PSA: We've received questions about push notifications. First: push notifications for Signal NEVER contain sensitive unencrypted data & do not reveal the contents of any Signal messages or calls–not to Apple, not to Google, not to anyone but you & the people you're talking to. 1/
In Signal, push notifications simply act as a ping that tells the app to wake up. They don't reveal who sent the message or who is calling (not to Apple, Google, or anyone). Notifications are processed entirely on your device. This is different from many other apps. 2/
What's the background here? Currently, in order to enable push notifications on the dominant mobile operating systems (iOS and Android) those building and maintaining apps like Signal need to use services offered by Apple and Google. 3/
Apple simply doesn’t let you do it another way. And Google, well you could (and we've tried), but the cost to battery life is devastating for performance, rendering this a false option if you want to build a usable, practical, dependable app for people all over the world.* 4/
@Mer__edith I respect the work that Signal has done, and Signal has been a great leader in pushing e2ee over the past 15 years. Signal can also do better on push. It is not a binary choice, other options provide much improved privacy with smaller hit on battery usage. @unifiedpush does that and falls back to Google push for devices that don't have #UnifiedPush built-in. @fdroidorg is also helping to get it integrated into #CalyxOS #LineageOS etc https://f-droid.org/2022/12/18/unifiedpush.html
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@Mer__edith @unifiedpush @fdroidorg and since you mentioned the world, there are 1.4 billion mobile phone users in China without Apple or Google push. There are half a billion #Huawei users around the world who do not have access to Apple or Google push. #AppGallery devices are sold around the world, including here in Austria. Signal's stance on push really only works in North America. 2/2
