[Data/Transfer] Signal on iOS and Android data transfer

[LunarN0v4]

On both Signal iOS and Android, you should be able to transfer your data between both versions, no questions asked.
This has been asked from Signal multiple times for a couple years now and this is still a problem even when it shouldn't be.
SimpleX, WhatsApp, Session, and other encrypted messengers have a way to do this, yet Signal continues to lag behind in such a basic feature.
Even in newer competitors, this simple feature is available.
Not to mention, Signal iOS doesn't allow backing up and restoring data at all, while you can do so easily on Android.
To make sure all developers of both mobile versions of Signal have this clear, I've duped this issue on both signalapp/Signal-iOS and signalapp/Signal-Android.
This issue is only going to worsen as you add more features, since you'll need to account for more at once, so if you finish this now rather than later, this will be easier to continue in the future.

[tkerby]

I'll add my +1 to this as I've lost conversation history so many times in iOS when I've changed phones or had to restore from a backup. I also use Android so having both options I could backup to the other phone.

[pwaller]

This is a significant pain point and lost signal a user when they lost their messages during migration.

[skooch]

Hey team, /cc @harry-signal @pete-signal

When will the Messages Remote Export feature make it out of development and into some form of public build? I can see from the commits that since Pete worked on it early in the year it's been slowly progressing.

This seems to be a really important step towards being able to switch devices while continuing to use Signal. I was an early user (back from TextSecure days) and financial supporter for many years, until I encountered this about a year ago when making the decision to switch platforms. It was such a jarring experience that instead I've forgone Signal until I could ensure that this wouldn't occur again.

While the act of switching platforms (and technical minutiae of the data transfer process) will likely always inherently incur risk and impact the user's security posture in that moment—I believe that alternative actions a user could take by registering a new account or other haphazard methods of data transfer, would likely incur significantly more risk as they try to regain contact with people. (I'm more than happy to provide some example scenarios on this if requested, some theoretical and some from firsthand experience)

I'm unsure if it was a similar ethos that in part, led to the development of Signal Desktop, but I would bet on it being somewhat related. Signal is built for people: privacy is not optional, and should be accessible. Where the behaviour of the user often results in a greater risk to their accessibility and privacy, I think it's valuable to build a solution to reduce this risk where it is within our means.

I'd really appreciate an update on the Messages Remote Export and its intent, or at least, some more transparency. There's been a few threads over on Signal Users forum on this, and some other issues over the years, so at this point the radio silence probably hurts rather than helps.

All of that said, attackers will continue to attempt to undermine the security of Signal (as they have always done), and this feature is no exception. I understand that the impact of these changes need to be considered carefully, and know that the team is probably spending a lot of hard work on this. ❤️

Thanks for your time!

[afeld]

Feature Request

cc signalapp/Signal-Android#13773

[LunarN0v4]

Feature Request

cc signalapp/Signal-Android#13773

wtf?

[LunarN0v4]

against all odds