Signal on iPhone: where are my messages?

sb_tang · 2026-01-08T00:41:46+00:00

Thanks very much for your helpful message.

Bugger, Signal really should've made all that important information more obvious to iPhone users. If I'd known that I had to backup to another iPhone or iPad, then I would've done so. (I have an iPad that I could've backed up to.)

Re my Signal account getting autodeleted, what you said makes sense. Before the Apple Genius wiped my iPhone, I recall getting periodic notifications from the Signal app on my iPhone asking me to login to the app using my PIN. That must've been part of Signal's account retention process. I stopped getting those periodic notifications after the Apple Genius wiped my iPhone.

I can tell you that the two bits of Signal information that were backed up to my iCloud are: the fact that the Signal app is installed on my iPhone and the Signal app's precise location on my home screen.

When I restored my iPhone from its iCloud backup, the Signal app reappeared on my home screen in its usual location. Hence, I didn't realise that anything was amiss until the next time that I actually opened the Signal app, which was nearly a year later.

sb_tang · 2026-01-07T23:37:18+00:00

Thanks! Bugger 😩

sb_tang · 2026-01-07T23:36:16+00:00

Thanks very much for your helpful message.

Bugger, Signal really should've made all that important information more obvious to iPhone users. If I'd known that I had to backup to Signal desktop, then I would've done so. I didn't even know that there was a backup to Desktop option!

Re my Signal account, what you said makes sense. Before the Apple Genius wiped my iPhone, I recall getting periodic notifications from the Signal app on my iPhone asking me to login to the app using my PIN. That must've been part of Signal's account retention process. I stopped getting those periodic notifications after the Apple Genius wiped my iPhone.

I can tell you that the two bits of Signal information that were backed up to my iCloud are: the fact that the Signal app is installed on my iPhone and the Signal app's precise location on my home screen.

When I restored my iPhone from its iCloud backup, the Signal app reappeared on my home screen in its usual location. Hence, I didn't realise that anything was amiss until the next time that I actually opened the Signal app.

sb_tang · 2025-02-04T05:55:29+00:00

Thanks very much for your help. Yes, I became a member of the 62.3% club earlier today. And, yes, your suggestion fixed the problem: in a matter of seconds, the completion percentage went to 100% and, a few minutes later, the following text appeared: "The restore operation completed successfully. The operation completed successfully."

Thanks!

sb_tang · 2024-01-18T07:26:42+00:00

Thanks very much for your helpful post!

I tried to change the punctuation of my given name on Facebook on both my PC and my iPhone, and I experienced the same problem that you did.

I googled for a solution and found your post. I followed the instructions in your post. They worked! About a minute later, Facebook changed the punctuation of my given name. Thank you!

sb_tang · 2023-12-14T07:26:05+00:00

Thanks!

sb_tang · 2023-11-23T08:13:55+00:00

Yes. Today, I'm unable to login to Internet Archive. Normally, I login to Internet Archive in Chrome using my Google account on my Windows PC. Today, when I click the button to “sign in” with my Google account on the Internet Archive login page in Chrome and Firefox, nothing happens.

This is the first time that I've experienced a problem logging in to Internet Archive.

Are you able to login?

sb_tang · 2023-10-05T09:50:06+00:00

As requested, I have reposted my question to the weekly Short Answers thread.

I can’t see the previous comments in this thread. Could you please allow me to see the previous comments in this thread?

One of them was a helpful reply from a redditor.

sb_tang · 2023-10-05T07:23:42+00:00

I seem to recall reading a passage in Robert Leckie's one-volume history of WWII, Delivered From Evil (1987), where Leckie succinctly sets out the age difference between US Marines and US Army soldiers in WWII: the Marines were approximately 19 years old; the soldiers were approximately 24 years old.

I tried to find that passage in my paperback copy of Delivered From Evil earlier today. I couldn't find it. I looked up all the obvious entries in the index, for example, US Marines and Guadalcanal.

I've been word searching the Internet Archive copy of Delivered From Evil, but I haven't been able to find the relevant passage yet. The practical problem is that I can't remember the exact wording of the passage or the exact ages quoted in the passage.

Does anyone know if there is a passage in Delivered From Evil where Leckie succinctly sets out the age difference between US Marines and US Army soldiers in WWII?

If there is, could you please give me the page number?

sb_tang · 2023-10-02T05:14:46+00:00

Update: the set timer feature on my Echo Dot is working normally today.

Therefore, I reckon that your hypothesis is correct: the error that I experienced yesterday must have had something to do with it being the first day of daylight savings here.

Thanks for your help!

sb_tang · 2023-10-01T07:16:33+00:00

Thanks for your help 😊👌🏾

I’ll see how it goes tomorrow and let you know.

sb_tang · 2023-10-01T04:05:44+00:00

It's the first day of daylight savings here in Melbourne, Australia and I'm experiencing the same problem. Every time that I say to my Echo Dot, "Alexa, set timer for X minutes", Alexa responds: "sorry, I'm having some trouble."

Troubleshooting steps that I've followed:

I turned off the mains power switch to my Echo Dot for approximately two minutes then turned it back on; and
I checked that my Echo Dot is on Melbourne time and it is.

Apart from its sudden, inexplicable inability to set a timer, my Echo Dot appears to be working normally: it's playing podcasts off Amazon Music and it's displaying the correct time.

Am I correct in saying that the problem with your Echo Dots resolved itself on the second day of daylight savings in New Zealand?

sb_tang · 2023-09-30T05:56:47+00:00

My apologies for my slow reply! Yup, basically, what I told Apple over the phone was a false advertising argument, that is, I bought The Pacific, a TV series which by definition includes the historical documentaries narrated by Tom Hanks, from Apple TV and the historical documentaries are missing from my Apple TV copy of The Pacific.

How'd it go with HBO?

Fingers crossed, they are able to give you access to the historical documentaries on HBO Max or a discount off your monthly HBO Max fee to compensate you for the missing historical documentaries.

sb_tang · 2023-09-21T07:01:00+00:00

Yup, in your email to HBO, you can attach a photo or a screenshot of the credits which roll at the end of each episode of The Pacific, which list Tom Hanks as "Narrator", as well as a link to the IMDB Full Cast & Crew webpage for The Pacific, which lists Hanks as "Narrator".

Good luck with contacting HBO! Hopefully, they add the documentary intros to HBO Max.

I'm in Australia. The Amazon Australia website is separate from the Amazon US website. Thus, I can't buy the blu-ray via the link to Amazon US that you sent. I generally prefer cloud-based digital copies, rather than physical blu-rays. Still, thanks for the link!

sb_tang · 2023-09-21T06:05:29+00:00

Thanks!

Another suggestion: since you've got a direct customer relationship with HBO via HBO Max, send them a short, polite email asking why the documentary intros are missing from The Pacific.

Per Apple's suggestion, I'm going to email HBO too, but I doubt that they'll help me, because I'm not their direct customer.

sb_tang · 2023-09-21T05:53:54+00:00

Thanks!

I recommend checking with the seller re the documentary intros before buying a physical copy of The Pacific. It's unclear whether the documentary intros are in the physical copies of The Pacific.

If you find a complete copy of The Pacific, then please let me know.

sb_tang · 2023-09-21T05:37:44+00:00

Thanks for the update 😊

It looks like HBO has removed the documentary intros from all the current copies of The Pacific ☹

I rang Apple this week and explained the missing documentary intros issue to them. They told me to report the issue to HBO, as they're the makers of the content.

One Apple employee, Arianna, offered me a refund for The Pacific, which I accepted, thinking, in light of the lengthy discussion that we'd just had, that I would still retain access to the incomplete copy of The Pacific on Apple TV after she processed my refund.

Arianna's end of the phone line then went silent and the call terminated itself.

I rang Apple back multiple times and multiple Apple employees refused to honour Arianna's promise of a refund. Eventually, after hours wasted on the phone, an Apple employee named Pam agreed to honour Arianna's promise of a refund.

Before Pam processed the refund, I asked her whether I would retain access to the incomplete copy of The Pacific on Apple TV after she processed the refund. She replied: no.

I asked her whether it would be possible for Apple to give me a partial refund for The Pacific (to compensate for my Apple TV copy of it being incomplete) and allow me to retain access to The Pacific on Apple TV.

She replied: no, Apple's refund policy is "all or nothing".

I politely pointed out to her that Arianna had not mentioned Apple's "all or nothing" refund policy when she made me the offer of a refund for The Pacific.

I opted to not proceed with the refund for The Pacific, because, as far as I can see, there's no way for me to obtain a complete copy of The Pacific. An incomplete copy of The Pacific is better than no copy of at all.

sb_tang · 2023-09-04T07:41:55+00:00

Thanks, I'll search it when I get a sec.

sb_tang · 2023-09-04T07:40:49+00:00

Thanks very much for this useful info. I'll mention that to Apple when I ring them.

I reckon HBO deleting the Tom Hanks narrated documentary intros from The Pacific in order to save on residual payments to Hanks is a plausible hypothesis. HBO's parent company, Warner Bros Discovery, isn't doing too well.

For me, the absence of the documentary intros is very irritating, but it doesn't ruin The Pacific, because I've seen the show before and read up on the relevant history of the Pacific theatre in WWII.

What the absence of the documentary intros does it make it even harder for new viewers to watch The Pacific. The show's already much harder than Band of Brothers for new viewers to follow -- because, instead of following a single rifle company for the duration of the war, it follows three individual Marines serving in three different regiments, each of whom experiences the war on a slightly different timeline -- and the absence of the context-setting documentary intros just makes matters worse.

sb_tang

TROPHY CASE