3 ms·

I'm confused, what's stopping you from using one of the backup services you already have on the file after it's done? Since Signal would backup to a file in you

by nar001 1y ago

I'm confused, what's stopping you from using one of the backup services you already have on the file after it's done? Since Signal would backup to a file in your phone? Couldn't you just point your service to it and automatically sync every day for example?

hackmiester 1y ago
Well, just to be clear, signal for iOS did not support ANY backup before this.
daveoc64 1y ago
The existing backup feature on Android doesn't do an incremental backup. I just ran a backup, and it was 850MB. So having my phone upload something of that size every day would be a bit annoying. Most of the major cloud storage platforms don't offer sync on Android. It's not really a good fit for how the filesystem is used by Android apps. I currently only do a Signal backup every few months (when I remember), and manually upload it to OneDrive. I'm not going to pay for their new service - I already pay for too many storage services.
- styanax 1y ago
  > I just ran a backup, and it was 850MB. So having my phone upload something of that size every day would be a bit annoying It may be inconvenient but this can be solved by using the features in the app to review your storage and save those thousands of images/audio/file sequestered inside the app out to the filesystem, then delete them from the app. You're not backing up "chats" you're backing up your image library being stored inside a chat app. (yes I get the argument that you need to store them "in context" so save those and do the rest. there's no way 100% of that 850MB is "must have saved inside the app in chats" data, I'll bet $10 USD on it)
  - daveoc64 1y ago
    Reducing the size of the backup would solve one problem, but it's really the lack of automation of the process that's the annoying part.
    - styanax 1y ago
      We're partially there, under Storage is an option allowing you to set how long to keep messages and I've set mine to one year. Possible: forever (default), 1y, 6mo, 30d - and it works, my old chat messages (not the whole chat, just individuals) are properly culled over time. Edit: in context, Google Messages has none of these features and I have friends still married to Google Voice who send me tons of pics. Culling SMS requires using a third party tool to export and re-import etc. leagues behind Signal. None of it's backed up without the same third party tools as well and no built in image management.

by nar001 1y ago

hackmiester 1y ago

Well, just to be clear, signal for iOS did not support ANY backup before this.

daveoc64 1y ago

The existing backup feature on Android doesn't do an incremental backup. I just ran a backup, and it was 850MB. So having my phone upload something of that size every day would be a bit annoying. Most of the major cloud storage platforms don't offer sync on Android. It's not really a good fit for how the filesystem is used by Android apps. I currently only do a Signal backup every few months (when I remember), and manually upload it to OneDrive. I'm not going to pay for their new service - I already pay for too many storage services.

styanax 1y ago
> I just ran a backup, and it was 850MB. So having my phone upload something of that size every day would be a bit annoying It may be inconvenient but this can be solved by using the features in the app to review your storage and save those thousands of images/audio/file sequestered inside the app out to the filesystem, then delete them from the app. You're not backing up "chats" you're backing up your image library being stored inside a chat app. (yes I get the argument that you need to store them "in context" so save those and do the rest. there's no way 100% of that 850MB is "must have saved inside the app in chats" data, I'll bet $10 USD on it)
- daveoc64 1y ago
  Reducing the size of the backup would solve one problem, but it's really the lack of automation of the process that's the annoying part.
  - styanax 1y ago
    We're partially there, under Storage is an option allowing you to set how long to keep messages and I've set mine to one year. Possible: forever (default), 1y, 6mo, 30d - and it works, my old chat messages (not the whole chat, just individuals) are properly culled over time. Edit: in context, Google Messages has none of these features and I have friends still married to Google Voice who send me tons of pics. Culling SMS requires using a third party tool to export and re-import etc. leagues behind Signal. None of it's backed up without the same third party tools as well and no built in image management.