axolotl

This is concerning: > Only a small thing, but due to Signals strict phone-desktop pairing mechanism, when registering Axolotl, both phone and regular Desktop wont work anymore. > Also, you cant use Axolotl on Desktop together with Signal mobile. > After deleting the Axolotl registration I had to wait a while to be able to register on Signal again, I didnt loose any backups and my codes didnt change. > Nonetheless a warning should be displayed at the beginning, that users wanting to use regular mobile (iOS, Android) and Desktop (Windows, macOS, Flatpak or Snap), they should use a second phone number for testing. https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl/issues/811 Matrix would be a lot more welcoming to a new client :)

It would be best to have backups built in, but in the mean time wouldn't Signal Desktop be a way to make backups? I moved my home directory to a new computer and Signal Desktop started like if something changed. Sure you would lose your messages on your phone, but you can still access them on your computer if needed. On a rooted Android phone, you could use oandbackup to backup Signal. If you care about these things, maybe consider using a rooted Android phone? I agree with you on the centralized platform aspect and the use of phone number (which is both a blessing (this makes it easy for new users to join) and a curse). I also agree with you on Element's UX, but it's getting better and most people can use it fine. I have a few groups on both apps. I personally prefer Element, which seems more open than Signal and which I can actually use

Signal apps are an issue, for sure. Signal desktop can run, but it's not fun, because it's not responsive at all. Currently, the best alternative available imho is Axolotl, which is what I use.[0] [0] https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl

I mean its two different things: Nokia a mega corp (at the time) and Pine64 (a few hardware enthusiasts + small overworked dev community). I get your frustrations and as a PinePhone owner myself I would not consider it anywhere near usable as a real Smartphone replacement. However after installing Arch it is pretty snappy and has certainly sparked some new hope in me. I really recommend you to check it out. For Signal there is (or will be) Axolotl [-1] which looks promising and when it comes to developer support both KDE and GNOME devs show some support for it. E.g. GNOME recently announced libadwaita [0]. Give it some time and check out the Arch release for PinePhone: [1]. [-1]: https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl [0]: https://aplazas.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/blog/blog/2021/03/31/... [1]: https://github.com/dreemurrs-embedded/Pine64-Arch

Signal has given some, probably very little, support to the Ubuntu Touch port now known as Axolotl. https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl I'm sure that if it grew in popularity they might be inclined to support it further.

Don't forget Axolotl[0], an unofficial client for Ubuntu Touch that has been unofficially packaged up for Debian (and that package can in turn be installed with a PKGBUILD script on Arch and Manjaro). A working official client would be a lot better though. [0] https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl

> Does anyone have first-hand experience with the pinephone as daily driver? I'm thinking about getting it, but I'm worried I wont be able to do my usual stuff, including using things like Signal or WhatsApp. I don't have the first hand experience, but I was doing research on this very topic earlier today. https://www.github.com/nanu-c/axolotl looked promising. (ubuntu touch only) As others have mentioned, anbox is another alternative. I ended up going with the xcover pro instead, but I'm still highly considering getting a pinephone to do dev work on. There's exciting stuff to reinvent over here!

Ubports Ubuntu Touch has a Signal port up and running. It's called Axocotl: https://github.com/nanu-c/axolotl/ It's not fully functioning but you can see what's working fairly quickly;