Half a dollar a month for 100GB of E2EE storage seems very generous, much cheaper than Ente Photos. Even at $2 or $3 a month it’d be good value for money. I can upload a bunch of photos and videos to “Note to self” and use it as a cloud backup.
- Cloud-hosted encrypted backups stored by Signal but accessible only by users through their unique encryption key.
- Cross-platform compatibility, enabling backups on Android to be restored on iOS and vice versa.
- Dynamic media offloading, reducing app storage size on devices by allowing older media to be stored in the cloud while retaining access via on-demand download.
- Tiered storage plans, including a generous free tier that backs up all messages and the most recent 45 days of media, and a paid option offering 100GB of storage at what appears to be a test-phase price of $0.42/month.
Nice, that solves several problems at once, not just backup. Like that you can switch between iOS and Android without losing your chats forever.
The free plan also sounds more than fair.
Here before Signal branches off into photo management 
Maybe it is a good deal but I don’t know about the reliability of the Notes to Self Feature. I’m always afraid I end up accidentally self-destructing important images or files
So sick, Signal showing everyone how it’s done with E2EE by default backups. I hope Apple, WhatsApp and everyone else learns from them and makes E2EE backups the default.
In terms of technical design, backups are encrypted with a single key controlled by the user, without employing forward secrecy or post-quantum cryptography. While this design may prompt debate in the cryptographic community, it aligns with Signal’s existing trust model centered on strong end-to-end encryption and minimal metadata.
Does this not matter because the key exchange that Signal uses is quantum resistant? Or is this a weak point?
It’s symmetric encryption so it should be fine. Symmetric encryption is already considered to be quantum resistant.
Looks like they’re planning for $2/month.
I’ve been waiting for this for a long time! The ability to move from iOS to Android is very much desirable and needed! I won’t mind paying to support Signal, but they gotta do a better job allowing multiple devices to be used simultaneously. I gotta find a way to get in touch with the developers.
I think WhatsApp is now a non-starter with the introduction of ads. I have removed it from my iPhone. If someone wants to get a hold of me, it’ll be either iMessage or Signal. If not, then we don’t chat. My position is non-negotiable.
That’s very generous indeed, if they stick to that price. Unless Signal allows the sharing of large files (eg: 1GB-5GB), it will take years for anyone to fill up that 100 GB limit.
I really hope they stick to that price point though, and don’t pull a Netflix / Disney+ by increasing it soon after.
This is where I personally disagree. First, it depends on where you are in the world. Second, regardless of where you are, subscriptions add up. I think micro fees/payments is the way to go.
The only question is, how will Signal protect their users’ privacy with payments? In most countries, businesses are required to keep records of payments for years. Even if they do it like Proton, it doesn’t change the fact that with credit cards, a third party (Srtipe for Proton) will know your identity.
I hope they accept cash and Monero. And if a big brand like Signal can accept Monero, Proton will no longer have any excuse IMO.
well, they created and still have preinstalled the use of MobileCoin. I think it’s much more likely they’re pushing their own cryptocurrency.
I hope there will be options for even more storage if there is demand. I do like to archive my messages and attachments sent to the person. I think Signal can advertise this for businesses. I’ll sign up for the 100GB plan just because I want to support their work. The Western world is slowly moving towards a surveillance capitalist society. Maybe even a police state! We need Signal more than ever.
Now about the phone number…I really wish there were another private and secure method for signing up.
Although I don’t understand much about cryptocurrencies, which partially explains why I have never used them, I do not understand the need for new ones. After BitCoin, I understand the need for a completely private one like Monero.
But what is the point of the other ones? Financial speculation? Scamming?
This is something that Henry from Tech Lore has voiced, and I agree with him. From my POV, people who are extremely skeptical about cryptocurrencies, are 100% justified.
If Monero works as a privacy currency, why do we need more?
I’m not an expert on cryptocurrencies either and I wasn’t even saying they would do well, just that I imagine since they have developed a cryptocurrency I imagine they would use that if they have to allow payment through cryptocurrencies.
Anyway, again from the little experience I have on this, but from what I know MobileCoin is meant to be anonymous and private “like Monero” but within Signal.
The whole world, my friend, the whole world. What I find absolutely baffling, is how some countries are super private when it comes to some things, but incredibly invasive when it comes to others.
For e.g., Australia is one of the few countries in the world that doesn’t have any national ID system, but at the same time, they appear to have some of the most privacy invasive laws.
I agree that we need Signal more than ever. I’m surprised you would need more than 100 GB. As someone who used Telegram for years to send myself articles, it’s very easy to lose track. I mean, it literally takes a few weeks.
I am shocked at the number of links I save and send myself just in one week. If I want to find an article I sent myself years ago, it can become incredibly hard to find. It’s even harder when it’s a photo.
Do you know how many times a friend or a family member has asked me for my bank details, when they already have it in our chat history from months or years ago?
Too many times. And even though I tell them they already have it, they expect me to send it because they can’t be bothered to search.
That would be great indeed, but I think they will not bother. They already require a phone number, so Signal is not interested in anonymity (who you are), just privacy (what you do).
Monero isn’t fast enough and doesn’t support transaction recovery (it also has probabilistic linkage which MobileCoin doesn’t due to our use of secure enclaves). We spent almost 18 months building MobileCoin Fog to solve the second problem (GitHub - mobilecoinfoundation/fog: DEPRECATED: Repo Contents moved to https://github.com/mobilecoinfoundation/mobilecoin). It’s a non-trivial stack of code to allow users to recover strings from servers they don’t control without the operators of those servers being able to learn what strings are being recovered.
Don’t get me wrong, we stand on the shoulders of giants, but there’s a lot of new tech here.
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