this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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what do you mean by status bar icon? if you mean the persistent notification, it's so element isn't killed by android and can receive push notifications without google play services
Yeah. I like my home screen like Gnome's DE; nothing on it whatsoever. I only want my 3 button navigation, clock, WiFi status and battery. Absolute fine grain control over my notifications is very important to me. I'm extremely burned out on notifications used for user attention manipulation on the google framework. I an on Graphene with no google services. I only want notifications if they can be default opt-in and primarily peer to peer for things like DM. I don't want any visual indicator for such background services. Basically, I expect SMS like functionality; out of sight, out of mind until needed.
I think the way to handle this is to long-press on that notification and turn it off. This way the notification is there in theory so your app doesn't get killed in the background and you don't get a notification shown either. I did that with all the persistent notifications from several apps (including Element) and my phone looks clean. But don't disable all the notification categories. Just the persistent background one so that you'll still get notified of messages and so on.
Interesting. Thanks for the info. I turned off the listening notification. Hopefully this is the one you meant. I hadn't thought about settings for the device itself.
I don't entirely understand the verification notice and all. I don't understand the context of verification. I generally avoid making any external internet connections (finger printing) between my phone and other hardware. They are on separate VPNs and firewalls. I get the message about no verification every time I open element. I don't know what it is trying to verify exactly. I imagine it is a copy of the keys and hashes, but like, I don't want to connect social across devices and I am given no options or context details. I don't mind backing up or storing keys, but I'm not installing the software on my workstation or punching holes in that firewall.
Anyone with access to your homeserver can change your password and log into your account. That's why by default, when someone logs into account, their session is unverified and doesn't have access to encryption keys. To verify it and sync encryption keys, you have to mark it as trusted from another device you own (which sends the encryption keys from the old device), or if it's the first session it becomes the only trusted device (and generates new encryption keys).
Note that the homeserver owner can always reset all of your sessions and encryption keys, then log in as the first session. They won't be able to read your past encrypted messages obviously, but they will be able to impersonate you. To prevent that, you can additionally perform the same verification process for the devices of those you chat with - that way they will also know which devices you marked as trusted.
Yeah. That's the correct one. You can also do that with other apps that rely on a background connection to some server. I also don't use google and their cloud messaging. So that's the way around it.
Regarding the verification: It's an additional layer of security for you. To make sure all the devices logged in into your account actually belong to you. Otherwise someone with access to your computer or password (or matrix-server(?)) could in theory read your messages. To prevent that, they make you verify it's actually you who registered that additional device. I think Element has an option to not sync encryption keys with unverified devices. So you could end up with malfunctioning encryption. But in case it's working fine for you, you can skip the verification. You're just missing out on the extra security this way.
so turn off notifications??
Yes, for social type stuff. I'm disabled. Interruptions are very counter productive for me. If I have the strength to work on something, the last thing I need is some excuse for distraction. It will only be a short time before I will need to take a break, and will inevitably see whatever pending dot notifications I am interested in checking. Or I'll just check them manually if I care. I don't mind when notifications are from individuals sending direct messages. I don't want any other form of notifications by default. I'm fine with something like a dot notification on the app only, like if there is a direct comment reply to something I posted on a general thread, but this is not a phone call, sms or equivalent type of priority to me. It is peripheral, and something that has limited import. It shouldn't demand my attention with a sound in the real analog world, or shove itself in my face the moment I view a device. Like a student in a classroom, it should quietly raise its hand and wait for its turn if time allows.
thing is what you want is impossible (background services with no notification). However, Android has per-app notification settings where you can toggle notification categories, so the app can request to not be killed by showing a persistent notification, and you won't see it because you've hidden it