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Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

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Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#221

Post by beebob »

izacus wrote: post #46
_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 .…

> 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…

Interesting piece of information. I'm one of the people that values the chat history. Mostly as there are often occasions where I would look up something like a product or a website someone sent me. Also for nostalgia.

It would be perfectly fine if exporting/importing chat history would be a manual process via encrypted files and if it was disable by default. But not having it at all is an issue for me.

That said: It isn't exactly easy with other messengers. WhatsApp does have some backup/restore. But afaik it is limited to the platform you are using (Android or iPhone). The export is limited and cannot be imported again. Telegram has all the messages on their servers... which... ah well, let's just leave it at that.

Makes me think that I need some private third party database that just ingests and consolidates all my chat data for me. With something like that it might be okay just having a few days worth of chat history on the phone.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#222

Post by alerighi »

FreakyT wrote: post #5

The issue with Signal that annoys me most is the complete lack of any meaningful backup/export on iOS. I lost my entire chat history when I got a new phone because their bizarre "proximity based" solution failed.

Really, this. And this is the problem that I have also with WhatsApp: i lost all my messages when transitioning between Android to iOS since the backup of Android (that is just a dump of the database) is not compatible to the one of iOS.

At the other side there is Telegram, where the conversation are saved on the cloud, which is great, but everyone can delete or edit a message even years after it was sent! And thus even on Telegram you need backups (with is inconvenient, but can be avoided with a script that exports all your conversation scheduled to run every once in a while)

I would actually use Signal (or whatever other application) if they would have a simple way to export and also import messages. Best thing would obviously be to make a standard interoperable, at least shared by open source applications, like is done with the mailbox format for emails, so you can take your chat, export them, and import them on another system if you want to migrate from one to another.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#223

Post by cmeacham98 »

freeone3000 wrote: post #216
skrowl wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why Telegram is beating Signal. They're singularly focused on the user experience and what users want. Uninstall / reinstall / multiple-devices works flawlessly.

I fundamentally distrust any program which claims E2E encryption and is capable of recovering my chat history onto a new device. This means that Telegram is technically able to recover my chat history, making the "E2E" bit of the encryption smoke-and-mirrors.

I am unaware of Telegram's implementation, but this is not necessarily true. The app could use a secret you provide and only you know (most obviously, your password) to store and restore chat history.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#224

Post by jariel »

ubercow13 wrote: post #177
jariel wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Then they sold to Facebook and broke that promise." This is really a false narrative. The 'sell out' was the 'sale to Facebook'. A business is not really going to necessarily keep that kind of promise, they are going to do what's best for them - that's why they made the acquisition. This idea that the WA founders could somehow hold Zuck to that 'promise' is fantasty. They are not naive, they knew what they were doin…

You seem to be contradicting yourself - that is was never a good idea to believe their promise and pay for their chat service, but that also this problem would be solved if everyone paid for a chat service.

Those are not contradictions.

1) A sale to an advertising company will result in WA data being used for Ad sales, there's no reason to believe otherwise.

2) Paid apps would be ideal for privacy, but I didn't imply that people were necessarily willing to pay for it.

The problem frankly is not 'Facebook' it's us.

We want 'all the privacy' for 'free'. If we paid a small amount, we could have privacy because there'd be an underlying supportable business model.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#225

Post by forgotmypw17 »

_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 .…

>Just build an encrypted blob and zip it up

Better yet, how about a zip of text files?

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#226

Post by dividedbyzero »

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…

> You don't save history for other types of chats, like in person conversations or phone calls

There are more than a few conversations I would absolutely love to be able to revisit, but I can't. Like those small, ordinary moments with my Grandma, of which I remember just very little, I didn't think much of them at the time. With those people I've lost who did leave chatlogs, they have been helpful at times.

I find it also can be very insightful to be able to drop into ten-years-ago me's life, just to find how much I've changed in some respects – or how little. It's a great source of self-reflection for me.

If keeping chat logs is something you personally don't value, that's great, you do you. But keep in mind that people are wildly different and lots will have needs, preferences and principles that are the opposite of yours, and just as valid.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#227

Post by JoshTriplett »

freeone3000 wrote: post #216
skrowl wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why Telegram is beating Signal. They're singularly focused on the user experience and what users want. Uninstall / reinstall / multiple-devices works flawlessly.

I fundamentally distrust any program which claims E2E encryption and is capable of recovering my chat history onto a new device. This means that Telegram is technically able to recover my chat history, making the "E2E" bit of the encryption smoke-and-mirrors.

> I fundamentally distrust any program which claims E2E encryption and is capable of recovering my chat history onto a new device.

I would expect a Signal implementation of this to allow recovering chat history if you restore a backup onto the new device and if you re-enter your PIN.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#228

Post by ubercow13 »

jariel wrote: post #224
ubercow13 wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be contradicting yourself - that is was never a good idea to believe their promise and pay for their chat service, but that also this problem would be solved if everyone paid for a chat service.

Those are not contradictions. 1) A sale to an advertising company will result in WA data being used for Ad sales, there's no reason to believe otherwise. 2) Paid apps would be ideal for privacy, but I didn't imply that people were necessarily willing to pay for it. The problem frankly is not 'Facebook' it's us. We want 'all the privacy' for 'free'. If we paid a small amount, we could have privacy because there'd be a…

Right but WhatsApp was a paid app. There is no reason to believe that paid apps are ideal for privacy - WhatsApp is the perfect counterexample. So we need a different solution, or direct payment at leasts needs to be one part of a larger solution.

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#229

Post by dddw »

juniperplant wrote: post #137
plibither8 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seriously can't understand why a billion dollar company with hundreds of engineers can't and won't prioritize the abilitynto seamlessly transfer messages cross-OS. Its been years since the need for such a "feature", when it shouldn't even be a "feature" in the first place, it should be baked in!

There's even a third-party software that is able to do this: https://www.backuptrans.com/android-whatsapp-to-iphone-trans... I've used it myself.

That looks pretty dubious

Re: Signal WhatsApp Chats Import

#230

Post by WC3w6pXxgGd »

Evidlo wrote: post #108
_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 .…

Matrix has this. You can save your recovery key somewhere to recover your chats on a brand new device. You can actually just use another logged-in device (e.g. your desktop) to recover your chats by scanning a QR code to trust the new device. Recovery key is just in case this isn't an option.

I've always wondered why Matrix and Riot never blew up in popularity.
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