Client not secure for android messages login

[ThePianoMan2255]

Describe the bug
When attempting to sign in (not with a QR Code) it says it is not a supported browser / secure. See attached image.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Open the app
2. Click on sign in
3. Attempt to sign in
4. See error

Expected behavior
Should allow you to login in a supported secure setting.

Screenshots

Desktop (please complete the following information):

• OS: PopOS 22.04 LTS
• Version: Latest Deb Package: 5.4.2

[mtballday]

It seems like the latest version of the phone app no longer supports pairing with the QR code (at least, I can't find it now), so this problem makes it impossible to pair.

[adelphi23]

I got stuck on this too, but have a complicating factor.
In my Macbook Pro M1 Ultra (2021) it worked. That is, I did not the the error message shown above by OP.
In my Macbook Air M2 (2022) it did not. That is, I did get the error message and cannot pair my computer.
It might be that between the two installations the phone app was updated, losing its support for QR-based pairing. I cannot recall doing QR pairing, though.

[sansbyte]

I get the same message as the original post - the "This browser or app may not be secure".

However, while troubleshooting, I stumbled across a workaround that lets me login. I tried starting the program with the --debug switch to try getting more troubleshooting information to share here.

$ ./AndroidMessages --debug
[61919:0217/185412.944387:ERROR:node_bindings.cc(244)] Error parsing Node.js cli flags 
electron: [DEP0062]: `node --debug` and `node --debug-brk` are invalid. Please use `node --inspect` and `node --inspect-brk` instead.

So I then tried using the --inspect switch, because why not. The program started and let me login. This is the command output, for what it's worth.

$ ./AndroidMessages --inspect
Debugger listening on ws://127.0.0.1:9229/961741b9-d61c-405d-8c49-44300d11d83a
For help, see: https://nodejs.org/en/docs/inspector
APPIMAGE env is not defined, current application is not an AppImage
[74550:0217/191924.083478:ERROR:nss_util.cc(349)] After loading Root Certs, loaded==false: NSS error code: -8018

After logging in and closing the program, I can open it again without the --inspect switch and I'm still logged in.

[adelphi23]

@sansbyte:
Thanks a lot. It worked for me!

[maelchiotti]

Same error on windows 11.

[innesst]

I also got the message when trying to login, but then I added the @gmail.com to my username and it worked.

[maelchiotti]

I also got the message when trying to login, but then I added the @gmail.com to my username and it worked.

Doesn't work for me.

[mcortt]

Login via the top sign in option and NOT the one in the page. Also, use your full email address.

[maelchiotti]

Login via the top sign in option and NOT the one in the page. Also, use your full email address.

Still does not work for me

[adelphi23]

Does not work on Fedora 40. Tried with the --inspect toggle using the CLI and also clicked on the top sign. All to no avail. It is the app since the web version works.

[adelphi23]

After trying a few times, the sequence:
./AndroidMessages --inspect (click on the top button, use full gmail)
close
./AndroidMessages
worked. No changes in any other parameter. It is somewhat random.

[caseyredisatwork]

For me (running an Arch-based Linux distro), --inspect by itself did not work. I needed to use --inspect, then I had to select "Remove Account", click the red (-) icon next to my account, say "Yes, remove" and then re-enter my credentials. After that, I closed the app and re-ran without --inspect and it still worked.

I thought maybe removing the account itself was what worked so I tried that after things were working from the above but removing didn't resolve the issue without first running --inspect. YMMV, I didn't want to mess around with it much more after getting it to work twice the original --inspect way

[drislands]

I experienced this issue as well, on Linux Mint 21.3. The --inspect trick did work for me. I'd like to try to investigate why this is failing and see if there's a permanent fix that can be put in place, so I've forked the project. Fingers crossed I maintain focus long enough to find a solution.

[drislands]

https://github.com/drislands/android-messages-desktop/tree/bugfix/441

I've attempted a fix. It's working consistently for me now, but I'd like to see if it works for other people before I open a PR.

If there's anyone experiencing this issue, can you clone my project from the link above and see if it works for you?

[Vilacard]

I haven't used github much so I'm not really sure what you mean by cloning your project. I thought I could maybe just download your code as a .zip then replace something in my Android Messages install folder with the most recently changed files you did, but there doesn't seem to be a background.ts in my install folder.

[maelchiotti]

@Vilacard you cannot juste replace the files, they need to be compiled first. I do know how to use GitHub but I don't have the time right now to setup the environment, would it be easy for you @drislands to build a Windows executable?

[drislands]

@maelchiotti I'll see if I can package this up. I haven't done this for a JS project before so it may take some doing.

[drislands]

Turns out that's not hard to do.

@maelchiotti @Vilacard try the EXE attached to this release. I don't have a Windows machine I can test this on, let me know if there's any issues with getting this working and I'll try to sort it out.

https://github.com/drislands/android-messages-desktop/releases/tag/411-fix.1

[Vilacard]

Thanks! I installed it and I am able to successfully login.

[maelchiotti]

Thank you! I will try it tomorrow to confirm if it's working.

[maelchiotti]

@drislands Worked perfectly, thank you so much