BlueBubbles App v1.8.0 (Stable)

What's new?

Note 1: For this update, we recommend updating your server to v1.0.0: https://github.com/BlueBubblesApp/bluebubbles-server/releases.

Please be advised that the next client update will require a minimum server version of 0.3.0 or greater!

Other Platform Releases

• Windows Desktop App: https://www.microsoft.com/store/productId/9P3XF8KJ0LSM
  • If you do not want to use the Microsoft Store, the exe installer can be found bellow in this release's assets

The Big Stuff

• Database migration from SQLite to ObjectBox
  • If you run into any migration errors or black error screens, please let us know via Discord or email! If a close and re-open doesn't fix the error, please fully reset and re-sync the app with your server. If you are missing messages, please use the Manual Sync Messages feature in the chat details page!
• Material theme UI improvements, and new Samsung skin
  • Samsung skin is in Beta, it may or may not be laggy for you
• Private API Send - send regular messages with the Private API (try it out, the speeds are crazy!) (requires server 0.4.0+, best experience on server 1.0.0)
• Important fixes to message sending and notifications
• Lots and lots and lots of quality of life features, fixes, and improvements
  • You should see improved speed, stability, fluidity, etc
• All-new Desktop app, stable release! Supports Windows & Linux.

The Nitty Gritty

New Features

• Private API Send
• New Material theme UI
• New Samsung skin (Beta)
• Colon emoji insertion like Discord
• Added ability to selectively enable & disable typing indicators and read receipts
• Added ability to resize avatars
• Added box overlay to QR Scanner
• Added support for .tiff and .tif images
• Added green theming to SMS Relay/Text Forwarding chats (again, this is not Android SMS support!)
• The text box will now show iMessage or Text Forwarding to correspond with the type of chat
• The create chat view will now show iMessage or Text Forwarding to correspond with the type of chat
• Press and hold will now quick react if double-tap for details and quick react are both turned on
• .heic -> .jpg conversion will now be cached, so the lag when opening a chat filled with .heics should only happen once
• Added confirmation dialog before clearing local transcript
• Added easter egg to the initial setup screen (try and find it :P)
• Added show/hide password toggle on manual server password entry
• Added option to choose file path when manually downloading a file
• Added ability to pick address from contacts when adding someone to a group chat
• Added ability to set the order of pinned chats
• Open contact form when name is tapped in Material or Samsung theme
• Added ability to change pin column count on Desktop
• Effects automatically play when received / sent
• Added ability to reorder pinned chats
• Desktop / Web Features
  • Added option to disable close to tray
  • Added option to start on boot
  • Added GIF picker
  • Added keyboard shortcuts (see settings > about > keyboard shortcuts for the full list)
  • Support reconfiguring with server using manual entry
  • Added debug option to fetch contacts to debug contacts issues
  • Added download progress to files on web

Bug Fixes

• Fixed message lock issue when using Private API send
• Fixed issues with message duplication on new server rewrite
• Fixed issues with notification dots and active chat
• Fixed tapping/clicking outside the chat transcript dialog wouldn't dismiss it
• Fixed issues with contacts not loading when entering via a notification
• Fixed highlighting issues in right click context menu
• Fixed laser rendering in tablet mode
• Fixed big emoji messages don't show effect previews
• Fixed some emojis from smart reply not showing as big emoji
• Fixed system theme not actually switching with the system theme
• Fixed DM notifications appearing with a double name on Samsungs
• Fixed "black screen of death" for a random error with local_authentication
• Fixed issues with stickers crashing the app
• Fixed issues with stickers flashing when sending new texts
• Fixed some issues with stickers not showing - note that GIF stickers are still not supported at this time
• Fixed direction of arrow key scrolling on the message view (Web)
• Fixed adding multiple GIFs to send, and then removing one, would remove all of them
• Fixed message font color not updating after switching themes (Web)
• Fixed files shared from file explorer would not show image previews
• Fixed notification getting cleared when opening a new chat on top of an old chat that had a notification active
• Fixed homescreen shortcuts occasionally losing their contact picture
• Fixed issue where the app would try to render an error message as an image when an attachment failed to download from the server
• Fixed width calculation issues for big emoji when rendering reply lines
• Fixed mark chats read would keep manually mark chats read as "true", when it should be moved back to "false"
• Fixed API timeout errors not being shown to the user
• Fixed a crash that could occur when receiving a new notification
• Fixed messages sometimes showing out of order due to being ordered by ROWID
• Fixed Apple Pay detection
• Fixed IP address not being allowed in manual entry
• Fixed manual entry not allowing setups without firebase set up
• Fixed issues with parsing server versions with an -alpha suffix
• Fixed crashes on Android 7 and lower:
  • Replying to a notification in the shade
  • Downloading an attachment
• Fixed issues with downloading non-media in details popup
• Fixed padding on context menu for link previews
• Fixed logs download path on desktop
• Fixed issues with some big emoji showing as small
• Fixed focus loss issues on desktop & web when moving cursor off of the text field
• Fixed details menu not disappearing when items from the more menu are tapped
• Fixed incremental sync occurring instead of a full sync when resetting the app
• Fixed custom avatars and custom colors getting reset
• Fixed issues with chat highlighting on Desktop & Web
• Fixed issues with clearing notifications from the shade
• Fixed text color when playing an effect with colorful bubbles
• Fixed audio player widget on desktop / web
• Fixed gray tile when contact card does not have a name
• Fixed rendering bug when viewing reply threads on web from the message details popup

Improvements

• Added some padding under the selected attachments list
• Improved selected text highlight color
• Disable right click for effect on Desktop/Web when no text is in the text field
• Removed sync messages setup screen on Web
• Improved the alignment of stickers on messages
• Improved some theming on the setup screens
• Improved timestamp and client-side naming of settings & theming backups
• Improved some strings here and there
• Improved performance when images load in
• Improved speed of loading chats
• Improved speed of syncing
• Improved smoothness of keyboard animation
• Animation smoothness improvements
• Scrolling smoothness improvements
• Improved speed of opening chat details, compose chat, the message view, and the chat list
• Improved fullscreen photo view UI
• Updated dependencies and updated target SDK to Android 12 for build
• Lowered API request timeout duration from 30sec to 15sec
• Improved support for Cloudflare - now you shouldn't need to cycle WiFi for a new Cloudflare address to connect
• Made split view divider bar thinner
• Added mouse cursor indicator to split view divider bar
• Improved theming on message stats popup
• Removed sent / read / delivered indicators on group chats (since they will only ever show as sent)
• Only use tablet mode when there is sufficient width, not just when the available width > available height
• Hide immersive mode toggle on Desktop and Web
• Allow sliding the divider further to the left on Desktop and Web
• Fill the whole screen when opening an attachment fullscreen when in tablet mode, rather than just the right side
• Improved the details menu popup to be less cluttered and have better alignment and sizing
• Added disclaimer to immersive mode (may cause keyboard jank)
• Improved some text to alleviate confusion
• Improved the speed of initial sync greatly
• Optimized iOS emoji font rendering
• Removed reply option when message has not finished sending
• Removed custom titlebar on gnome Linux
• Shift + Enter will create newline on Linux
• Improved background isolate Java & Dart code
• Invisible ink notifications are now hidden
• Switched to REST API for attachment downloads - improved reliability and speed
• Improved user experience when thumbnails cannot be loaded for a video
• Load high resolution contact photos for pinned chats
• Lots and lots of code cleanup and small optimizations
• Flutter Engine & Framework updates
  • Framework: v2.10.2
  • Engine: v2.16.1

Notes

• These builds should support Android Auto, however, the Google Play Store version does not

BlueBubbles App v1.8.0 - Alpha 1

THIS IS A PRE-RELEASE

Only download this build if you would like to try out cutting edge features/changes, or would like to help us out by testing for stability. We've made major changes to the backend of the app in the name of optimizing and creating a smoother overall experience. As such, when you first open the app, it will need to migration to the new database. We are hoping this is a 100% smooth process, but that's exactly why we need as many testers as we can get to make sure it's rock-solid. On the plus side, I think you'll all be happy with the changes we've made

Main Changes

• Complete database migration & rework to make user-experience much smoother
  • This means a less laggy app!
• Samsung Theme (Beta)
• A toggle for sending texts using the Private API (if enabled). This should make sending much faster if you are on using Private API features
• Tons of bug fixes!

BlueBubbles App v1.7.1 (Stable)

What's New?

This is a very minor update. Mostly to alert people that we want to migrate away from the old socket API to the new REST API by February 1st. Be on the lookout for a v1.8.0 with massive amounts of performance improvements

Changes

• Adds warning message to let people know to update their server to at minimum, 0.3.0, by February 1st, 2022.
• Fixes some issues with Text Forwarding
• Fixes some issues with not loading chat titles properly
• Better descriptions for certain config options
• Updated Flutter engine to v2.8

BlueBubbles App v1.7.0 (Stable)

What's new?

NOTE: If you want to try out the new Private API features (or Big Sur Private API), server version v0.3.0 and Private API helper version v0.0.3 are required! The latest server (v0.3.0) will auto-install the bundle for you when Private API features are enabled

Changes

The Big Stuff

• Private API support for Big Sur+ (Intel only Macs)
• Big Sur+ chat creation (DMs only for right now, we hope to add group chat support via the Private API soon)
• View replies (requires Big Sur and up)
• View message effects
• New Private API features!
  • Rename group chats
  • Add & remove participants from group chats
  • Send effects
  • Send subject lines
  • Send replies (requires Big Sur and up)
• iOS Emojis
• Text Forwarding support (this is not Android SMS support, just SMS support for those who have iPhone Text Forwarding / SMS Relay enabled)
• Minor bug fixes & improvements

The Nitty Gritty

New Features

• Private API Features
  • Rename group chats
  • Add & remove participants from group chats
  • Send effects
  • Send subject lines
  • Send replies (requires Big Sur and up)
• UI Features / iMessage Feature Parity
  • View message effects
  • View replies (requires Big Sur and up)
  • DM chat creation for Big Sur+
  • iOS Emojis
  • Text Forwarding / SMS Relay support
  • Add immersive mode option (make bottom navigation bar transparent and show app contents behind it)
  • Added ability to change font weight (bold / light) of text in theme settings
• Added ability to delete attachments to free up space without resetting the whole app
• Added support for copying the server address when tapping it
• Support underlining multiple phones / emails / links in a single message
• Support translating reaction text ('somebody liked "a message"') if it was sent from a device in another language
• Add incognito keyboard option on Android (when enabled, the keyboard will not store any data as you type)
• Added support for automatically saving pictures to gallery and files to downloads folder
• Added support for generating a chat transcript, either as a plaintext or PDF document
• Completely redesigned setup screen UI

Bug Fixes

• Fixed padding for images sent with a message
• Fixed attach recent photo text misalignment
• Fixed off-center icons
• Fixed video preview in attachment picker
• Removed the ability to set .heic images as a custom avatar (it would crash the app)
• Fixed chat creator defaulting to the message text field rather than the participant text field
• Fixed clicking on a selected attachment selects it a second time
• Fixed attachment viewer wouldn't show images past the most recent 25
• Fixed text field text would carry over to a different chat when opening that chat through a notification popup
• Removed empty box when there are no smart replies
• Fixed overlay not disappearing in material mode video player
• Fixed issues with sent / delivered / read receipts not updating
• Fixed reply from notification shade not working
• Fixed reaction alignment for digital touch messages
• Fixed changing color on theme picker dark mode would reset the tab bar selected item to light mode
• Android fixes
  • Fixed duplicate notification issue
  • Fixed contact avatars not showing for notifications sometimes
  • Fixed a lot of bugs with unread blue dot
  • Fixed link parsing incorrect with some characters (this will still remain an issue on web and desktop because Google MLKit is unsupported there)
  • Swipe back gesture in tablet mode will now exit the app
  • Fixed .heic images not loading
• Web fixes
  • Fixed reactions not displaying in message preview
  • Fixed connection & sync empty header display in settings

Improvements

• Moved server statistics to its own dialog to reduce clutter
• Added dismiss button to QR code generation
• Under-the-hood improvements when fetching notifications to fix avatars not loading
• Reduced attach recent photo threshold
• Removed extra notification categories in android settings
• Made server connection dialog continue when pressing enter on the password field
• Improved notification reliability
• Improved speed of launching chat details page
• Hide more database related items on Web, since database is unsupported there
• Hide keyboard when app is not in foreground (mainly to not show the keyboard input method notification)
• Show server details as the first page in tablet mode settings
• When in phone landscape mode, the chat header will shrink to allow more content to show
• When in dark mode, the theme settings will now automatically start in the dark mode tab

Note: The GitHub builds found here support Android Auto. The PlayStore builds do not

BlueBubbles App v1.7.0 - Alpha 2

This is a pre-release! A full change-log will be available with the stable release. Here are the changes since Alpha 1:

• Support SMS Relay chat sync
• Fixed reaction handles being parsed incorrectly
• Fixed link parsing not working with ! or other special characters
• Added support for swipe back to exit app when in tablet mode
• Improved invisible ink effect (swipe to remove the effect now)
• Added support for deleting all attachments to free up space
• Automatically copy server address when tapping it in settings
• Added support for swipe on message to reply
• Improved speed of loading details menu
• Fixed celebration effect not working when sent to Apple devices
• Added support for iOS emojis
• Support underlining multiple phone, email, and links in a message
• Support translating reaction text if it was sent from a device in another language
• Fix reply lines disappearing after sending a reply

BlueBubbles App v1.7.0 - Alpha 1

This is a pre-release! A full change-log will be available with the stable release. Though, here are some notable changes:

• DM creation on Big Sur
• New Private API Features for Big Sur (these require the v0.3.0 server update):
  • Subjects
  • Send Effects
  • Replies!
• Adds back in Samsung theme (experimental)
• Other optimizations and bug fixes

BlueBubbles App v1.6.0 (Stable)

What's New?

You may notice that the title for this release no longer states Android. This is because BlueBubbles is now cross-platform! We are also releasing the web app (see below), and the desktop app will come shortly after

NOTE: Please update your BlueBubbles Server to v0.2.0 for extended capabilities! If you want to try out BlueBubbles Web/Desktop, v0.2.0 is required!

Changes

The Big Stuff

• Introducing BlueBubbles for Web (BlueBubbles Server v0.2.0 required)!
  • https://bluebubbles.app/web
  • https://bluebubbles.app/web/beta (if you'd like to try out beta features)
  • BlueBubbles Desktop (new) is still in beta. If you'd like to try it out, join our Discord server!
  • BlueBubbles Web will only work with HTTPS proxy services and dynamic DNS services. If you are utilizing a dynamic DNS and it's not running over HTTPS, we plan to (hopefully) release a server up to solve this problem. In the meantime, consider using Cloudflare's new Dynamic DNS service.
  • BlueBubbles Web may not work with the LocalTunnel proxy. We will work to hopefully solve this issue in the near future.
• Fixes empty notification summary (again)
• Delivery/Read indicators for chats
  • Pinned will show an icon, unpinned will show text above the last message date
• Fixes issues with the incorrect last message displaying in the chat list

The Nitty Gritty

New Features

• Adds address, phone number, and email detection within a message
• You can now generate a QR Code on your Android Device to screenshot & save
  • The QRCode will only be valid until your server URL changes (never if Dynamic DNS)
• Additional information is now shown in the Connection & Server Management settings page
• Ability to check for Server updates directly from your Android/Web client
• Icons in the iOS theme are now more iOS-y
• Ability to export contacts to your BlueBubbles server so that other clients (Web & Desktop) can use them

Bug Fixes

• Fixes layout issues with Smart Replies
• Fixes duplicate message issue when sending a message with a link (separated by a new line)
• Fixes issues sharing .txt files to BlueBubbles
• Tons of other small fixes and cross-platform enhancements

BlueBubbles Android App v1.5.0 (Stable)

What's New?

Note: GitHub builds support Android Auto

Changes

The Big Stuff

• New notification options
• New theming options
  • Ability to dynamically theme the app based on the current song's album cover
  • Ability to copy and save those dynamic themes
• Tablet mode
• Unknown senders tab option
  • Senders with no associated contact info will be separated
• Other new features, UI, and UX improvements

The Nitty Gritty

New Features

• New Notification Options
  • Added the option to schedule a reminder for a message by long-pressing the message
  • Added new notification settings page
  • Added the ability to change the notification sound
  • Added the option to disable notifying reactions
  • Added the ability to set global text detection (only notify when a text contains certain words or phrases)
  • Added the ability to mute certain individuals in a chat
  • Added the ability to mute a chat temporarily
  • Added the ability to set text detection on a specific chat - only notify when a text from the specified chat contains certain words or phrases
• New Theming Options
  • Added the ability to get background and primary color from album art (requires full notification access)
  • Added the ability to set an animated gradient background for the chat list (gradient is created between background and primary color)
• Other New Features
  • Added a better logging mechanism to make it easier to send bug reports to the developers
  • Added ability to add a camera button above the chat creator button like Signal
  • Added "Unknown Senders" tab

Bug Fixes

• UI bugs
  • Fixed custom bubble color getting reset for new messages
  • Fixed 24hr time not working properly
  • Improved smart reply padding in Material theme
• UX bugs
  • Fixed some bugs with the fullscreen photo viewer

Improvements

• UI Improvements
  • Move pinned chat typing indicator to the avatar so the latest message bubble can always be seen
  • Completely revamped icons for iOS theme to match iOS-style
  • Improved URL preview
  • Removed Camera preview from share menu to reduce lag. Replaced by 2 buttons, camera and video
• UX Improvements
  • Added pagination to incremental sync (messages should load faster)
  • Increased chat page size to reduce visible "lag" when resuming the app from the background

Support

Please consider supporting us by leaving a review on the Google Play Store :)

BlueBubbles Android App v1.4.1 (Stable)

What's New?

Enhancements

• Increases message preview to 2 lines (max)
• Send animation is now smoother & easier to maintain/modify

Bug Fixes

• Fixes URL preview issues
  • Issue where the favicon would not show
  • Issue where the preview image would show briefly, then disappear
• Fixes notification issues
  • Issue where notifications would not be received, especially after a long sleep period
  • (Hopeful) Issue where the notification summary would persist, even when there were no child notifications
• Fixes Image preview issues
  • Issue where you'd sometimes see a box behind an image preview
  • Issue where an image would show as invalid, even if it's valid
  • Issue where .webp and other unsupported image formats (on the Mac) would disappear after sending

BlueBubbles Android App v1.4.1 (Beta 1)

What's New?

Enhancements

• Increases message preview to 2 lines (max)
• Send animation is now smoother & easier to maintain/modify

Bug Fixes

• Fixes URL preview issues
  • Issue where the favicon would not show
  • Issue where the preview image would show briefly, then disappear
• Fixes notification issues
  • Issue where notifications would not be received, especially after a long sleep period
  • (Hopeful) Issue where the notification summary would persist, even when there were no child notifications
• Fixes Image preview issues
  • Issue where you'd sometimes see a box behind an image preview
  • Issue where an image would show as invalid, even if it's valid
  • Issue where .webp and other unsupported image formats (on the Mac) would disappear after sending