5 ms·

Signal Is Up and Running

37 points by karlzt 6y ago

karlzt 6y ago
Signal is back. https://nitter.net/signalapp/status/1350595202872823809 https://nitter.net/signalapp/status/1350595202872823809
xenocratus 6y ago
I'm afraid that some people who were trying to jump over or who had done so recently had a horrible experience and might go back, especially since Whatsapp is delaying the policy now
- tobib 6y ago
  My circle almost went to Telegram over this but I was able to avoid it
  - 416chad 6y ago
    It's too bad telegram doesn't support e2ee (in a meaningful, useful way) because their client is actually quite nice.
apatheticonion 6y ago
Compared to other chat services, Signal sadly doesn't offer a feature rich/ergonomic chat platform. I am actively using it but I feel I have gone backwards in terms of user experience.
- hliyan 6y ago
  That's odd. After several years of WhatsApp use, my wife and I installed Signal yesterday. We're yet to notice any significant gap.
  - tobib 6y ago
    Stupid thing I know but I liked the per chat configurable backgrounds in WhatsApp.
    - snypher 6y ago
      This reminds me of all the engineering behind engines, suspension etc but a customer will still pick a different car because they really don't like chrome air vents. Both front and back end equally as important I guess.
  - efwfwef 6y ago
    Really? I find whatsapp light years ahead in terms of user experience. I'm a heavy user of Signal, and I'm cheering for their success, but they have a long way to go.
    - jannotti 6y ago
      Really frustrating that three consecutive comments just claim "not as good, "same", "not as good". Would it be so hard to name a particular feature that matters to you when saying Signal is lacking? Otherwise what's the point of your comment?
- 0xy 6y ago
  Neither Signal nor WhatsApp compare to Telegram in terms of client quality, reliability or customisability.
  - decrypt 6y ago
    WhatsApp/Signal and Telegram are completely different platforms. The formers focus on end-to-end encrypted conversations, while Telegram focuses on speed, functionality, and security. While I appreciate their open-source client apps and promise for offering a secure chat experience, it doesn't change that their chats (1:1 non-secret chats and group chats) are not end-to-end encrypted. WhatsApp and Signal are superior solutions in comparison. Edit to add: My point being, with their focuses (at least Signal's) being on offering end-to-end encrypted communication, it feels normal that they are not able to focus efforts on improving client experience. Hopefully something that they are able to achieve in the coming months.
    - 0xy 6y ago
      WhatsApp by default backs up your private key to the cloud. Even if you don't do this your contacts might, which means "end-to-end encryption" is only theoretical, and you have no idea whether it actually is. Telegram's secret chat keys are never backed up. It's also faster and more reliable than Signal. If E2EE is important to you, you can use secret chats.
      - decrypt 6y ago
        It's important to me that I use e2ee that can sync between devices. Signal is a natural choice for my needs.
efwfwef 6y ago
post mortem??
- decrypt 6y ago
  They hope to publish that in the coming days. Here's Moxie's tweet about it. [1] [1] https://twitter.com/moxie/status/1350651382659903488 https://twitter.com/moxie/status/1350651382659903488
jez 6y ago
Daniel Novak on Twitter posted this[1] after reading the Signal-Android commit history[2]: "I think the @signalapp apps DDoS'ed the server. Servers ran over capacity due to influx of users and started to return HTTP 508 which was not handled by the app and millions of apps started retrying the connection at once. Judging from recent commits in https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master" Surely a timely reminder for all of us: - Avoid infinite retry loops - Build jitter and exponential backoff into retry logic The code isn't terribly hard to write, but remembering to write it can be (if your HTTP client doesn't do it by default). [1] https://twitter.com/NovakDaniel/status/1350471722034745348 https://twitter.com/NovakDaniel/status/1350471722034745348 [2] https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master
Shadonototro 6y ago
While this kind of issue happen everytime when something becomes promoted all of the media, everywhere, overnight, i am glad i went with Telegram instead of signal, 24 hours downtime is huge for a messaging app

37 points by karlzt 6y ago

Signal is back. https://nitter.net/signalapp/status/1350595202872823809 https://nitter.net/signalapp/status/1350595202872823809

xenocratus 6y ago

I'm afraid that some people who were trying to jump over or who had done so recently had a horrible experience and might go back, especially since Whatsapp is delaying the policy now

tobib 6y ago
My circle almost went to Telegram over this but I was able to avoid it
- 416chad 6y ago
  It's too bad telegram doesn't support e2ee (in a meaningful, useful way) because their client is actually quite nice.

apatheticonion 6y ago

Compared to other chat services, Signal sadly doesn't offer a feature rich/ergonomic chat platform. I am actively using it but I feel I have gone backwards in terms of user experience.

hliyan 6y ago
That's odd. After several years of WhatsApp use, my wife and I installed Signal yesterday. We're yet to notice any significant gap.
- tobib 6y ago
  Stupid thing I know but I liked the per chat configurable backgrounds in WhatsApp.
  - snypher 6y ago
    This reminds me of all the engineering behind engines, suspension etc but a customer will still pick a different car because they really don't like chrome air vents. Both front and back end equally as important I guess.
- efwfwef 6y ago
  Really? I find whatsapp light years ahead in terms of user experience. I'm a heavy user of Signal, and I'm cheering for their success, but they have a long way to go.
  - jannotti 6y ago
    Really frustrating that three consecutive comments just claim "not as good, "same", "not as good". Would it be so hard to name a particular feature that matters to you when saying Signal is lacking? Otherwise what's the point of your comment?
0xy 6y ago
Neither Signal nor WhatsApp compare to Telegram in terms of client quality, reliability or customisability.
- decrypt 6y ago
  WhatsApp/Signal and Telegram are completely different platforms. The formers focus on end-to-end encrypted conversations, while Telegram focuses on speed, functionality, and security. While I appreciate their open-source client apps and promise for offering a secure chat experience, it doesn't change that their chats (1:1 non-secret chats and group chats) are not end-to-end encrypted. WhatsApp and Signal are superior solutions in comparison. Edit to add: My point being, with their focuses (at least Signal's) being on offering end-to-end encrypted communication, it feels normal that they are not able to focus efforts on improving client experience. Hopefully something that they are able to achieve in the coming months.
  - 0xy 6y ago
    WhatsApp by default backs up your private key to the cloud. Even if you don't do this your contacts might, which means "end-to-end encryption" is only theoretical, and you have no idea whether it actually is. Telegram's secret chat keys are never backed up. It's also faster and more reliable than Signal. If E2EE is important to you, you can use secret chats.
    - decrypt 6y ago
      It's important to me that I use e2ee that can sync between devices. Signal is a natural choice for my needs.

efwfwef 6y ago

post mortem??

decrypt 6y ago
They hope to publish that in the coming days. Here's Moxie's tweet about it. [1] [1] https://twitter.com/moxie/status/1350651382659903488 https://twitter.com/moxie/status/1350651382659903488

jez 6y ago

Daniel Novak on Twitter posted this[1] after reading the Signal-Android commit history[2]: "I think the @signalapp apps DDoS'ed the server. Servers ran over capacity due to influx of users and started to return HTTP 508 which was not handled by the app and millions of apps started retrying the connection at once. Judging from recent commits in https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master" Surely a timely reminder for all of us: - Avoid infinite retry loops - Build jitter and exponential backoff into retry logic The code isn't terribly hard to write, but remembering to write it can be (if your HTTP client doesn't do it by default). [1] https://twitter.com/NovakDaniel/status/1350471722034745348 https://twitter.com/NovakDaniel/status/1350471722034745348 [2] https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/commits/master

Shadonototro 6y ago

While this kind of issue happen everytime when something becomes promoted all of the media, everywhere, overnight, i am glad i went with Telegram instead of signal, 24 hours downtime is huge for a messaging app