Linger 0.4.8: the phone app

Linger is on Android now: download it from this release, sign in, and your
rooms, DMs and voice messages are in your pocket. On the computer, wireless
headsets that Linger couldn't hear now work, someone talking in a room's voice
shows in that room, the host can take somebody out of voice when they walk
away with their microphone on, and the host can name co-hosts for when they're
away.

Hosts: update the server. Report and block, co-hosts, and taking somebody
out of voice need it. This one changes the database, so going back to 0.4.7
means restoring the backup update.sh makes. For hosts
has the steps.

Everyone: update the app. The headset fix and everything else on the
computer is in the app.

The highlights

The phone app, on Android (#253). Download
Linger_0.4.8_android-arm64.apk from this release on your phone and open it.
The phone app says what it does and doesn't do.
Wireless headsets work in voice (#398). A SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5
joined voice but Linger never heard it, even after 0.4.7. Its wireless
receiver reports a tiny glitch every few moments, and Linger took each one
as "the microphone died" and started it over, so it never heard a word.
Glitches are now let go, as Discord does.
Being in a room's voice is being in that room (#420). Somebody talking in
#general with a game in front of them used to drop out of #general and show
as idle. Now their dot stays on the room and People says "in #general".
The host can take somebody out of voice (#423). For somebody who walked
away with their headset on and unmuted.
Co-hosts (#424). The host can make somebody a co-host, who can do what
the host does in the app while the host is away.
Report and block (T-1605), on the computer and the phone.

The phone app

Android first. iPhone comes later, once the Android app has done well.

Installing, on the phone itself (Android 7 or newer, 64-bit: nearly every
phone from the last eight years):
1. Open this release page in Chrome, scroll to Assets (tap it if it's
  folded up), and tap Linger_0.4.8_android-arm64.apk.
2. Chrome may say the file might be harmful: tap Download anyway.
  It says that about any app that isn't from the Play Store.
3. Tap Open when it's downloaded (or find it in the Files app,
  under Downloads).
4. Android says it isn't allowed to install unknown apps from this
  source: tap Settings, turn on Allow from this source, and tap
  back.
5. Tap Install. If Google Play Protect asks, tap More details,
  then Install anyway (or Install without scanning).
6. Open Linger. Paste the invite link your host sent you and tap
  Continue, or type your server's address and sign in if you already
  have an account.
What it does: rooms, DMs, your status, Media, Search, sending pictures
from your phone, and voice messages. One screen at a time, with ← Back, the
way phone chat apps work.
What it doesn't do: voice rooms, and notifications. Nothing wakes it and
it shows nothing on your lock screen; when you open it, it catches up.
Its sounds follow your phone. Chimes play while the app is open, a short
buzz on vibrate, and nothing on silent.
Updating. It doesn't update itself yet. For a new version, download the
new .apk from its release page and install it over the old one. You stay
signed in.
Your phone's backups leave Linger out, so what it keeps never reaches
Google's cloud.

Voice

Wireless headsets (#398). See the highlights. This also steadies other
wireless headsets: before, every glitch made Linger restart the microphone,
which you'd hear as a short dropout.
When the microphone you picked won't open (#398). If you picked a
microphone in Settings → Sound & Voice and it won't open (another program
holding on to it, say), Linger still uses your computer's default so you can
talk, and now the voice bar says so, with your computer's reason. It used to
switch without a word.
Taking somebody out of voice (#423), for the host. Click their name in
the voice bar, or open their card and its ···, and choose Take out of
voice. They leave the call as if they'd pressed Leave, their app says they
were taken out of voice, and they can join again whenever they're back. It isn't a
mute: nobody can mute anybody else or turn anybody's microphone on.
Voice messages from the phone (#401). Recorded on a phone, they play on
the computer, and the other way round. Android asks for the microphone the
first time you press Record.

Rooms and people

Co-hosts (#424). Open somebody's card, its ···, and choose Make
Jules a co-host. A co-host can do what the host does in the app: rooms,
the server's name and color, invites, reports, removing and restoring
members, deleting messages, and taking somebody out of voice. Two things
stay the host's: making or removing co-hosts, and anything done to the host
themselves. Their card says "co-host". Undo it from the same menu. A
co-host never sees a report about themselves.
In a room's voice is in the room (#420). Their dot shows on the room for
as long as they're in its voice, and People says "in #general", not "idle".
Reading another room while they talk, they show in both. An away they set
themselves still shows.
Report and block (T-1605).
- Report a message (last in its actions) or a person (their card's
  ···) to the host, with a note if you like. It goes to the host and
  nobody else, and the person isn't told.
- Block somebody from their card. Their messages fold into a grey line
  you can open, their DMs never light up or chime, their knocks stop
  reaching you, and nothing of theirs shows in Media or Search. They aren't
  told. Unblock any time, there or in Settings → Account.
- The host sees one quiet row at the top of the list when there's a
  report to look at, never a number, and handles it in Settings → People.
Pins on pictures and links (T-908). A pinned picture, file, voice
message or link now shows its pin beside it. A link's pin didn't show at
all, and a picture's sat above it.

Under the hood

Each release now carries a signed Android app, checked against the release
key before and after it's built (T-1604).
The Windows installer check gives up on a stuck installer after five minutes
and says which one it was, instead of hanging for half an hour (#414).

Known issues

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:0.4.8 (x86-64 only), also
tagged latest.

What changes for you:

A database change (report and block, and co-hosts). update.sh saves
the database into backups/ before it starts 0.4.8, and that backup is how
you'd go back.
Reports come to you. One quiet row at the top of your list says there's
one to look at; Settings → People shows who sent it and about what, and
Let it go or Delete message closes it.
You can take somebody out of voice (#423).
You can name co-hosts (#424) from a person's card, for when you're away.
Updating the server stays yours: the app has nothing to do with that.
No new setting. ARM servers stay on 0.4.4.

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. Update:

./update.sh

(Use sudo ./update.sh if you type sudo before docker commands. No
update.sh in the folder? The 0.4.5 notes
show how to get it.) It downloads 0.4.8 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.

3. 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":"0.4.8"}.

If something goes wrong, update.sh prints the commands that put 0.4.7
back with the backup it just made. Going back needs that backup: 0.4.7
won't start on a database 0.4.8 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. The Android app installs from this release page
(see The phone app).

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.

Windows, a SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 (or another wireless headset):
join voice. Your name lights when you talk and others hear you (#398).
Android: install the .apk on a phone that never had Linger, sign in
with an invite, send a message and a picture, record a voice message and
play it on a computer.
Talking in a room's voice with Linger in the background for a few
minutes: your dot stays on the room for others, and People says
"in #room", not idle (#420).
As the host: take somebody out of voice from the voice bar. They leave,
their room's voice line says they were taken out, and they can join again
(#423).
Report a message to the host and block somebody, on the computer
and on the phone. The host sees the report row and closes it.
Pin a picture and a link: the pin shows beside each.
Pick a microphone in Settings that another program is holding, then
join: the voice bar says it wouldn't open, and why.
As the host: make somebody a co-host from their card. They see the
report row and can take somebody out of voice; they can't make co-hosts.
Undo it (#424).

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