Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message encryption

Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by atoav on Friday June 05, 2020 @12:22AM (#23425059)

Does it tho? It changed a lot during the last years and for most stuff I do with my friends (videocalls, textmessages, recorded speechmessages, pictures, videos, groupstuff, desktop app) it just works fine.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by est31 on Friday June 05, 2020 @01:44AM (#23425431)

It's been a massive battery drain for me as I have no Google services. It's a known bug. You can't really turn off that drain either in favor of getting messages later.

https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/6898

https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/9194

Other apps like Threema or Telegram might delay messages sometimes, but at least they keep my device operational. If I'm punished for opting out of Google's spying, I at least want to choose the punishment.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by jabirali on Friday June 05, 2020 @02:57AM (#23425802)

With the exception of desktop app, I agree :).

The desktop app takes several minutes to open (at least on Linux), so I find that the only way to use it is to start it at boot and always leave it open. I'm still hoping that someone may create other clients, e.g. a Pidgin backend.

The mobile apps, on the other hand, work really well. Been using them for years now, both on Android and iOS.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by lorenzhs on Friday June 05, 2020 @04:09AM (#23426173)

When did you last try it? Startup speed of Signal-Desktop has been much improved in recent months, like, by an order of magnitude. Maybe give it another shot.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by jabirali on Friday June 05, 2020 @10:29AM (#23428960)

Interesting, it does indeed start in seconds instead of minutes now. That’s great!

I also see that the other issues I noticed previously (high latency when typing, “compose key” not working) have now been fixed as well.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by fauigerzigerk on Friday June 05, 2020 @05:49AM (#23426708)

It opens pretty quickly for me, but almost every time it wants to be re-linked to a mobile device.

Signal is really annoying with all the things it wants me to do. Re-linking a mobile device. Re-entering a PIN/password for no reason other than to prove that I still know the password.

And when I'm finally logged in it shows me a completely useless selection of mostly obsolete contacts.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by lorenzhs on Friday June 05, 2020 @08:33AM (#23427751)

I think you need to open it at least every other month or so, otherwise it loses the pairing. I've never had to relink a desktop instance under any other circumstances.

You can turn off the PIN reminders in Settings → Privacy.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by fauigerzigerk on Friday June 05, 2020 @09:00AM (#23427977)

>You can turn off the PIN reminders in Settings → Privacy.

Ah, that's good to know. Thanks!

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by rconti on Friday June 05, 2020 @09:57AM (#23428571)

I feel like I'm constantly re-linking machines. I have 4 computers I use regularly, so it's a hassle. I can't say for sure if it's been a month since I last opened the app-- maybe a week or two, sure.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by Hamuko on Friday June 05, 2020 @03:25AM (#23425931)

The desktop app situation is pretty similar for all messaging apps. I don't really know any messaging application that has good, native desktop apps. Can't really include iMessage in good faith due to the platform restrictions.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by KitDuncan on Friday June 05, 2020 @03:38AM (#23425988)

Telegram desktop is great and Matrix desktop apps are definitely getting there.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by fauigerzigerk on Friday June 05, 2020 @05:50AM (#23426717)

Skype has always worked for me. Unfortunately it's not secure.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by Hamuko on Friday June 05, 2020 @07:41AM (#23427386)

I usually hear nothing but complaints about Skype.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by jhoechtl on Friday June 05, 2020 @02:36AM (#23425688)

It doesn't do Video calls for one thing.

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Re:Signal app downloads spike as US protesters seek message ... by daeken on Friday June 05, 2020 @02:42AM (#23425724)

Signal has video calls

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