I stopped using Signal when it was clear i was not able to back up my message history (or transfer it to a new phone).
My data is my data and I should be able to access and control it.
My data is my data and I should be able to access and control it.
It doesn't allow you to do this on iOS, but I'm guessing your stance on data portability makes your life very hard on iOS anyway.
[0]: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059752-Ba...
On Windows:
1. Download DB Browser for SQLite https://sqlitebrowser.org/
2. Unpack it and run DB Browser for SQLCipher.exe.
3. Open database, select %APPDATA%\Signal\sql\db.sqlite.
4. In the following dialog, select Raw key type and enter the encryption key stored in %APPDATA%\Signal\config.json into Password field (prefix it with 0x).
5. Now you can work with the database, including exporting its contents to unencrypted SQLite, CSV and JSON.
The process should be similar on other platforms.
I have zero understanding why you would ask this. Every single first party and third party app other than Signal on iOS allow me to include its data in backups and/or export it’s data.
Pretty much all of the data in the stock apps on my iPhone is easily portable, and most of it is API accessible, meaning I can use multiple apps to view and manipulate it. Apple even publishes a support doc on how to export your data using first-party tools. For any more complex needs, there are plenty of easily accessible 3rd party options.
It is not the most user friendly approach, but it has been going through iterations and getting better.
Edit: last part is wrong, see sibling
Signal is an outlier in this respect, and I hope they add this feature before I'm ready for another phone.
When I want to save something from a conversation in Signal (or slack or email), I copy it out and store it. Signal does not block you accessing your data.
In addition you actually do have an import/export function for your messages if you're on android [1].
[1] https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059752-Ba...
https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059752-Ba...
You can do that on Android.
My circle stopped using Signal when it became apparent that dying/lost/stolen phone also means complete destruction of all memories they store in the conversations (unless you go through a lot of hoops to get autobackup working).
It's pretty much the only chat app of the more marketed ones that will lose all your personal data.
Ah, so only a problem for 40% of Signal users.
There's no technical reason that prevents Signal from doing this; they simply haven't.
Signal backups on Android used to be entirely unencrypted(!), so that hasn't stopped them before.