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    Crazy stuff: sudo snap install signal-desktop

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    • pparentP Online
      pparent
      last edited by pparent

      Hi,

      Today I just figured why not try:

      sudo snap install signal-desktop
      

      And I realize it just works! This is crazy. With this simple command I can link my device and see my chats. Well it is certainly not a responsive interface (but not terrible either, there's just the left menu coming in the way) and the keyboard does not show for now. But I can consult messages, and this is major.

      It means:

      1°) We can certainly create quite easily a version of Signal-Desktop that is adapted to mobile display (with few patches to the interface to make it responsive), and that we can get a full-fledge signal client on Ubtunu touch, that way.

      2°) That Mir2.0 will certainly help with that.

      Ps: I guess the first easy thing to make it usable as a consul-only stuff is adapt the scale, which I guess must be easily doable.

      S 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 6
      • pparentP Online
        pparent
        last edited by pparent

        Craziest thing:

        The calls are partially working out of the box!!!!
        Which means we can certainly get calls working one day!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 5
        • K Offline
          kugiigi
          last edited by

          Yeah, snap is now preinstalled on 24.04 Noble.
          We really need new Mir to get better Wayland/Xwayland support. Flatpak would also be cool and we'll be able to use desktop apps or apps in other mobile Linux distros. Nix can also be used with Crackle.

          MoemM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
          • MoemM Offline
            Moem @kugiigi
            last edited by

            @kugiigi said in Crazy stuff: sudo snap install signal-desktop:

            Yeah, snap is now preinstalled on 24.04 Noble.

            I don't think that's the main point of the post. The main point seems to be that, specifically, Signal for desktop can be installed on UT as a snap and works.
            Which is pretty impressive!

            Is currently using an Op5t
            Also owns an Op1, a BQ E4.5 and an Xperia X, as well as a BQ tablet and a Pinetab2. Please, someone... make it stop.

            K 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • K Offline
              kugiigi @Moem
              last edited by

              @Moem Oh okay.
              Then I'm just commenting in general context of snaps 😄
              For example, you can also do this with telegram. It even has a scaling setting to make it more usable on the phone. It also doesn't show the OSK though 😅

              pparentP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • pparentP Online
                pparent @kugiigi
                last edited by pparent

                @kugiigi

                Do you know how to adapt scaling of a snap app in Ubuntu Touch, or how to easily pass it parameters like ?

                GDK_SCALE=2

                Normally I would pass it in the .desktop file but snap constantly rewrites the .dektop file

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • pparentP Online
                  pparent
                  last edited by

                  @Moem
                  Honestly I see 4 simple steps to make it a usable client at least for basic chat:

                  1°) Adapt the scale (normally it should be easy)
                  2°) Show the keyboard when clicking on an input (I'm supposing Mir2.0 might help with that)
                  3°) Adapt UI to hide left menu when in chat view (Should be doable with minimal patches)
                  4°) Connect to content Hub to Import/export files.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • pparentP Online
                    pparent
                    last edited by

                    I've actually succeeded to start the app with acceptable scaling by creating a dummy unconfined app with simply a .desktop file with the launcher:

                    Exec=env GDK_SCALE=2 /snap/bin/signal-desktop --no-sandbox %U

                    t12392nT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                    • pparentP Online
                      pparent
                      last edited by

                      Maybe @ChromiumOS-Guy can help us figure out how to enable keyboard, as you did it with uWolf ?

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • t12392nT Offline
                        t12392n @pparent
                        last edited by

                        Nice find!

                        Unfortunately its the desktop app which cannot be a "main" app, as in you always need to keep a separate phone.

                        @pparent said in Crazy stuff: sudo snap install signal-desktop:

                        I've actually succeeded to start the app with acceptable scaling by creating a dummy unconfined app with simply a .desktop file with the launcher:

                        Exec=env GDK_SCALE=2 /snap/bin/signal-desktop --no-sandbox %U

                        That might be worth a guide/instruction with steps on how to do.

                        Samsung Fold5
                        will switch to
                        Volla Quintus UT 24.04-1

                        pparentP 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • pparentP Online
                          pparent @t12392n
                          last edited by

                          @t12392n said in Crazy stuff: sudo snap install signal-desktop:

                          Unfortunately its the desktop app which cannot be a "main" app, as in you always need to keep a separate phone.

                          Or you install it in waydroid in the same phone and open it from time to time only.

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • pparentP Online
                            pparent @t12392n
                            last edited by

                            @t12392n said in Crazy stuff: sudo snap install signal-desktop:

                            That might be worth a guide/instruction with steps on how to do.

                            I will publish a repository and a .click file for signal-launcher, pretty dummy stuff, but it can help making it usable for reading messages only, until we find a way to make the keyboard usable.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • pparentP Online
                              pparent
                              last edited by pparent

                              This post is deleted!
                              pparentP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • pparentP Online
                                pparent @pparent
                                last edited by

                                And the desktop notifications even show up when the phone is suspended , that's nuts! 😅

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • pparentP pparent referenced this topic on
                                • pparentP Online
                                  pparent
                                  last edited by pparent

                                  Actually it's interesting to note that Mobian package works as well if you install it with apt-get [NOT RECOMMENDED If you don't know what you're doing]

                                  https://github.com/0mniteck/Signal-Desktop-Mobian/

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • pparentP Online
                                    pparent
                                    last edited by pparent

                                    I've succeeded in opening the keyboard when editing text in signal-desktop !!!! 🎆 🍾

                                    I could do it reusing the work of @ChromiumOS-Guy in uWolf!

                                    I can officially send signal messages from a native Ubuntu Touch app, without Waydroid! 😀

                                    Even though for now it's not convenient , since keyboard hides the text area, and the enter button of the keyboard somehow does not trigger sending the message, and the "send" button in signal is hidden until you expend the editing area. But still very usable.

                                    For now everything is messy, but I will try to make it available soon (I think it should be possible to do a click package, but I'm not sure yet)

                                    Ps: Note that I could do it with Mobian version only for now.

                                    W 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 9
                                    • W Offline
                                      wally @pparent
                                      last edited by

                                      @pparent Some of us old-fashioned (and long-winded) folks LIKE to be able to press <Enter> without sending the message 🙂
                                      But however it worked in the end, I sure wouldn't complain!

                                      Congrats on what sounds like an amazing start on this! 🍾

                                      Languages: 🇬🇧 🇨🇦 🇫🇷

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • pparentP Online
                                        pparent
                                        last edited by pparent

                                        I've succeeded in making a .click package, here is the topic for the app development:

                                        https://forums.ubports.com/topic/11532/signal-ut-signal-desktop-for-ubuntu-touch

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                        • S Offline
                                          Shapa @pparent
                                          last edited by

                                          @pparent I am using signal from openstore really cool stuff kodos to you

                                          Does it mean we can convert other snaps app to ubuntu touch ?

                                          I am thinking firefox browser could be good use case

                                          pparentP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • pparentP Online
                                            pparent @Shapa
                                            last edited by pparent

                                            @Shapa said in Crazy stuff: sudo snap install signal-desktop:

                                            Does it mean we can convert other snaps app to ubuntu touch ?

                                            Well you could. But probably not directly , for most packages if you want to make it fully integrated. As you may have seen I'm now recompiling Signal-Desktop from source code, and apply some patches for different things like having a responsive interface and a functional keyboard. The whole process requires quite a bit of manual work to get close to a fully integrated and working application.

                                            @Shapa said in Crazy stuff: sudo snap install signal-desktop:

                                            I am thinking firefox browser could be good use case

                                            Isn't uWolf good enough for that? uWolf is basically a custom firefox.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0

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