crashing and I lost all my message history.

unicornporn 6y ago

Not a solution for the average user, but this works: https://github.com/bepaald/signalbackup-tools https://github.com/bepaald/signalbackup-tools

pgalvin 6y ago
Unfortunately that’s for the Android app. Signal iOS has no way of backing up your messages, at all.

FreakyT 6y ago

Exactly! The lack of this feature is completely baffling.

bertmuthalaly 6y ago
On iOS now, if you’re setting up a new device, Signal will prompt you to transfer your messages from your old device. Not exactly a backup feature but it covers one use case (I don’t want to lose my chat history when I switch devices).
- codetrotter 6y ago
  I dont use Signal myself so I’m not inclined to put in the work for that but just wanted to point out that given what you said and the fact that Signal is open source [0] it should then be possible to figure out how they do transfers and adapt that code in order to sync data from Signal on iOS onto your computer. Unless it ties into some feature of iOS itself that provides data transfer between phones in which case it will be more difficult to work out. [0]: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-iOS https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-iOS
- saurik 6y ago
  Putting aside the complaints people have that this feature was flakey and didn't really work, this one use case isn't sufficient, as I usually switch to a new phone because my old one was destroyed... and I imagine this is the only reason people poorer than me get a new phone. Users need the ability to do non-transfer backups (which it sounds like this feature doesn't support). The reality is that my iTunes (encrypted) backup should include my chat message history. That the Signal client on iOS (and maybe even on Android, as while it has backup I think it is a bespoke backup) has decided that somehow Signal chat message history isn't something one can backup at all (much less do using the user's standard backup and restore process) is kind of ridiculous.
AnonC 6y ago
It won’t be baffling but appalling to see how the Signal team (moxie in particular) have responded to requests for a backup and restore feature. They’re user hostile and prefer to do things their way. On iOS, Signal has always prohibited its data from being backed up with iTunes (doesn’t matter whether your iTunes backup is encrypted and protected by a password or not). Even now there’s only a recent “transfer data” feature from one phone to another in real time.

colordrops 6y ago

This already exists in Android.

izacus 6y ago
Existing and being usable are not the same thing. Try to have your mom restore Signal backups after her old phone dies and you'll quickly see why.
ngrilly 6y ago
Yes, but it's only local, not cloud, as far as I understand.

davemtl 6y ago

Signal has a method to backup chats, at least on Android. It's under Settings > Chats and media > Chat backup. Baffling if this feature isn't available on iPhone.

Forbo 6y ago
As mentioned elsewhere in the discussion they now provide a way to migrate data from one iPhone to a another, but that's assuming that you have the old device still.
- Y-bar 6y ago
  I have an old device which I have saved because the messages on it are emotionally important to me, but that device is too old to transfer to my new device.
officeplant 6y ago
Main problem being you don't have access to the file structure on an iphone. So you can't simply drop a backed up folder in there like you can on Android. You are stuck needing the previous device.
- leokennis 6y ago
  Since iOS 12 or so, iPhone has a built in files app. Every app can integrate with that. So when I create a file (let’s say chat backup) in app A, I can put it in the files app. Then in app B (or app A on a new phone) I can easily open that file from the same files app.
  - tinus_hn 6y ago
    Even before that every app got a documents folder that was shared between the app and iTunes
- pgalvin 6y ago
  iOS has had a Files app for years, locally. You could easily export an encrypted .zip from Signal and save it locally, just like how Signal on Android saves it to your internal storage. For some reason, the Signal devs won’t even acknowledge this possibility and continue to say “we can’t enable iCloud backup” - which is fair enough, but nobody is asking for that and they’re simply putting their fingers in their ears.

cesarb 6y ago

Doesn't Signal already have backup? IIRC, when enabled it once per day saves all messages (encrypted with a backup key, which you have to write down somewhere) to /sdcard/Signal, and you can then use Syncthing or something similar to copy it to a new phone. If you put that /sdcard/Signal folder there before starting Signal for the first time, it'll ask to restore from that backup. WhatsApp has an identical local backup and restore flow (except that it gets the backup key from their servers, instead of requiring you to write it down).

saurik 6y ago
You are using the Android client. This feature is missing in iOS.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
izacus 6y ago
It's a backup which demands that you WRITE down a very long numeric code, then manually copy files off and then hope your family doesn't lose all of it. It's a horrible user hostile process which isn't even implemented for iOS.
- vinay427 6y ago
  To be fair (to iOS users, not to Signal), the device transfer procedure on Android is somewhat more cumbersome as a result. iOS gets the smooth new device-to-device direct transfer of the backup while Android users need to copy the encrypted blob (~2GB for me) to the new device and enter the encryption key. Admittedly, it does still allow for more flexibility than on iOS.
  - mystcb 6y ago
    It is nice that the iOS version has that, but it a major pain say, if you are asked to reset your phone and restore from backup. The recent issue with the Apple Watch not syncing health data meant that to get anywhere I had to wipe my phone, I had no where to transfer my Signal data too, thus - all gone. It's not ideal when dealing with members of your family who really don't want to lose data, and is probably one of the few things that stops me in my own situation going over. I do understand that in some cases this is actually a feature too, so I am not discounting it - just in my case this specific reason makes it really hard to justify a move over. Just annoying that there isn't really a viable alternative anywhere at the moment :( If iOS had that same option of a encrypted blob option then that would have solved my issue with the phone restore!

izacus 6y ago

> However I really, really hope they can work on a good backup and restore process as losing my message history because I have to reinstall the app on my desktop[1] or have to reset my phone is a horrible experience. I've tried to report bugs and talk to developers about this but there's one fundamental problem here - the Signal team fundamentally does not value chat history the same way a lot of people do. They think that destroying all chats is a reasonable thing to do when things get hard - which is the exact opposite to many WhatsApp users, which deeply value images and texts sent to them on that platform. As such, they've been very very resistant at making the backup process for Signal easy for people. This is also why deskop app regularly happily just trashes all its state and fails to resync. This is why they will never let you make the backup process easy and portable. It's not a technical issue - they just think you're wrong when you want to keep your conversations. Unfortunately that's can also be a significantly bigger issue than privacy for a lot of people.

madeofpalk 6y ago
I doubt they think you are wrong - they just don't value it themselves personally, and lack empathy for their users who have different values.
- jstummbillig 6y ago
  This right here is the definition of a technicality -- so much so, that (on second thought) I wonder if this was meant to be tongue in cheek. If so, bravo.
- simias 6y ago
  Signal's devs, for better or worse, are very opinionated. If you don't do it moxie's way then you're doing it wrong. I was once shut down on HN by the Signal posse because I said that I'd like to have a Signal client library that I could use to write my own custom lightweight client. Apparently I'm not worthy and clearly incapable of writing secure code. Meanwhile I have to use that crappy, gigantic official electron app that cost them at least one serious security vulnerability in the past (JS injection, if memory serves). If you want to make a nerdy niche chat client that's probably a good mindset, but if you hope to appeal to the masses you'll have to put some water in your wine eventually. I managed to convince a couple of my groups to migrate away from WhatsApp lately, but unfortunately always towards Telegram. Signal is just not there yet if you want a drop-in replacement.

jacoblambda 6y ago

I also use Signal but the thing that kills me about it is the lack of RCS support. I love everything on the Signal side but there just is not a realistic way to get people to migrate to it unless they can seamlessly transfer over from Google Messages or the other OEM message apps.

carderne 6y ago

It's super hacky but this [0] bit of code I adapted from some other hacky code will let you export to MarkDown/HTML. No hope of getting the messages back on my phone, but at least I have an archive of messages and media. [0] https://github.com/carderne/signal-export https://github.com/carderne/signal-export

Evidlo 6y ago

Matrix has this. You can save your recovery key somewhere to recover your chats on a brand new device. You can actually just use another logged-in device (e.g. your desktop) to recover your chats by scanning a QR code to trust the new device. Recovery key is just in case this isn't an option.

WC3w6pXxgGd 6y ago
I've always wondered why Matrix and Riot never blew up in popularity.

parliament32 6y ago

Why would you want this? You don't save history for other types of chats, like in person conversations or phone calls (even though you could, with your phone recording in your pocket or call recorder apps). If something important comes up, like an address or recipe, copy/paste it into your notes app. Otherwise set your messages to expire after a month and be done with it. I used to be a message-hoarder too, but I recently realized it was all utterly useless and the cost of maintaining and transferring that history around everywhere wasn't worth the twice-a-year I actually wanted to search for something. Signal isn't email.

tonyztan 6y ago
Exactly. Keeping message history is a liability. There is no need to keep all old messages beyond one week. If there is something specific worth saving, there are apps for taking/pasting notes.
- FalconSensei 6y ago
  > There is no need to keep all old messages beyond one week. Based on what use case? Many times I searched old personal and group chats, to find what I wanted in a message from 1 year before
- benhurmarcel 6y ago
  Well for example here Whatsapp is the main communication medium with your landlord. It's useful to keep that full communication history in case any disagreement comes up.
- pgalvin 6y ago
  I can think of many reasons full message history is valuable. - a friend says something that you don’t realise is important until months later and need to reference - a friend or partner dies and you wish to revisit old times by reading your messages - a couple wish to nostalgically re-read random conversations from their early time together - a group chat for work or students shares valuable resources that you wish to reference, but is impractical to make copies of the dozens of messages - legal reasons if somebody accused you of saying or doing something you did not do - you’re going to an address (for example) that somebody sent you a week prior, but you forgot to save it People are forgetful, people are emotional and nostalgic, and people are argumentative. All very good reasons for a chat history. Disappearing messages are simply always opt-in precisely because most people do not want it.

wcerfgba 6y ago

I'd at least settle for having the messages sync properly between my devices. When I used Signal ~1 year ago on Linux desktop and Android phone, if I had it open on my mobile I would get the messages there, and then if I later opened the desktop client I didn't get the same messages there. Sometimes I purposefully move from phone to desktop because _typing on a small touchscreen sucks_ and I want to type on a keyboard. But fragmenting the message history just ruined usability for me. Hopefully it is better now.

DavidSJ 6y ago

Exactly this. I wanted to use Signal as my primary messenger. I really did. But I had a ton of sync problems between my phone and my desktop client, tried to report them, and the developers didn’t care. Then one day I got a new phone and discovered I’d lost my old Signal identity and there was no way to export my messages from my old phone. And the developers didn’t care about that, either. They always had some excuse for why it was the “right” behavior and the user’s fault. For example: clients just can’t sync more than 1000 messages, and if you go this long without using your desktop client, well, you’re out of luck, and you should have realized this. I just can’t recommend a platform on which the developers don’t care about usability.

skrowl 6y ago

Multiple devices / reinstall works flawlessly on Telegram. I can't walk my mom through the archaic Signal backup/restore all the time.

diebeforei485 6y ago

Agreed. I don't understand why iCloud backup is not a thing. When I broke my phone and needed a replacement, I lost all my groups. It's not even the message history I care about. It's the fact that people sent me texts in the group while having no idea I was no longer receiving them. If there was a way to back up just the group memberships, that would be great.

jl6 6y ago

Yeah I just looked into switching to Signal away from WhatsApp after the recent data sharing announcement - but not being able to export/archive messages is a dealbreaking misfeature. I will not enter important data into any system that I cannot get it out of.

fsflover 6y ago
Telegram solves it and at least the client is open source. Matrix is less developed, but it’s distributed, so I choose it.

dundarious 6y ago

The lack of options to backup and restore from Android to iPhone was extremely frustrating. I convinced my mother to use Signal as her default SMS app on Android, and when I bought her an iPhone, all her SMSs were lost (except to open up the old device). Not the worst problem in the world, but it leaves a very nasty taste. Never mind that transitioning between iPhones (we almost bought her a new phone this year) has the same problem. That this is not supported invalidates Signal as a replacement for SMS or Whatsapp for many many non-technical users.

Frondo 6y ago
For this and a few other problems I ran into with Signal early in its lifespan -- problems that burned not just me but people I persuaded to adopt it -- I'll never put my neck out for this software again. Reliability and a lack of surprises are the absolute most important features for the 21st century extension of the good ol' Plain Old Telephone Service, and it's sad and frustrating that anyone delivered chat software without getting that first.

forgotmypw17 6y ago

>Just build an encrypted blob and zip it up Better yet, how about a zip of text files?

zapita 6y ago

Same here. I used Signal a lot. Then it started crashing and I lost all my message history.