this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2025
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Signal will finally let you transfer your encrypted chat history to new linked devices (mas.to)
submitted 2 days ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
106 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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.

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[–] Macros@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

It is quite a bit out of date luckily. Signal-Desktop already stores data encrypted for quite a while. However it used to store the decryption key right alongside it. Recently (a few month ago) Signal switched to storing the key within the systems keystore, greatly improving security. Also causing a flood of users complaining that the can't just copy their .config to a new desktop and retain their chat history. This may have prompted the release of this new feature :)

[–] Petter1@lemm.ee 2 points 1 day ago

πŸ˜‚and 98% do upvote this old news, it is crazy

[–] noisefree@lemmy.world 1 points 22 hours ago

Good to know!