I’ve just about managed to get my extended family accept the idea of moving away from iMessage to Signal. Here’s the hitch. Photos display reasonably enough on the MK (at a push). But videos don’t play at all. It brightens my day receiving videos of the kids. Is there someway that video playback can be enabled in the bowels of Android? (I recognise the quality will most likely be poor, like a prenatal scan, but something is better than nothing.)
(@madebypixel02, having impressed everybody with your Android knowhow, I wonder if you, in particular, might .be able to help.)
I don’t particularly use signal, but I do have a similar issue in WhatsApp. Videos cannot be played from the app itself, but it is possible to play them through a third-party player. Many will work, but I personally use Fossify Gallery, which is the Gallery I use on the Mudita Kompakt. In WhatsApp I can press the three-dot menu while a video is open and select “Show in Gallery” or similar, which will play the video from that other app instead.
It works pretty well for video playback with that app in my case. However, I don’t know if Signal has a similar option to the one in WhatsApp. If there is none, you can always manually open the gallery from your home screen.
Regarding why videos don’t play, my guess is that the Kompakt is missing some codecs on the base system, so videos will only play on apps that come with pre-built ones. But I could be totally wrong on this.
Another option is that you link your Signal account to other devices, maybe your work computer? And watch the videos sent to you there. I think it is possible to link up to six devices.
videos and eink… just dont bother. eink just isnt designed for video nor should it be. as denguefeber mentioned, i would link signal to another computer and view your videos at your leisure on that machine more purposefully.
sometimes something isnt better than nothing, and thats the case for eink and video
Curiously, all the contributors so far are right in their own way. Yes, @eden videos on eInk is a like trying to skate on grass, it’s true, but if I can make out the gist of what’s happening, however grainy, it might prevent me becoming a pariah in my own household. Think of it as video SOS. As for Signal on a computer @denguefeber, you’re absolutely right – I’ve done that too. But above all, @madebypixel02, your insight has broken through the clouds once again. It is possible to save the video to the phone and play it in Fossify Gallery. You really should become a consultant.
I’m looking for ways to keep the device and this is an excellent discovery.
Thank you so much!
its just my opinion so take it for what it is but generally speaking from what ive seen of others i know who have dumb phones (never mind somewhere in between), and people here. the idea of becoming a pariah is largely in our own head (mine included), and most people dont actually care if we see a video immediately or 5 hours later when we’re home.
the idea of feeling like we need to see media effectively immediately is largely down to predatory design by tech companies who’ve been designing smart phones to create addictive tendencies in its users.
so while by all means use the gallery hack mentioned when its really needed, id suggest maybe considering if you ever even need to see most of these videos at all, never even mind when your home, never mind on your device. likely most of the time, the answer is not really, and when it is a yes, its 99% of the time something that can be viewed with intentional purpose on your computer on your terms rather on the bing! must read message addiction trigger
but generally speaking from what ive seen of others i know who have dumb phones (never mind somewhere in between), and people here. the idea of becoming a pariah is largely in our own head (mine included), and most people dont actually care if we see a video immediately or 5 hours later when we’re home.