[frollogaston]

Is this an important feature? I know WhatsApp and iMessage have some kind of API for businesses, but as a regular user, I've never interacted with a legit business using it. Only been harassed by bots a few times.

My one serious problem with Signal is that it silently goes out of date then stops sending notifications, so I miss messages entirely. Kind of its one job.

[godelski]

Maybe maybe not. I think it is a useful feature for power users. The question is if targeting power users will help mass appeal. I'd argue with an app like Signal, yes it would. The power users are effectively their evangelists. APIs could enable a lot of features that people are asking for like location sharing, bots (e.g. on your IOT devices), and so on. The concern is more that introducing those things creates security risks but I think that's okay. Put a "developer mode" type switch like in Android.

But there are also other things I'd like to see.

For mass appeal I'd like to see them integrating Signal Stickers[0] into the app so people can search stickers. This has been a surprisingly common complaint among people I've converted over.

For both groups I'd love to see something like this feature request[1] I like that it could serve as the backbone of a mesh network and AirDrop is a incredibly popular. Would be super cool if you could hold a copy of the APK on your phone and drop it over to others to install that way. I imagine even a rudimentary mesh network could really reduce server loads. My GF and I often sync pictures to each other this way. No reason that needs to go over the network when we're sitting 5 feet from one another.

For power users I'd love to see a nuking capability. Bidirectional. I want to know that if I am at a protest or something and get picked up by the Gestapo that either I or a trusted friend can wipe my phone. It's not a cure all, but it greatly reduces the chances of "incriminating" evidence being found on my device. But such a feature seems quite unpopular on their forums (I am very much not a fan of their forums and the community there...)

[0] https://signalstickers.org/

[1] https://community.signalusers.org/t/signal-airdrop

[esseph]

> APIs could enable a lot of features that people are asking for like location sharing

Please, no. You don't need that as a feature when you can drop a maps link.

> it could serve as the backbone of a mesh network

????? What?

> For power users I'd love to see a nuking capability. Bidirectional. I want to know that if I am at a protest or something and get picked up by the Gestapo that either I or a trusted friend can wipe my phone.

If you are at a protest with your phone, you are very likely leaking enough signals intelligence to identify, analyze, and monitor you and the entire group you are/were in contact with.

To me? All of these requests sound like things that would make the app the exact opposite of what I am looking for. Right now it is damn near perfect.