> You don't have to use it like "encrypted SMS"! You're free.

Using it as something more than encrypted SMS requires persistent message history between devices.

> metric fuckton of messages

“More than 45 days” is a metric fuckton? Seriously?

> If you want Signal to host the encrypted storage, that costs money. If you don't want to pay Signal money, they provide 45 days of backup for free.

I don’t want Signal to store my messages. I want Signal to not lock in my messages on their servers, so I can sync them between my devices and back them up into my own backups.

> If you want to self-host your own backups (at your own cost), that's easy to do.

Except there’s no way to move it between platforms. I have more than one device.

> Are you referring to MobileCoin? That feature isn't in the pipeline for sending messages.

I don’t want shady crypto company to hold my data hostage, and there’s no way to store it on my hardware and then move it between platforms. That’s my problem with signal.

> A Synchronized Start for Linked Devices

It only properly transfers 45 days. You can’t have more than one phone. Phones are special “primary devices” and AFAIK you can’t restore your messages if you lose your phone even if you have logged-in Signal Desktop.