Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal • Hacker News Board

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#111

Post by blub » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 9:01 AM UTC

mynameisash wrote: post #92

blub wrote: post #56

Calls are unusable in Signal: they drain a fully charged battery in about half an hour.

I use Signal as my primary SMS, and more and more of my contacts are using it. As such, I'm doing a lot more Signal voice and video calls. On my several year old, cheapy Moto G6, I've never had an issue with the battery draining noticeably faster when using Signal. I've done probably 45-60 minute calls over wifi, after which my battery is... maybe 70% full charge?

On iOS I've seen 10-40% battery percentage loss during relatively short calls (5-15m) on multiple devices.

This app is the worst battery drainer I've ever seen on an iOS device, considering what it does.

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#112

Post by climb_stealth » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 9:15 AM UTC

drummer wrote: post #94

pthatcherg wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at Signal on group calls. We're being careful with rollout. The limit will hopefully be increased soon.

Hi do you know when legacy groups will be converted? Would love to use the new features but I have legacy groups with lots of history I want to keep.

This is copied from the latest Android beta changelist. For what it's worth one of my groups has been converted so it seems to be happening.

> Your Legacy Signal Groups will be automatically upgraded to New Groups so they can get in on the new features we recently released, like admins, @mentions, group links, and more. Upgrades don’t happen all at once or instantly, and some groups may not upgrade for a while.

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#113

Post by zorbash » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 12:01 PM UTC

orestarod wrote: post #108

zorbash wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Second that. I hear back my own voice, it drains the battery and the connection is almost always choppy. I wanted to be able to use Signal to replace whatsapp, telegram and FB messenger. I've convinced some of my friends to install it, but none of them are happy with it. On both mobile and desktop sometimes messages take hours to appear and on mobile it reserves ~2GB of storage for no apparent reason. I trust that pe…

In case the storage is due to numerous messages and media, you have the option to limit the number of messages saved for each conversation, default is no limit I think.

It was indeed mostly media. There doesn't seem to be an option to limit the maximum size for media, or for remote backups.

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#114

Post by qdhqdhqdg » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 2:17 PM UTC

They still force you to give your phone number, they still refuse to be on F-Droid, they still force you to go through their own server and not self host, their UX still sucks.

Once those points are addressed Signal would be great

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#115

Post by greysonp » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 4:39 PM UTC

drummer wrote: post #94

pthatcherg wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I work at Signal on group calls. We're being careful with rollout. The limit will hopefully be increased soon.

Hi do you know when legacy groups will be converted? Would love to use the new features but I have legacy groups with lots of history I want to keep.

Hi, Signal employee here. The latest builds of all of our clients support upgrading. You just need to make sure everyone in the group is on the latest clients, including their linked desktops. In the future, we'll add the ability to force a migration for scenarios where some group members are inactive.

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#116

Post by soziawa » Wed, Dec 16, 2020, 9:32 PM UTC

viccuad wrote: post #42

soziawa wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Additionally they have regular audits [1]. Open source only without any actual thorough reviews doesn't cut it in my opinion. [1]: https://threema.ch/en/blog/posts/audit-2020-en

Open source is a precondition. They can promise you the world, but if you can't build it yourself and get reproducible builds, who knows what's in there.

Sure, but a precondition itself doesn't guarantee anything. You still need to pony up the money for actual aufits.

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#117

Post by toomuchtodo » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 1:02 AM UTC

qdhqdhqdg wrote: post #114

They still force you to give your phone number, they still refuse to be on F-Droid, they still force you to go through their own server and not self host, their UX still sucks. Once those points are addressed Signal would be great

It’s already great without these nitpicks. If those are your requirements, you might look elsewhere to have your communication needs met.

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#118

Post by jayp1418 » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:28 AM UTC

olah_1 wrote: post #77

jayp1418 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Matrix is great IRC, slack replacement but signal is WhatsApp replacement.

Check out Fluffy Chat for a more personal messenger vibe with Matrix https://fluffychat.im/en/ There are other of these style apps too, but fluffy is furthest along I think. https://matrix.org/clients/

Thanks for links

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#119

Post by szszrk » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 8:24 AM UTC

swiley wrote: post #66

tW4r wrote: post #2

Really waiting for matrix to add native group video calls without jitsi

It has group video calling at all?

Now it does. Received it very recently.

Re: Adding Encrypted Group Calls to Signal

#120

Post by 2Gkashmiri » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 1:38 PM UTC

gopkarthik wrote: post #88

input_sh wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I guess it depends on which governments you're talking about, but I don't see that happening in the US or the EU. > In March 2017, Signal was approved by the Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. Senate for use by senators and their staff. https://www.zdnet.com/article/in-encryption-push-senate-appr... > The European Commission has told its staff to start using Signal, an end-to-end-encrypted messaging app, in a push…

Agreed, I doubt the EU is going to do that too. I replied assuming that the parent was from Kashmir/India.

yeah. my name seems to trigger "some" people. banning can be bypassed by whatever means available. the issue is that username wouldn't be tied to you which the police can just knock on the door which has happened more times i can count.

take for example matrix or discord. these services because of their non phone nature, it is very difficult for police to track down dissent. encryption is a fancy word when you are the only one using it.

i remember actively avoiding using tor back a decade ago because while it could be used to securely communicate online, i would have been the sore thumb.

mass adoption of encryption of all forms in all communications without leaving afk trails is the only way to keep internet safe from governmental control.