My only concern reading this is that I hope they don't remove the manual export feature once this is rolled out. I know that that feature has been technically complicated to support, but it's important for users to preserve the option to maintain control over their backups, if they want to manage backups themselves, alongside the option of having a more convenient, automated approach.
(That presumably would let me store as much as I wanted without a fee).
I wasn't even aware of the existing "local backup feature" making it more confusing -- but reading the announcement I was like, wait, the only backups avail are in Signal cloud? that doesn't seem right, why can't I get my own backup file to do what I want with?
I feel like I now understand, thanks! Personally would recommend the announcement at least reference this future roadmap too, for clarity.
(No, this does not really help if you're one of the TouchID holdouts on an older SE)
So after so many years of having a serious design flaw this poor substitute of a backup where you can't even save all your text for free is all they've managed to come up with?
> The reason we’re doing this is simple: media requires a lot of storage, and storing and transferring large amounts of data is expensive.
Easy fix: let the user choose his own local/cloud storage location? (at least it's planned, maybe in just another decade)
And remember, Signal is a nonprofit. If you use it, and if you can, you should be donating.
Just save the pictures in the camera roll and important messages in your notes app of choice.
this and completly useless multi-device support is the reason I don't use Signal... Telegram is not fully e2ee but it's way more convenient here.
Even XMPP with PGP would be lightyears ahead.
Yes, it's at the expense of security perhaps... But I tried to get my wife to use Signal, as well as many friends and it never stuck bar one or two. She had to use telegram to contact someone and decided she liked it and continued using it.
It is what it is.
Everything on Signal (at least the "original" design from a few years ago, this has started to be adjusted with the introduction of usernames and now backups and eventually syncing) is end-to-end encrypted between users, with your original phone acting as the primary communication node doing the encryption. Any other devices like desktops and tablets that get added are replicating from the original node rather than receiving new messages straight from the network.
This offers substantial privacy and security guarantees, at the cost of convenience and portability. It can be contrasted with something like iMessage, before Messages in iCloud was implemented, where every registered device is a full node that receives every new message directly, as long as they're connected at the time that it's sent.
Today's addition brings Signal to where iMessage was originally: each device is backing up their own messages, but those backups aren't syncing with one another. Based on the blog post, the goal is to eventually get Signal to where iMessage is today now that Messages in iCloud is available: all of the devices sync their own message databases with a version in the cloud, which is also end-to-end encrypted with the same guarantees as the messages themselves, but which ensures that every device ends up with the same message history regardless of whether they're connected to receive all of the messages as they come in. Then, eventually, they seem to also intend to take it one step farther and allow for arbitrary sync locations for that "primary replica" outside of their own cloud storage, which is even better and goes even further than Apple's implementation does.
If done well, I actually quite like the vision they're going for here. I'm still frustrated that they wouldn't just port the simple file backup feature from Android to the other platforms, even as just a stopgap until this is finished, but I think that the eventual completion of this feature as described will solve all of my major concerns with Signal's current storage implementation.
Yeah convenient way to hand your data to a Russian oligarch.
PGP has no forward secrecy and OTR in XMPP lacks future secrecy, multi-device support etc.
Signal introducing end-to-end encrypted backups is exactly how Telegram should've done it decade ago.
Not everyone is paranoid at extremum.
> PGP has no forward secrecy and OTR in XMPP lacks future secrecy, multi-device support etc.
Have you ever considered that perfect-forward-secrecy is not needed by 99% of the people? And PGP (OX) can be enough of encryption that gives you multi-device support.
Btw. OTR is long dead…
PGP does multirecipients natively, so any restrictions there would be in the XMPP client.
I have actually tried out PGP over XMPP and is was nice once it was set up. Absolutely no state. If the message somehow gets to you it just works. Sucked when the keys expired though:
* https://articles.59.ca/doku.php?id=pgpfan:expire
PGP support on XMPP isn't really that great. Forward secrecy might be a nice addition, even if it was semi-manual. There are compatibility problems between clients for encrypted media. You don't end up with an always encrypted archive like you do with email, but that could be considered an inherent weakness of instant messaging...
Meaning --if-- when your keys get compromised the system recovers.
PGP lacks even forward secrecy, meaning key compromise alone allows retrospective decryption of every message you've ever sent.
OTR fixed that in... ...2004 https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1029179.1029200
Using PGP for secure communication in 2025 when you have option to use stateful E2EE over stuff like Signal is just bonkers.
I think that the sort of people that use PGP are more interested in not having any messages compromised, ever, while still retaining access to their old messages in a secure way. Contrast that with, say, Signal where a forensic tool like Cellebrite will allow access to retained Signal messages[1]. Sure, most of that is due to the inherent insecurity of encrypted instant messaging over, say, encrypted email, but the users in the end don't care. They just want to be able to communicate privately.
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20201210150311/https://www.celle...
Forcing your paranoidal perception "is just bonkers".
So either you're too young or too ignorant to have read the Snowden docs.
You are aware that majority of the communication happens via email, which has absolutely NO encryption and can go through whichever relay and noone gives a flying duck about it?
Again, for the overwhelming majority simple PGP encryption without pfs is more than enough. Not everyone works for government agencies and have to maintain perfect secrecy. If you do that in your private life then yes - you are paranoidal.
Hope they also may it easy to pay for family/friends, maybe similar to the "donate for a friend" they have already.
Do not get me wrong. Signal is great software and i'd gladly pay for it. Honestly. But not via this underhanded nonsensical way
After moving devices I can no longer access/decrypt my oldest image/video messages, they failed to import properly.