Comment by growse
2 years ago
Eh? My Signal auto-backups every night to a device folder which I then replicate off with Syncthing. How is that requiring "full manual interaction"?
2 years ago
Eh? My Signal auto-backups every night to a device folder which I then replicate off with Syncthing. How is that requiring "full manual interaction"?
I think GP is being a little too harsh, but I also think you're being a little too generous. If it requires a third-party tool like sync thing, then it seems like a hard point to argue that signal has Auto backups. It's better than nothing, but it is definitely not as seamless as most users would expect from a backup solution.
It doesn't "require" Syncthing, I just choose to use it. I could choose to keep it on my device, or upload it to Dropbox or something else. Even keeping it locally is still a backup that protects against the device corrupting it's local database or accidentally getting uninstalled / cleared.
There's no single obvious thing called "this is what everyone wants from backup".
> My Signal auto-backups every night to a device folder which I then replicate off with Syncthing
> It doesn't "require" Syncthing
I'm talking about your solution, and yes it does seem to require syncthing, unless you are using some fourth party tool that sets up syncthing automatically for you, and in that case it still isn't built in to Signal.
There are other possible solutions, but you used your solution as an example. If you have a different solution that doens't require syncthing and also doesn't require manual intervention (i.e. Signal app can automate the process), please share it. Remember what the comment said that we are replying to:
> Please stop peddling this horrible experience as a form of a valid backup. A process that requires full manual interaction and requires you to know ahead of time when your phone will break or be stolen is not a useful backup process.
Did you not have to manually setup syncthing (or some other sync tool) to get it working? Or do you know of some way to do that with just Signal?
Unless you are saying that Signal has a built-in backup solution that doesn't require manual intervention (like configuring some sort of third-party syncing service) then you aren't rebutting anything.
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It's pretty safe to say that most users will want a type of "backup" that actually leaves the device so the data doesn't disappear if your phone falls out of your pocket and breaks or gets stolen.
It's after all, a device that's carried around and much easier to destroy than pretty much any other.
For most of population (you know, the ones we all want to get onto Signal so they stop using Meta and Apple stuff) not losing their valuable pictures, memories and conversations is way above the paranoia of some theoretical government official deciding to give up while trying to unlock your phone.
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