Fork from a private messenger for Android with extra options added: full backup and (partial, ony text) xml backup of messages. Restore can happen at any time, not only after a fresh install. Import SMS database. Import of (unencrypted) WhatsApp databases. Removed apk expire. Choose between passphrase protection and the Android screenlock. Choice for the backup location (internal or removable storage on Android < 11 (on 11 and higher this is already possible)). Set the maptype in the place picker. Option to treat view-once media as normal media. Option to ignore remote deletion. Choose between FCM or websocket notification delivery.
[x] This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic
I had to fumble around a bit trying to restore the custom backups of my messages -- by default they weren't being recognised:
I selected the Signal default backup on first run, but after confirming my number I reached the main screen with no messages
Attempting to load the full backup showed "No encrypted backup found!"
Attempting to load the plaintext backup showed a restoration screen for a fraction of a second, then the app reloads and no messages have been imported
I double-checked the storage location and the built-in Chat backups settings, and the paths are correct (/sdcard/Backups/Signal in this case, with FullBackups/SignalExport.zip and PlaintextBackups/SignalPlaintextBackup.zip inside).
The existing backups I had (both plaintext and full) were created with both the corresponding "store in zipfile" options enabled.
I had the backups password to hand and have successfully decrypted the backups on another device -- what I ended up doing was re-zipping the full backup without a ZIP file password, moving that in place of the existing backup at FullBackups/SignalExport.zip, and then using the Restore encrypted backup option, at which point it restored successfully.
Device info
Device: OnePlus Nord CE
Android version: 12 (OxygenOS 12.1)
Signal version: 5.40.4.0-JW (I'm aware this is old, I started with the same version used to create the backups)
Looks like the log file export only goes back 10 minutes, so I missed the useful output -- if there's interest in this then I can try it on another device and see if it's reproducible.
Seems the Signal install didn't know the key of the zipfiles. That should be restored when restoring a default backup but otherwise I'm afraid this method is the only way around. I should add a password entry field if the zipfile can't be decrypted due to a missing password.
johanw666
commented
1 year ago
I had to fumble around a bit trying to restore the custom backups of my messages -- by default they weren't being recognised:
I double-checked the storage location and the built-in Chat backups settings, and the paths are correct (
/sdcard/Backups/Signalin this case, withFullBackups/SignalExport.zipandPlaintextBackups/SignalPlaintextBackup.zipinside).The existing backups I had (both plaintext and full) were created with both the corresponding "store in zipfile" options enabled.
I had the backups password to hand and have successfully decrypted the backups on another device -- what I ended up doing was re-zipping the full backup without a ZIP file password, moving that in place of the existing backup at
FullBackups/SignalExport.zip, and then using the Restore encrypted backup option, at which point it restored successfully.Device info
Device: OnePlus Nord CE Android version: 12 (OxygenOS 12.1) Signal version: 5.40.4.0-JW (I'm aware this is old, I started with the same version used to create the backups)
Looks like the log file export only goes back 10 minutes, so I missed the useful output -- if there's interest in this then I can try it on another device and see if it's reproducible.