Signal version expires in a few days

Manu · July 12, 2022, 8:36am

Hello,

I’ve a message in the application “Signal” saying it will expire soon. Everyday I hope there will be an upgrade available in Apps, but now we’re at 2 days from expiry.

I’ve read a thread from 2020 saying that the issue would be resolved soon (getting faster Signal updates in Apps), but is that still the case ? Should I trust the Apps upgrade in hoping I’ll get the upgrade just in time, like in the movies ? Or should I install Signal manually ? Or are there other ways ?

Cheers for any help, pointers and experiences.

(I’ve a Samsung S8 with pre-installed /e/ upgraded to the latest available - 0.23-20220406176461)

irrlicht · July 12, 2022, 8:43am

Forget Apps. Uninstall your Signal and install it newly from another source (Aurora).

I even suggest to use Langis, a Signal-fork which generates reliable and prompt notifications (Signal does not).

sonyxa2 · July 12, 2022, 1:33pm

Hi @irrlicht ,

I installed Signal from the apk in their website, and I have no issues with the notifications.
And no issue with the updates, I am always notified when one is available, if that is relevant @Manu

irrlicht · July 12, 2022, 3:31pm

I’m not sure if we talk about the same things. The original Signal app (this is what you also get from Apps and Aurora) depends on Google Push services and notifies the user this way.

With “notification” I mean the blinking LED and a sound and vibration and a readable entry in the notification area immediately after each Signal message which has been received. And these things should really happen in a few seconds, otherwise a prompt communication between two or more people is somehow senseless. This is something which is difficult on an /e/ device which is degoogled and where the user has also an interest in getting rid of the services.

There are ports of Signal out there which are not related anymore to the Google Push services. But in my experience they (the ones I have tested) didn’t notify reliable. They did receive messages but the user was not informed. Langis does that in any case.

Manu · July 13, 2022, 1:37pm

So far, I can’t say I’m enjoying the process of trying out various solutions for an app that’s in the default app store. I was hoping to keep things simple, it’s starting to look like that ship is currently sailing out of the port.

I tried Aurora, but that felt like too much. I /quit on that at before going too far.

The F-Droid + “patched-apps” (Langis) solution seems, maybe clunky, but maybe I just need to uninstall/reinstall for it to work (the available version is the same outdated one I already have, but on the gitlab, it seems like they’re more up to date - it’s weird).

So far, the official APK seems like the best solution, though it sounds scary (they put up warnings everywhere). I haven’t gone further than finally finding the link to the APK (why do they make it so difficult to find?)

I’m still not sure which direction to fully follow (I’ve friends in the same situation, I’ll have to help them out, so, I’m trying to keep it simple, safe and long-termy).

It’s a shame that Signal seems to not be maintained in Apps - or maybe there’s a maintainer somewhere who knows something? Maybe they are having issues?

I’m going to wait a bit more…

Thanks for your help.
: ]

sonyxa2 · July 13, 2022, 3:17pm

Hi,

This is what I get from my version of Signal (now, 5.42.8, but I am quite often notified about updates), that I dowloaded from the Signal website.
No issue from my side, but I have to admit that I am not running the latest versions of /e/OS

Manu · July 13, 2022, 8:37pm

As Signal was about to expire, I made backups in case and did this. It seems to work fine and I didn’t need the backups. However, verifying the package is another story.

Taurus · July 13, 2022, 9:00pm

Here’s one way to verify the package in the Linux terminal:

Verify sha256 fingerprint of ProtonMail or Signal Android apk

Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the apk (e.g. if the file is in Downloads folder, use cd Downloads), and then run this command. (Alter package name if needed:):

keytool -printcert -jarfile ProtonMail-Android.apk

For Signal (alter package name as needed):
keytool -printcert -jarfile Signal-Android-website-prod-universal-release-5.41.14.apk

Compare result to published fingerprint on website.

Manu · July 14, 2022, 9:01am

That works beautifully, thanks a bunch.

Manu · July 14, 2022, 12:30pm

Funny story, just today, when the version of Signal included in Apps was to expire, Apps has an update.

irrlicht · July 17, 2022, 1:32pm

When you added the patched-apps repository mentioned on the Langis website to F-Droid you get proper updates every few days from there, not at all outdated. My current version is 5.43.1.

nottolino · July 17, 2022, 2:57pm

It seems that the gitlab repo for langis do no longer exists

And when added to F-Droid, it asks for a verification

irrlicht · July 17, 2022, 3:12pm

But I get updates and I mean from there, at least once a week. When I switch off this patched-apps repo F-Droid doesn’t find the Langis app, it’s not in the list anymore. When I switch it on everything is OK.

nottolino · July 17, 2022, 3:55pm

That’s mysterious. I can add that repo to Fdroid, but langis do not appear.

marcdw · July 20, 2022, 12:33pm

Depending on the order of the repos langis will appear as either Signal or langis. For instance, on one of my phones I have both the Firefox F-Droid repo (with Silence) and patched-apps (with langis). Both Signal and langis occupy the same entry. Since patched-apps is last it takes precedence in the F-Droid client’s display as far as app name is concerned. Probably because the package name of both are the same.

Here you see the langis entry with both Signal and langis offerings.

When I remove the Firefox repo and re-add it, now the client has a Signal entry but not langis, yet the offerings are the same.

If you were to add the TwinHelix repo you now have three different Signals to choose from under one entry.

I first noticed this behavior when I had both the Bromite and Ungoogled Chromium repos and their webview offerings were combined. Same happens if you have NewPipe’s repo or other dev-provided repos.

So if you don’t see langis in the client, search for Signal. Also make sure the patched-apps repo actually took. I had a heck of a time with the main F-Droid client not verifying the repo. Worked after I added the repo via this link and clicking on the “I Have F-Droid” button. It will use a fdroidrepo:// URL for the repo.

https://thecapslock.gitlab.io/fdroid-patched-apps/fdroid/repo/?fingerprint=313D9E6E789FF4E8E2D687AAE31EEF576050003ED67963301821AC6D3763E3AC

So in the main client with both TwinHelix and patched-apps repos both will be found under either Signal-FOSS or langis. Whichever was added last.
With the main F-Droid client you have to expand Versions down at the bottom and then expand each version to see what’s what.

My preferred client is F-Droid Classic where these things can be seen at a glance, as shown earlier.