Workaround to add tsdevice:/? string when QR codes won't work

[relyt29]

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Description

So I don't know if this is mergeable for UX/philosophical reasons so Moxie you'll have to make that call, but I thought since I had already written the code as a jank hack just to get Signal-Desktop to pair with my personal device, I thought I would offer it as a potential solution to #4637.

This commit adds an EditText and Button that will allow a user to manually type the QR code text (tsdevice:/?blahblahblah) into the EditText and then submit the device that way. The UX for this may not be optimal, and I ended up using an setOnFocusChangeListener on the EditText because it makes it a nightmare to type because the soft keyboard and screen takes too much space while you're trying to type if you don't hide the camera preview.

I have tested this on two devices with two separate phone numbers and it allowed me to pair signal-desktop to the device both times. Here is a screenshot:

Thanks!

[moxie0]

thanks for submitting but you're right, this isn't really a ux we want to expose

[relyt29]

Yeah, that's what I figured, I just thought since I already had the code, I'd offer it to you guys if you wanted it.

[Vinnl]

How about as a context menu option when long pressing the camera view, perhaps even only visible when holding a certain button (e.g. volume up)? Or are there also security risks or maintainability issues related with exposing this in any way?

[Marethyu6]

thanks for submitting but you're right, this isn't really a ux we want to expose

@moxie0 Could you briefly explain why? This is a perfect solution to a problem I am having. I don't want to buy a new phone just for an unscratched camera that I will probably never use. Maybe in 5 years your reasons have been updated? Thank you.

Hi, I'm having the same issue as well, after looking through the different threads I came here and (echoing @straussmaus request) I'd like to have an update on this please!

[haarp]

Check out Molly. It's a fork of the Signal client that recently added support for this (almost trival) feature.

[vince-from-nice]

I have just bought a new Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 and Signal crashes when it opens the cam.
So I have no other choice than using Molly, thanks for the link !

[SeSodesa]

This feature is certainly needed, as the camera of my phone just decided to stop working altogether, but the phone is just fine otherwise. I am not going to replace the phone just because of that, or because Signal does not support other device registration methods than QR-codes, but I do miss the possibility of typing messages on my laptop instead of a touch screen.

[elandorr]

Even with that fool moxie gone Signal is as anti-user as ever. Every time I revisit it it still sucks. Wish there were a messenger not bought by ego/greed/corporate interests/pseudo security fetishism locking people in a box.

Thank you for sharing Molly @haarp!

It's ridiculous we have to work around this, but afaict this is the least shitty choice.

No "smart"phone, no phone number, thank you. No phone altogether! And no blobby electron client! One can imagine.....