Signal has announced new functionality in its upcoming beta releases, allowing users to transfer messages and media when linking their primary Signal device to a new desktop or iPad. This feature offers the choice to carry over chats and the last 45 days of media, or to start fresh with only new messages.
The transfer process is end-to-end encrypted, ensuring privacy. It involves creating a compressed, encrypted archive of your Signal data, which is then sent to the new device via Signal’s servers. Despite handling the transfer, the servers cannot access the message content due to the encryption.
With the introduction of a cross-platform archive format, Signal is also exploring additional tools for message transfer to new devices or restoration in case of device loss or damage. Users can begin testing this feature soon, with a wider rollout expected in the coming weeks.
You have no S.O. or friends you’d want to look back on chats with from 2-5 years ago to reminisce about how you met or something you did?
What do you even use messengers for then?
(I am genuinely curious this is not meant to sound so patronising)
No looking back.
On my side, messengers are used for daily communication, info, memes and such.
Memories are made in person or via video calls having coffee, drinking. My family and friends are scattered all over so we often drink via Signal, sync the music we listen to on both sides… All night long. 🪗 😁
Interested about video calls - do you record them as well for looking back?
No, I don’t do video calls personally other than at work.
But the vast majority of communication when not IRL to me is text so that makes sense to preserve, even info, daily communication and memes, just the kind of day to day stuff you wouldn’t “make memories” of but might want to look back on someday anyway.
I pretty regularly end up looking back on that stuff one way or another too, either just literally reminiscing or to check something or whatever.
It’s come in extremely useful, fun and has no real downsides. I can’t even imagine not doing it. Like going somewhere and not even taking a picture. What if you forget it ever happened?
How do you even build a narrative of your life? What do you do about things you forget or forget the details of like when it happened etc.?
Many times I thought something happened in e.g. January only to be proven wrong by looking up messages from that time and be proven wrong, naturally as human memory is pretty shite for the most part.
I find the idea of reminiscing over instant messages funny. Different strokes I guess.
Why?
Recently me and my gf were reminiscing about how we met and what we talked about first, since we have many common interests and we got along really well on our first date, it was interesting to go and actually look up what it was we talked about then because we couldn’t agree on what it was.
Was a shame we didn’t have our very very first messages from OkCupid but at least we had our WhatsApp and Telegram history.
On another occasion, a friend of mine was feeling nostalgic for a time we were playing through RE6 together, and I was able to go back in our chat history and find the memes we made about it at the time, full of in-jokes and whatnot and screencaps, which really cheered him up and was just fun to reminisce.
Another time I had an argument with some friends over which year we went to see A Wonderful Life in the cinema, and whether it was 2023 or 2024 and that was nice to have messages from that time to refer to and we ended up remembering a small adventure we had the same day and laugh about it.
Or what about a nice heart to heart you had? What about something kind a friend said that cheered you up you want to see again? What about some good advice someone gave you once that could come in handy now?
What about that one funny video you can only remember one bit from but you remember who you sent it to? or a song or whatever?
What about raising an issue with your partner over something bad they do and being able to directly quote examples?
Heck I used my messages from the time I moved to a new flat figure out what day I actually moved in, since the tenancy agreement was on some old portal I had no access to anymore and I needed to know the day I moved for address history on a visa application.
I guess if you’re older, you probably don’t have a lot of friends who have a phone/computer or text? To be honest I’m kind of baffled, what do you even reminisce on, if not experiences shared with others? Or do you just not like having a record of memories?