Would it be possible to port this app?
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First off I don't code, so I can't help with the work that this would take. So this is merely a suggestion and nothing more.
But apparently there is a FOSS Signal fork for Android that works quite well, and I'm wondering whether the fact that it's FOSS makes it possible to port it to Ubuntu Touch.
It's called Molly.I just heard about this last Friday and I figured it might be useful information to pass on.
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@Moem There are several f-droid apps that would work well under UT. I don't even ask because I would like some under UT like music player to be maintained and improved. What are the strong points of the one you are proposing? To replace TELEports which seems to be marking a halt in its development?
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@domubpkm said in Would it be possible to port this app?:
What are the strong points of the one you are proposing? To replace TELEports which seems to be marking a halt in its development?
No, not at all, TELEports is fine. It's an app for Telegram.
Molly is an app for Signal. There is currently no Signal app for UT that works. Axolotl2 works in some ways but I know the small crew is struggling with keeping up with the many changes that Signal makes.
So maybe this is an easier route to the same destination. -
@Moem Unfortunately open source Android apps in general are not easier to port to UT if they are written in Kotlin or Java, as this one is. It would amount to a rewrite of the whole application.
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@arubislander Oh dear! Well, while that is not what I was hoping to hear, it's good information to have. Thank you very much!
- 7 months later
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@Moem you mean kinda like this?? .....do to the fact your so awesome i thought id give it a shot ....iv never used signal so i had to google it and us AI to help ....but why not? .....so what i need is for this to be tested and then given feedback then i can port it to click or fix it or whatever (in theory) lol ....when im done ill name Moem-signal app lol ....its a single file script so do you prefer the code here copy and paste or a google drive link to the file? ....im locked out of github ATM and dont really care to go back (i cannot stand microsoft)
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if i can get my way i have like 50 apps to bring over to UT including a entire office suite .....i want to bring my AI assistant over but i dont think it will work very well .....meh phones ....but yeah its for sure on my todo
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its a good distraction and is way easier app to build than a web browser
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maybe ill ditch github Oauth and use something more basic like google ....or should i even worry about a login? this could easily be made into a private messaging app ....@Moem ...its your app so you can decide the features
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@developerbayman said in Would it be possible to port this app?:
this could easily be made into a private messaging app
That's what Signal is. A private messaging app. And it is probably not at all easy to port or it would have been done long ago.
Sorry, I don't know what to do with a script, and i don't use Google-anything.
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@Moem well when i say private message i mean it only works on the local network or port forwarding ....without the need to contact a 3rd party server .... i guess i dont understand what you want in a use case? ....to use signal it needs to contact signal servers to log in and they handle the ability to contact anyone on signal .....where i could just make this a local network private chat or even bundle it with its own server then port forward would be needed to access the outside(not sure how to do that with clickable just yet)
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@developerbayman said in Would it be possible to port this app?:
...to use signal it needs to contact signal servers to log in and they handle the ability to contact anyone on signal .....
True, and that's how I want to use it. To stay in contact with Signal users, both individuals and groups, all over the world.
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@Moem thats all i needed to know for now .....ill go ahead and put it into a clickable and we can try hit or miss ....right now none of my devices have UT on them so my testing is limited to clickable desktop
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@Moem do you prefer to use you username and password or do you use any Oauth i.e google, github, ect?
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one main issue im running into is signal does not provide a public api so i have to use signal-cli to make things happen the issue is UT file system is locked ....so i dont know what to do .....can a clickable app download and install a program for the system or does it only use its own space to do anything? ...if its a command line app like signal-cli can it run in a apps user space? ....so much i dont know about clickable ........this is why im usually complaining about this or that on UT regarding the locked file system ....great for security but makes app development .....really hard ....im sure its just something simple (or complicated lol)i need to learn though
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@developerbayman As far as I know, Signal uses telephone number and PIN.
But to be honest, I'm not too eager to experiment because registering (logging in) a new primary Signal app will unregister my existing primary app. There can only be one at the same time.Maybe it's easier to port Whisperfish? That's the native Signal app for Sailfish.
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@Moem said in Would it be possible to port this app?:
Maybe it's easier to port Whisperfish? That's the native Signal app for Sailfish.
There's already axolotl for UT that is a native Signal app.
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@dobey said in Would it be possible to port this app?:
There's already axolotl for UT that is a native Signal app.
I know. Have you tried it? It's lacking a lot of features, some of which I consider to be showstoppers (messages not arriving... kind of important). As I said above: I know the small crew is struggling with keeping up with the many changes that Signal makes. They're certainly doing their best, but the current state of Axolotl can't really be considered usable.
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@Moem said in Would it be possible to port this app?:
They're certainly doing their best, but the current state of Axolotl can't really be considered usable.
Sure. Doing the same thing in a different repo in a different language won't make anything better though, especially if it's another single random dev trying to keep up with a corporate entity's product. I don't think Whisperfish is any better off here either, really.
If @developerbayman wants to help with a Signal app, it would probably be best to help with Axolotl, rather than trying to start from scratch and go their own way.
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@dobey said in Would it be possible to port this app?:
If @developerbayman wants to help with a Signal app, it would probably be best to help with Axolotl
That's a great idea, and I would certainly cheer him on.