Signal-CLI on Ubuntu touch?
-
Hello Everyone, Im Aaron.
I used to do app development for UT during covid and helped to make apps like Gem or WaydroidHelper. Ive recently been tinkering with UT again and am interested into doing some stuff again.
I was mainly wondering whether there have been any attempts to bring signal-CLI to UT as I think it would be a great addition to the ecosystem. SailfishOS has set the example with WhisperFish. Since Axolotl is no more and Signal has no WebUI there is currently no good way to use it on UT apart from Waydoid which comes with its own drawbacks.
What are your thoughts on this?
-
@aarontheissueguy
I must say that would be greatly appreciated.
It doesn't seem easy, but if you feel up to it, I'm all for it!!! -
That would certainly have great value to UT!
Personally I use Cinny and a Matrix bridge, but that's a rather indirect solution and I still need to run Signal in Waydroid every now and then. If Signal-CLI could take over that job, that would mean a lot! -
Ohh it would be great!!!!!
Signal is my favorit massanger and I cant get it run so far on UT.
Greetings bunt7 -
@aarontheissueguy this would be fabulous. I am using Signal on Waydroid but this is not more than a workaround. Signal-cli for me is among the top 5 missing aps.
-
Once I get my Fairphone back from repair, ill start tinkering around with it. Ill probably also need to get a cheap phone number for testing.
I dont see why it shouldnt be possible. Ill have to package Java which sucks but its probably worth it.
-
@aarontheissueguy I also thought it would be feasible to build a graphical client based on signal-CLI. It would be great if you succeed in porting it!
Although a drawback, I see is that signal-CLI is made to handle the device as the primary device for the account (as far as I'm aware of). To me with the experience of Axolotl being unreliable over time, I think having a client that works as a secondary device would be less risky.
-
By the way I wonder if with Mir2.0 will be able to run electron apps through Wayland support, and therefore run directly signal-desktop natively in Ubuntu touch? (Without container)
If so we could simply adapt Signal-Desktop interface for mobile screen, and it could offer a nice solution for Signal on UT. Although it would require some maintenance because the release rate of singal-desktop is quite high.
-
@pparent said in Signal-CLI on Ubuntu touch?:
we could simply adapt Signal-Desktop interface for mobile screen, and it could offer a nice solution for Signal on UT.
Sure, but that's only a secondary device, so we'd still need a primary...
-
I would be more than happy to have a secondary device client. I would even say that I prefer a secondary device client. Because being an unofficial client to me this is to risky to let it handle the primary account, because if it fails it can also mess up my PC install ( as a secondary device )
Then you run the primary device in Waydroid or on a separate Android device.
What is the advantage to run it as a primary device?
-
@pparent said in Signal-CLI on Ubuntu touch?:
What is the advantage to run it as a primary device?
To me: being able to dump Waydroid.
-
But you don't have to actively run it. Actually I use signal everyday only on signal-desktop and molly as a secondary device, and the main account is on an old device that I never turn on, it works well.
-
@pparent I know. Every month or so, it apparently needs to be opened in order to stay active. Or so it tells me.
But even so, I'd prefer not to need Waydroid at all and Signal is the only thing I use it for. -
In pratice I get this warning but nothing happens if you don't open it (at least for me). It has been months that I haven't opened the main device and everything works well.
The thing is that we can never hope to have a main device client that is reliable and with all features, if it is not official. Official support will not happen for UT in any forseeable future. And any unofficial client risks to end up in broken and unusable acvounts as it happened many times with axolotl.
And let's be realistic features like calls could possibly work one day with a customized build signal-desktop , but will likely never work with a custom client form scratch or based on signal-cli.
-
@pparent In the real world, I'd be happy about any native Signal app for UT, be it secondary, primary or both.
