Signal app experience on UT

hummlbach

@aclifton314 Actually you should find Axolotl like here: https://open-store.io/?sort=relevance&search=signal
Which version of UT do you run?

aclifton314

@hummlbach I am currently running:
OS: 16.04 (2020-W24)
Device: Oneplus One (bacon)
Channel: release-candidate

hummlbach

@aclifton314 mhmm... and you can't find Axolotl in the openstore? Thats strange...

aclifton314

@hummlbach Sorry, I can definitely see Axolotl. I was anticipating an app called Signal. Thanks for the tips. I'll be messing around with it!

cliffcoggin

@aclifton314 said in Signal app experience on UT:
Thanks for the tips. I'll be messing around with it!

I am interested in Axolotl so I would like to hear anybody's experience of setting up and using the application, bearing mind that I have zero experience of Signal or any other messaging application, or even a smartphone in fact.

flohack

Jus to mention, for copyright reasons we are not using "Signal" or "Telegram" names anymore for those Apps, we want to stay out of this trouble. Still the keyword search should have come up with a result. Will talk with the guys about it.

Moem

@cliffcoggin Axolotl works, but it's definitely feeling like a beta (which is how it's presented, so that makes sense). It has some lacking features in groups; in one-on-one conversations it's mostly okay.
What I'm currently missing in one-on-one usage: the reply-with-quote feature, the ability to see whether your message was delivered, and the (relatively new) ability to post and see emoji reactions (like, posting a smiley face on someone's message without posting a message of your own). Other people's emoji reactions currently aren't shown and trigger a false notification.

Nevertheless: it sends and receives messages. The contact list can be populated from your phone's contact list. It mostly works, and it's bound to get better over time.

cliffcoggin

Thank you Moem. One other question please. Are conversations and messages limited to other Axolotl users, or will it work with users on other applications?

Moem

They would have to be using either Axolotl or Signal.

cliffcoggin

That's a pity. I'll look for something else instead as nobody I know uses either Axolotl or Signal.

Moem

Cliff, you seem to be looking for a cross-protocol messenger app and I don't think that exists on UT. (Neither does it, as far as I know, exist on Android.)

Generally, using a messenger app to talk to people means that you both need to be using the same protocol. Not by definition the same software, but the same protocol, yes. And there is in most cases not such a thing as a 'bridge' between one protocol and another. So someone on WhatsApp can't talk to someone on Signal.

cliffcoggin

Moem, what I am looking for is a way to talk and text over wifi because the mobile signal at home is non-existent. Axolotl at first seemed to be a way to do that, but its limited membership makes it unsuitable for my needs.
Cliff.

Moem

@cliffcoggin That might be a problem... AFAIK you can't send texts over wifi because texts are a paid service offered by your phone provider.

If you can get any of these people to use Telegram, which is very multiplatform and does not require a smartphone (it can be installed on a desktop and only needs a phone that can receive texts, for purposes of verification) you could use TELEports which is quite a decent Telegram-compatible UT app.
Most people find Telegram easier to use than Signal. It's a bit less hardcore secure than Signal is. Personally I like it and use it a lot. It offers voice chat too, so you can talk over wifi using your Mint machine; I don't think TELEports offers voice chat (yet).

I'm afraid that 'my friends are on a different messenger protocol' is a very common problem with no easy fix.

PhoenixLandPirat

@Moem I mean as long as you set it up well , you can use fluffychat to talk to your friends on matrix, telegram, discord, whats app, irc and many other messaging apps, it just takes a bit of extra know how.

Moem

@PhoenixLandPirat Thank you, that's good information! I didn't realise that.

cliffcoggin

Thank you both for the extra information. Without universal application (i.e. no requirement for membership of a group, or use of a particular application,) I am clearly barking up the wrong tree. I shall investigate boosting my mobile signal at home.

PhoenixLandPirat

@Moem you're welcome, some of the ubports telegram groups are bridged to matrix, and you can use t2bot.io to easily bridge telegram and discord with matrix, but they can be unreliable at times.

Theres also a bridge for signal but you have to put it up yourself.

https://github.com/witchent/matrix-puppet-signal

So if you're skilled enough you could either help improve axolotl, or set up a signal puppet, if you're not to tech savy, axolotl still works its just missing features, so its not really ready for primetime as of yet.

Moem

@PhoenixLandPirat said in Signal app experience on UT:

if you're skilled enough you could either help improve axolotl, or set up a signal puppet,

I am most definitely not skilled enough. But I'm fine with waiting for the further development of Axolotl, and I'll be happy to cheer the developers on if it motivates them.

cheerleader emoticon

Vill

@cliffcoggin If you know people who want to talk to you, ask them to install Signal Messenger https://www.signal.org/ available for all platforms Android, Apple, Microsoft, Linux... You should use Axolotl then - so you can chat with your people.

I hope Axolotl will get some love in near future - Pinephone is out