Signal Private Messenger Rolls Out Secure Backups for iPhone

[MacRumors]

Encrypted messaging platform Signal now offers secure backups on iPhone, letting users save and restore messages if they lose access to their device.

There are free and paid versions of Signal's secure backups. The free version lets users store up to 100MB of text messages, including photos, videos, and files from the last 45 days.

The paid version costs $1.99 per month and can back up all text messages, along with up to 100GB of media which can be older than 45 days.

The end-to-end encrypted backups can be accessed using a 64-character recovery key generated by the user's device, but keeping the key safe is crucial – if it's lost, Signal can't help users recover their backups.

Enabling secure backups in the Signal app is straightforward: Open the Settings menu and select Backups, then tap Setup ➝ Enable Backups. After a recovery key is generated, users can choose a free or paid plan.

Secure backups first came to Android in September. Signal says it plans to bring secure backups to its desktop app, and its longer term goal is to allow users to transfer message history between Android, iPhone, and desktop apps.

Article Link: Signal Private Messenger Rolls Out Secure Backups for iPhone

 

[Zmmyt]

Not a fan of subscriptions. But if you only need to sign up for 1 month when i.e. you change phones, I think that is acceptable.

 

[G725]

Not a fan of subscriptions. But if you only need to sign up for 1 month when i.e. you change phones, I think that is acceptable.

You can already easily transfer all your Signal chats from your old phone to your new phone.
The backup is for the case that your old phone is lost or stopped working. In that case you need to have uploaded a backup before.

 

[platinumaqua]

Full encrypted iTunes backup is free, unless that doesn't backup Signal data

 

[maasj]

I love Signal! This development is great news for end user usability. Free backups to iCloud are great… until you don’t want every government on earth spying on you.

For the few remaining people who care about privacy, Signal is where it’s at.

 

[maasj]

Full encrypted iTunes backup is free, unless that doesn't backup Signal data

They don’t. Signal is really choosy about where its data is allowed.

 

[Reverend Benny]

I love Signal! This development is great news for end user usability. Free backups to iCloud are great… until you don’t want every government on earth spying on you.

For the few remaining people who care about privacy, Signal is where it’s at.

Completely agree, and its about time they did offer a backup solution. I'll happily pay to get this.
There is also the option to use other storage options if you don't want to pay for their storage as far as I understand.

That they are looking into moving messages between platforms is another big step forward I am looking forward to.

 

[orbital~debris]

Signal is a great app on iOS & iPad OS, also nice on macOS (I hope they'll at some point soon be able to make the latter native and have feature-parity with the former).

It's pleasant to have a solid Meta-alternative. And charging for a service like this is a nice middle-ground between outright subscriptions and unsustainable freeness.

 

[Good User Name]

I love Signal! This development is great news for end user usability. Free backups to iCloud are great… until you don’t want every government on earth spying on you.

For the few remaining people who care about privacy, Signal is where it’s at.

Wouldn’t you just do an encrypted backup instead?