8 ms·

If I set a conversation length limit though it prevents my ability to search back through my history, which is the feature I'd like to preserve. I value that hi

If I set a conversation length limit though it prevents my ability to search back through my history, which is the feature I'd like to preserve. I value that history, it's useful to me. My ideal solution would be to export any message older than a month to an archive on my NAS, ideally in a format that the app could search on request. Keep my history, keep the on-device space nice and small. I take advantage of the Android backup feature, and the backup syncs over to my NAS via SyncThing automatically, but that's only useful for restoring a brand new phone up to the latest state.

godelski 4y ago
> My ideal solution would be to export any message older than a month to an archive on my NAS I'm confused at what is stopping you from doing this? > ideally in a format that the app could search on request. Are you not able to import these backups into the desktop client? IIRC it is just reading from a file structure. I don't see why a small script couldn't resolve this. Obviously you wouldn't be able to search on your phone, but you said you didn't want that data on your phone anyways. If you did want to search on your phone from your computer's storage, I think you're asking way too much of them (and in danger of asking them to store data for you, which they never will do). But this is hacker news, and I don't see why you can't hack together that tool in a weekend. Probably just a few beers on a Friday is enough for it tbh.
- deleted 4y ago
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- daedalus_j 4y ago
  > I'm confused at what is stopping you from doing this? As far as I know the backup is encrypted. > Are you not able to import these backups into the desktop client? No, the desktop client is not standalone, and ONLY syncs with the a phone to get content. Moreover, if you don't use the client for a period (2-3 weeks in my experience?) it de-syncs that desktop client. Re-connecting that desktop to your phone will only sync messages starting as-of the connection, so there's no way to get the desktop app to pull your whole history. (This is another gripe I have about their sacrifice of actual usability for security that only helps a few very specific use-cases.) You're probably rigth about hacking something together. Someone has created a library [0] allegedly for decoding the backup files. Friday night is D&D night though, so I haven't had the chance. :-) [0] https://github.com/pajowu/signal-backup-decode https://github.com/pajowu/signal-backup-decode
  - godelski 4y ago
    I was more thinking to port chats from your phone to the desktop. The desktop client is on the NAS and serves as the "storage" where you can search your full backup. I would guess there would be a more difficult solution where you could hack the phone app to sync all data instead of just when your desktop connects. So that solution might take more than just a Saturday night ;) I agree that there aren't really any great solutions. But the alternative is that Signal stores your data. I think this would make a lot of users very upset and compromise part of Signal's core mission.
    - daedalus_j 4y ago
      Agree, I don't want them storing anything. This is one area where, and I know what you're going to say, but Matrix actually does really well. My data, on my server, in my house, not tied to any specific single device I own but distributed across several and backed up in an encrypted manner. But you've got me thinking about the data export option. Saturday is coming. Hmm...
      - godelski 4y ago
        > and I know what you're going to say, but Matrix actually does really well. I'm actually a fan of Matrix. I just see Matrix and Signal as different tools. You're probably aware of it, but if not, there is a Matrix bridge for Signal. > But you've got me thinking about the data export option. Saturday is coming. Hmm... Hey, I'm really hoping it works. Let me know how it goes! [0] https://matrix.org/docs/projects/bridge/mautrix-signal https://matrix.org/docs/projects/bridge/mautrix-signal

godelski 4y ago

> My ideal solution would be to export any message older than a month to an archive on my NAS I'm confused at what is stopping you from doing this? > ideally in a format that the app could search on request. Are you not able to import these backups into the desktop client? IIRC it is just reading from a file structure. I don't see why a small script couldn't resolve this. Obviously you wouldn't be able to search on your phone, but you said you didn't want that data on your phone anyways. If you did want to search on your phone from your computer's storage, I think you're asking way too much of them (and in danger of asking them to store data for you, which they never will do). But this is hacker news, and I don't see why you can't hack together that tool in a weekend. Probably just a few beers on a Friday is enough for it tbh.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
daedalus_j 4y ago
> I'm confused at what is stopping you from doing this? As far as I know the backup is encrypted. > Are you not able to import these backups into the desktop client? No, the desktop client is not standalone, and ONLY syncs with the a phone to get content. Moreover, if you don't use the client for a period (2-3 weeks in my experience?) it de-syncs that desktop client. Re-connecting that desktop to your phone will only sync messages starting as-of the connection, so there's no way to get the desktop app to pull your whole history. (This is another gripe I have about their sacrifice of actual usability for security that only helps a few very specific use-cases.) You're probably rigth about hacking something together. Someone has created a library [0] allegedly for decoding the backup files. Friday night is D&D night though, so I haven't had the chance. :-) [0] https://github.com/pajowu/signal-backup-decode https://github.com/pajowu/signal-backup-decode
- godelski 4y ago
  I was more thinking to port chats from your phone to the desktop. The desktop client is on the NAS and serves as the "storage" where you can search your full backup. I would guess there would be a more difficult solution where you could hack the phone app to sync all data instead of just when your desktop connects. So that solution might take more than just a Saturday night ;) I agree that there aren't really any great solutions. But the alternative is that Signal stores your data. I think this would make a lot of users very upset and compromise part of Signal's core mission.
  - daedalus_j 4y ago
    Agree, I don't want them storing anything. This is one area where, and I know what you're going to say, but Matrix actually does really well. My data, on my server, in my house, not tied to any specific single device I own but distributed across several and backed up in an encrypted manner. But you've got me thinking about the data export option. Saturday is coming. Hmm...
    - godelski 4y ago
      > and I know what you're going to say, but Matrix actually does really well. I'm actually a fan of Matrix. I just see Matrix and Signal as different tools. You're probably aware of it, but if not, there is a Matrix bridge for Signal. > But you've got me thinking about the data export option. Saturday is coming. Hmm... Hey, I'm really hoping it works. Let me know how it goes! [0] https://matrix.org/docs/projects/bridge/mautrix-signal https://matrix.org/docs/projects/bridge/mautrix-signal