[jewel]

Yes! That has been supported for a long while. At least on Android, go to Settings -> Chats -> Chat Backups. Set up a schedule and a passphrase and a folder, and it will export your chats every day.

I do that and then sync that folder with another computer using SyncThing.

[chimeracoder]

> I do that and then sync that folder with another computer using SyncThing.

AFAIK SyncThing only monitors for changes between files with matching names, and Signal stores each backup with a separate (timestamped) filename. Are you storing every day's backup individually, or do you have some tool for deduplicating?

[hiq]

Encrypted backups can't be deduplicated unless the encryption is flawed. There shouldn't be a way to tell that one Signal backup is somewhat related to another, unless you have the passphrase.

That also means that Syncthing can't do better than sending the full backup. But if you're syncing via wifi (e.g. at home) it's not really a problem anyway.

[codethief]

> Encrypted backups can't be deduplicated unless the encryption is flawed.

Would you mind elaborating on why this would be an issue? 1) Tools like borgbackup provide the exact functionality you're describing and considered secure. 2) Encrypted file systems also don't re-encrypt your entire HDD whenever you change a single file.

[chimeracoder]

> Encrypted backups can't be deduplicated unless the encryption is flawed

This isn't an encryption problem; each device can only have one instance of Signal installed, and the latest backup (assuming it has terminated successfully) is a superset of the previous ones (aside from any messages that have dropped from retention, which you presumably don't want to be preserving, by definition).

"Deduplicate" in this context means ensuring that you only have N backups in your remote storage, rather than cumulatively storing every day.

[hiq]

Signal has always between one and two backups, it removes the old ones.

[joshjob42]

Only on Android, not iOS.

[cherryteastain]

It's not Signal's fault that Apple does not let you access the most basic feature of an operating system - the filesystem.

[joshjob42]

They do and have done for years now. There’s been a files app since 2017. They’ve had Advanced Data Protection available for iOS backups since 2022. Signal has just been lazy and found maintaining the Android backups to be a pain, so they refused to implement it for iOS.

[sneak]

ADP is off by default (this is why iMessage isn’t really e2ee), and importantly, isn’t available in all countries.

I believe in the UK you are legally barred from having access to iCloud ADP.

[traceroute66]

> I believe in the UK you are legally barred from having access to iCloud ADP.

Apple are still busy fighting the UK government on it in closed-court.

Apple-bashers can continue their hate, but give Apple their due:

    1. they are going in all guns blazing fighting the UK government instead of rolling over
    2. if they succeed, I think they well-deserve the credit.

[ls612]

Can Signal on iOS not save in the Files app like any other app that uses documents?

[swores]

From the point of view of iOS, yes it can (the person you're replying to is wrong, as explained by the other person who replied to them). But no, the Signal iOS app does not currently have that functionality.

[nar001]

They did support it since they released the Files app, as Signal shows. Nothing changed all these years, yet they're now rolling out backups for iOS too, so the technology is already there.

[Bender]

I do not see anything like that in Android 14 uLefone Armor 24 is on 14 vendor build. I've had to use a dodgy app to back up messages.