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Signal PINs

signal.org

11–20 of 199 posts

Re: Signal PINs

#11
post #2

Don't miss: > PINs will also help facilitate new features like addressing that isn’t based exclusively on phone numbers

Does this mean we will finally be able to use Signal without a phone number?

Re: Signal PINs

#13
I don’t want my messages to be stored anywhere other than on my phone. I hate when companies push this bullshit on you. I keep on getting reminders to set a pin and I can’t turn it off.

I think one of the issues with software is that because it’s infinitely extensible, people just add more and more features, they don’t know when to stop. So they keep pushing features that satisfy 10% of their users to the detriment of the 90%. Slowly the app becomes bloated and extremely confusing to use.

Re: Signal PINs

#14
I'm looking forward to hearing how they plan to prevent brute-forcing of these. A physical hardware device can wipe keys after a certain number of failures.

I definitely look forward to the ability to move Signal forward to a new device without losing all logs, and the ability to use Signal without tying it to a phone number.

Re: Signal PINs

#15
I'm extremely disappointed about how this Signal PIN rollout has been handled. Signal refused to let me view my received messages until I created a PIN. I filed a bug report about it [1]. I don't know if I was just caught in an A/B test or what because it hasn't happened to all of my Signal-using friends but it happened to me.

I don't understand why it isn't just optional. They claim they want to protect my Signal data stored in the cloud. I don't want my data stored in the cloud. I want them to store nothing. I don't care about their Intel SGX whatever because I don't want to have to trust their servers in the first place.

Cloud storage is a complete non-starter for me. I started my company to get away from cloud storage [2]. The fact that they are forcing this on their users is making me seriously consider dumping Signal. I just don't know if there are any sane alternatives.

[1]: https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Android/issues/9632

[2]: https://homefort.app/

Re: Signal PINs

#16
post #6

This is all well and good. But the forced/unsilenceable pin reminders seems a bit obtuse to me. https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059792-Si... "Can I turn off these reminders? It is important to memorize your PIN, and the reminders cannot be disabled. We cannot recover your PIN if you forget it. You will see the reminders less frequently if you consistently enter your PIN correctly. The reminders wil…

I know my PIN yet it asks me everytime I open the app. It's extremely annoying. I wouldn't mind once a month, but it seems like it's 1 a week (which doesn't seem true, I feel like it's more every 2-3 days for me).

I just wish there was an option to ask less frequently.

Re: Signal PINs

#17
post #13

I don’t want my messages to be stored anywhere other than on my phone. I hate when companies push this bullshit on you. I keep on getting reminders to set a pin and I can’t turn it off. I think one of the issues with software is that because it’s infinitely extensible, people just add more and more features, they don’t know when to stop. So they keep pushing features that satisfy 10% of their users to the detriment o…

The 90% want their message history synced across devices.

Re: Signal PINs

#18
post #13

I don’t want my messages to be stored anywhere other than on my phone. I hate when companies push this bullshit on you. I keep on getting reminders to set a pin and I can’t turn it off. I think one of the issues with software is that because it’s infinitely extensible, people just add more and more features, they don’t know when to stop. So they keep pushing features that satisfy 10% of their users to the detriment o…

This is a feature critical for wide adoption. Most users will swear off any app that makes it easy for them to lose all their chats.

Re: Signal PINs

#19
post #4

That's kinda weird timing. Signal's been asking me for a PIN for about 2 weeks now. Did Aurora screw up and give me an early version? Or did they just roll this out to users weeks ahead of publishing an announcement?

> Signal's been asking me for a PIN for about 2 weeks now. And my copy started preventing me from using it entirely yesterday with a full-screen un-dismissable popup[1] :( [1]: https://i.redd.it/4sip5dcw9iy41.png [2] [2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/signal/comments/giw4if/the_signal_p...

The exact same thing happened to me. They must be rolling it out gradually because it hasn't happen to my wife yet nor to several of my other contacts.

Re: Signal PINs

#20
post #2

Don't miss: > PINs will also help facilitate new features like addressing that isn’t based exclusively on phone numbers

Does this mean we will finally be able to use Signal without a phone number?

They’ve been planning that for a long while. It requires first an e2e sync though, for contact lists, which is what the clientside secret (PIN) enables.
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