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0 pointsghusto10mo ago0 comments

In the Netherlands, was trying to promote Signal.

I switched phones and lost all my history. Now I’m fairly careful with these things, and make backups, but even I wasn’t able to get it back. Couldn’t recommend it to anyone since.

There’s a line between being secure and being useful, and they’re slightly unbalanced in Signal.

0 comments

jeroenhd10mo ago

Had the same happen with WhatsApp. Turns out you get one chance to get the local file backup right or you're screwed.

account-510mo ago

Just out of interest, why are you keeping your chat history? What for? All my chats are set to burn after 6 months as standard but most are shorter than this.

ajkjk10mo ago

just curious.. why you are deleting your chats? what if you want to search them for something from a while ago?

1 more reply

mrehler10mo ago

I personally keep it all (on iMessage) as a bit of personal history. Trying to see conversations I had with friends and family around fun/important events, searching to see if I ever went on a similar tirade about a product I’m about to send a friend…

fsflover10mo ago

If you, after 20 years, can process all your chat history with a (locally run!) AI, you may find a lot of interesting things about yourself and your friends.

3 more replies

rhubarbtree10mo ago

Yep, this is why Signal hasn’t gained great traction I think. It’s just not intuitive (and I don’t understand why it’s necessary). You could always have this level of security as an option for journalists etc without ruining the UX of all users.

Funes-10mo ago

You should've made sure of how Signal works with regards to chat history before you removed the app from the old phone.

egypturnash10mo ago

"the iphone 4's antenna isn't a bad design, you're just holding it wrong" - steve jobs

jobigoud10mo ago

To be fair Whatsapp works the same, if you are not careful when changing phone you will lose your history. That's because they don't actually store your messages on their servers, they are just synchronized between devices.

1 more reply

Funes-10mo ago

"{straw man}" - most HN users.

nsagent10mo ago

I have Signal on my phone and laptop. For some reason my laptop desynced from the phone, so my chat history now has a missing block of message history (that exists on the phone). I did nothing obvious to cause that desync. My guess is that my phone updated the Signal app, and I didn't update it on the laptop in lockstep. That's not a great UX, especially since there is no notification that this might happen.

tomsmeding10mo ago

Desync happens simply after a month of not using the PC client. Yes, it's that short.

1 more reply

vinay42710mo ago

Message history still can’t be backed up on iOS, and also can’t be moved between Android and iOS in either direction AFAIK. There are far more gaps here than just imperfect users, which is often a UX problem as others have noted.

philipwhiuk10mo ago

How does it handle phone theft?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

jeroenhd10mo ago

Had the same happen with WhatsApp. Turns out you get one chance to get the local file backup right or you're screwed.

account-510mo ago

Just out of interest, why are you keeping your chat history? What for? All my chats are set to burn after 6 months as standard but most are shorter than this.

ajkjk10mo ago

just curious.. why you are deleting your chats? what if you want to search them for something from a while ago?

1 more reply

mrehler10mo ago

fsflover10mo ago

If you, after 20 years, can process all your chat history with a (locally run!) AI, you may find a lot of interesting things about yourself and your friends.

3 more replies

rhubarbtree10mo ago

Funes-10mo ago

You should've made sure of how Signal works with regards to chat history before you removed the app from the old phone.

egypturnash10mo ago

"the iphone 4's antenna isn't a bad design, you're just holding it wrong" - steve jobs

jobigoud10mo ago

1 more reply

Funes-10mo ago

"{straw man}" - most HN users.

nsagent10mo ago

tomsmeding10mo ago

Desync happens simply after a month of not using the PC client. Yes, it's that short.

1 more reply

vinay42710mo ago

philipwhiuk10mo ago

How does it handle phone theft?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse