Linger v0.4.10

Linger 0.4.10: clear voices, and a message of the day

A quick release to fix a crackle in voice that 0.4.9 brought in: a voice could
crackle for a moment right when somebody started talking after a pause. It's
gone. This release also gives every room a message of the day, a note on
what's happening now that sits under the room's header, and the phone app now
says which version it is.

Everyone: update the app. The crackle is fixed in the app that's
listening, so you hear clean voices as soon as your own app is 0.4.10, whatever
the people talking are on.

Hosts: update the server for the message of the day. The voice fix doesn't
need it. This one changes the database, so going back to 0.4.9 means
restoring the backup update.sh makes. For hosts
has the steps.

The highlights

• No more crackle when somebody starts talking (#462). See Voice.
• A message of the day for each room (#464). See
  The message of the day.
• The phone app says which version it is (#459), in Settings → Account &
  App, under This Phone.

Voice

• The start of a sentence comes through clean (#462). Since 0.4.9, apps
  send nothing while you're quiet, which is what lets a voice room hold a raid.
  But it meant every sentence started with nothing waiting to play, so the
  first bit of sound that arrived a moment late left a gap, and the gap was the
  crackle. Your app now waits 60 ms (about a sixteenth of a second) before it
  plays a voice that's starting again after a pause, so a late bit has time to
  arrive. A bit that turns up after the one that followed it is skipped and its
  gap smoothed over, where it used to be played out of order. Mid-sentence
  nothing changes, and voice still sounds as good as 0.4.9 made it.

The message of the day

A room's topic says what the room is about, like "World of Warcraft news".
Its message of the day says what's happening now, like "We will be meeting
on Friday, Oct 9 @ 8PM CDT to discuss faction choice" (#464).

• It sits whole under the room's header, with who set it and when.
• Fold it to one line with the arrow on its right. It stays folded on that
  computer or phone, even after you quit Linger, until somebody sets a new one.
• The host or a co-host sets it from the room's own message box: type
  /motd and the words, then press Enter. /motd on its own clears it. It's
  also beside the topic in Settings → Hosting → Rooms. Up to 300 characters.
• Setting it puts a line in the room, "Matt set the message of the day",
  with the words under it. The line stays in the history and can't be edited.
• It never pokes anybody. No notification and no sound, even when it names
  somebody, and it doesn't make the room look new in anybody's list.
• Friends on an older app don't see the strip. They see the line as an
  ordinary message from whoever set it.

The phone app

• Settings → Account & App says which version you're on (#459), under
  This Phone. The phone has no Updates section, since it doesn't update itself.

Under the hood

• The release's Android check reads the build machine's wording for the
  signer (#457), the reason the last two releases' check failed.
• Five of the release's package checks moved from Python to bash and Node
  (#460).
• The README has the new logo: the door beside the name (#458).

Known issues

• "App not installed" on Android when installing over a Linger that was
  signed differently, like a test build from a computer. Uninstall it once,
  which signs you out, then install this one. Releases install over each other.
• Read positions don't move live between two devices that are both open.
  Read a room on the phone while the computer is open, and the computer shows
  it as new until it next connects afresh (a restart, say). Your own messages
  are fine either way.
• The phone app doesn't update itself. Install each new .apk over the
  old one.
• On Hyprland (Omarchy included), the mouse pointer jumps into a
  conversation that opens in a window of its own. The
  user guide has the two lines that turn it
  off.
• The AppImage doesn't play AV1 videos (#358). Windows and the Arch,
  .deb and .rpm packages do.

For hosts: updating the server

Server image: ghcr.io/itsmattguenther/linger:0.4.10 (x86-64 only), also
tagged latest.

What changes for you:

• The message of the day is yours and your co-hosts' to set, with /motd
  in a room or in Settings → Hosting → Rooms. Nobody else can set it.
• A database change (the message of the day). update.sh saves the
  database into backups/ before it starts 0.4.10, and that backup is how
  you'd go back.
• Nothing else: no new settings, and no change to compose.yaml or .env.

Run these on the server, one block at a time.

1. Go to the folder with your compose.yaml (the linger folder from
setup):

cd ~/linger

2. Only if you skipped 0.4.9, get the newer update.sh (the
0.4.9 notes say why). If you updated
to 0.4.9 with it, the one you have is fine.

curl -fLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/itsMattGuenther/Linger/main/deploy/update.sh
chmod +x update.sh

3. Update:

./update.sh

(Use sudo ./update.sh if you type sudo before docker commands.) It
downloads 0.4.10 while the server keeps running, stops it for a few seconds to
save the database into backups/, starts everything again, and prints the
version before and after.

4. Check it worked:

curl -f https://linger.example.com/api/v1/health

With your own address in place of linger.example.com, it should print
{"ok":true,"version":"0.4.10"}.

If something goes wrong, update.sh prints the commands that put 0.4.9
back with the backup it just made. Going back needs that backup: 0.4.9
won't start on a database 0.4.10 has changed. Anything sent after the update
is lost when you go back, so decide soon if you're going to.

Install or update

Use the in-app update: Update… at the foot of the list, or Settings →
Account & App → Updates. Windows users should keep the same installer format
(.exe or .msi) when upgrading. Linux packages are .AppImage, .deb and
.rpm; on Omarchy or Arch, Linger updates with your system. Windows
installers are updater-signed, not Authenticode-signed; SmartScreen may still
warn about an unfamiliar app.

On Android, download Linger_0.4.10_android-arm64.apk from this release on
the phone and install it over the old one. You stay signed in. A first install
is step by step in the 0.4.8 notes.

New to Linger? Which file do I want?

Your computer	Download the file ending in
Windows	-setup.exe
Debian, Ubuntu or Mint	.deb
Fedora, RHEL or openSUSE	.rpm
Any other Linux	.AppImage — make it executable and run it
macOS	Not built yet — see decisions.md
Android phone	_android-arm64.apk — download it on the phone
iPhone	Not yet

The .msi is for companies rolling it out to many machines at once.
If you are not sure, you want the .exe.

The .sig files and latest.json are how an installed copy checks
that an update is genuine. You do not need to download them.

Windows will warn you. You get "Windows protected your PC", and
Run anyway is behind the small More info link. That is Windows
saying the installer has not been through a paid signing process. It
has not — that is a
known decision,
not a broken download.

Android will ask before installing. The phone says it won't
install apps from your browser until you allow it: tap Settings,
turn on Allow from this source, and go back. That is Android's
rule for any app that isn't from the Play Store. The phone app
doesn't update itself: install each new one from its release page,
right over the old one, and you stay signed in.

Checks on installed clients

Record OS, package type, previous and new version, and headset or microphone
with any failure. Use made-up messages, and keep private conversations out of
screenshots.

1. Voice, the start of a sentence, with three or more people on 0.4.10,
   across two real networks if you can (a home connection and a phone hotspot,
   say): pause, then start talking again, a few times each. The first word
   comes through clean, with no crackle (#462).
2. The message of the day, as the host: /motd and some words in a room.
   Everybody sees the strip and the line; nobody gets a notification, and the
   room doesn't go bold in anybody's list. /motd alone clears it (#464).
3. Folding it: fold the strip, quit Linger, open it again: still folded.
   Have the host set a new one: it opens (#464).
4. As somebody who isn't the host or a co-host, type /motd hello: the
   box says who can, and nothing is sent (#464).
5. On 0.4.9: a friend who hasn't updated sees the line as an ordinary
   message from whoever set it.
6. Phone: Settings → Account & App says "You're on version 0.4.10"
   under This Phone (#459).