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Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

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Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#121

Post by tony101 »

parliament32 wrote: post #118
_l4jh wrote: post #19

I have been using Signal for two years now and I love it. However I really, really hope they can work on a good backup and restore process as losing my message history because I have to reinstall the app on my desktop[1] or have to reset my phone is a horrible experience. Just build an encrypted blob and zip it up and pop it on my iCloud or Google Drive or leave it local and let me deal with it but I need something .…

Why would you want this? You don't save history for other types of chats, like in person conversations or phone calls (even though you could, with your phone recording in your pocket or call recorder apps). If something important comes up, like an address or recipe, copy/paste it into your notes app. Otherwise set your messages to expire after a month and be done with it. I used to be a message-hoarder too, but I rec…

Exactly. Keeping message history is a liability. There is no need to keep all old messages beyond one week. If there is something specific worth saving, there are apps for taking/pasting notes.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#122

Post by tony101 »

jonahx wrote: post #110
sjaak wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is keeping a chat history important? I don't take notes of IRL conversation I have, they're ephemeral. Not trolling, honestly curious :-)

> I don't take notes of IRL conversation I have, they're ephemeral. Fairer analogy: If you could search transcripts of your IRL conversations at no additional cost (no notetaking), would you? I think most people would say yes.

That is a liability. Imagine if every word you have ever uttered to anyone is permanently recorded and can be used against you any time in the future, forever.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#123

Post by jolmg »

godelski wrote: post #104
upofadown wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>...the Signal team fundamentally does not value chat history the same way a lot of people do. Keeping around old messages more or less negates the value of forward secrecy. The Signal Protocol is obsessively forward secret. So it would be reasonable for those that have put so much work into getting rid of old messages for good would not value them.

Honestly I personally just want the ability to save specific messages. My friend sends me a recipe? Save. Just shooting the shit? Don't save. I don't understand why people want to save their whole chat history but I do understand why you'd want to save specific messages, and that's a big missing feature.

s/specific messages/& and conversations/

> I don't understand why people want to save their whole chat history

Valuable messages and conversations can happen too often that it's a hassle to save them manually. This is probably more common in group chats where lots of people occasionally share valuable stuff.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#125

Post by hackmiester »

jolmg wrote: post #123
godelski wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I personally just want the ability to save specific messages. My friend sends me a recipe? Save. Just shooting the shit? Don't save. I don't understand why people want to save their whole chat history but I do understand why you'd want to save specific messages, and that's a big missing feature.

s/specific messages/& and conversations/ > I don't understand why people want to save their whole chat history Valuable messages and conversations can happen too often that it's a hassle to save them manually. This is probably more common in group chats where lots of people occasionally share valuable stuff.

Your point and use case are valid but unrelated. I agree with the parent comment but not with your sentiment.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#126

Post by skinkestek »

verytrivial wrote: post #112
gshulegaard wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's astute of you to point out that the Signal developers do not value chat history the same way many people do, but I am not sure I track with this: > It's not a technical issue - they just think you're wrong when you want to keep your conversations. as much. When you are treating security as a number one priority I think there are a lot of things that become technical issues which aren't typically. Transfe…

It's a bit of a cart before the horse issue, no? I mean what is the point of obsessing about the security of the messages if you don't value the messages themselves? Some people[1] clearly value message history far beyond the transfer point to chat itself, and making people choose between being spied upon and not having message history, I think many people will choose trusting that they won't lose their messages. [1]…

Signal isn't meant to be a mainstream one-size-fits-all, even tptacek admits as much:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22371316

He actually seemed annoyed that everyone insisted on using it for everything :-)

If you need bulletproof cryptographically verifiable encryption - use Signal.

If one wants to plan dinner, use whatever fits your bill.

(And if in addition to the same supposedly bulletproof encryption as Signal you also want NSA^HGoogle to back up your messages and Facebook to know who you talk to and when so they might better customize their ads^H^H^H your experience you can also use WhatsApp :-)

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#127

Post by vinay_ys »

gshulegaard wrote: post #103
izacus wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However I really, really hope they can work on a good backup and restore process as losing my message history because I have to reinstall the app on my desktop[1] or have to reset my phone is a horrible experience. I've tried to report bugs and talk to developers about this but there's one fundamental problem here - the Signal team fundamentally does not value chat history the same way a lot of people do. They thin…

I think it's astute of you to point out that the Signal developers do not value chat history the same way many people do, but I am not sure I track with this: > It's not a technical issue - they just think you're wrong when you want to keep your conversations. as much. When you are treating security as a number one priority I think there are a lot of things that become technical issues which aren't typically. Transfe…

I think it is fair to expect Signal to support a solid encrypted backup/sync mechanism. They can allow users to manage the encryption keys out of band. Users can use a password manager (or a piece of paper) to save the encryption key.

Anyone who is security/privacy conscious to use Signal is also using a solid password manager and not reusing passwords as well as following good secure data backup practice, I hope.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#128

Post by [deleted] »

saurik wrote: post #43
cesarb wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Signal already have backup? IIRC, when enabled it once per day saves all messages (encrypted with a backup key, which you have to write down somewhere) to /sdcard/Signal, and you can then use Syncthing or something similar to copy it to a new phone. If you put that /sdcard/Signal folder there before starting Signal for the first time, it'll ask to restore from that backup. WhatsApp has an identical local back…

You are using the Android client. This feature is missing in iOS.

[deleted]

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#129

Post by sim_card_map »

Signal is not an open alternative.

It's not federated, but most importantly, they don't allow 3rd party clients:

https://github.com/LibreSignal/LibreSignal/issues/37#issueco...

So you are stuck with their Electron junk without any options.

Matrix should be promoted as an open alternative instead.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#130

Post by godelski »

solstice wrote: post #68
karakanb wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, they literally mean "history". Some conversation with a friend who passed away, chats with an ex-lover, remembering school years, tons of memories. I believe at this point those messages are an important part of my past. In other words, if I had a chance to record, search and navigate through real life conversations, I would have done that too; it is way better to have records than to try to remember things.

I totally understand what you mean and I also frequently look up older conversations to enjoy again the in-jokes, banter and actually useful information of my chats. However to avoid 1) having to manually delete things and 2) accumulating hundreds of megabytes of messages and 3) to not be swamped by months and years of "can you call?", "alright, see you later" and other ultimately meaningless stuff, I have conversati…

Personally all I want is a way to save specific messages. Like my friend recently sent me a recipe. That's nice to save. Everything else I'm fine cutting off at like 500 messages or something. I guess a lot of this saving doesn't bother me because back in the T9ing days you couldn't save many messages and no one batted an eye. I'm surprised at the major paradigm shift, but also most communication happens through text now which is also interesting.
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