Recording voice message deleted after interruption (ringing alarm or timer/incoming call)

[MoritzDPTV]

• [x] I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates
• [x] I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
• [x] This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

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Bug description

When recording a voice memo, and an alarm or timer starts ringing, or someone is calling, the memo keeps recording also after dismissing the interrupting event. When trying to send the recording memo after dismissing the event, the memo disappears/is deleted. When pressing 'send' while the alarm/timer/incoming call is still ringing, the memo is sent correctly. I have only tested it against alarms, timers and incoming cellular calls, not against calls from messengers, facetime or other apps.

Steps to reproduce

• Set a timer for 30 seconds.
• Start recording a voice memo and lock the recording (or don't lock it, both possible).
• Wait until the timer rings.
• Dismiss the timer.
• Try to send your voice recording.

Actual result: Recorded voice message is deleted.

Expected result: Recorded voice message is sent to the chat.

Device info

Device: iPhone SE 2020

iOS version: 17.5.1

Signal version: 7.14

[ghost]

Same thing here with interruption by incoming call. Very frustrating when the voice recording has been going on for a while.

Steps to reproduce

• Start recording a voice memo and lock the recording
• Get a call (in my case from the person I was recording for, but it might not matter)
• Set aside the call
• Check that the recording is still going on
• Send your voice recording

Expected result

• Recorded voice message is sent to the chat.

Actual result

• Recorded voice message is deleted.

Device info

Device: iPhone SE 2020 iOS version: 17.6 Signal version: 7.16

[sweah82]

I experience the same problem. I'd expect the recording to stop when answering a call. But it should be in the chat as a draft, so one has the choice to send or delete it. And that is exactly how it works on android. It is really annoying to loose long voice messages because of this problem. I have several friends that switched back to whatsapp because of the problem with lost voice messages.

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[MoritzDPTV]

This is still a critical bug and annoying issue, push

[MoritzDPTV]

Workaround for the meanwhile: When an interrupting event (as described above) occurs, don't touch or press anything, just send the "still recording" message, and it will be sent with the content until before the interruption. If you mute the alert or w/e, the message will be lost when trying to send it afterwards.

Maybe helpful for the devs: When a low battery notification interrupts the recording, the message is paused and can be sent afterwards, just as desired. Maybe the according code can be reused for other interrupting events.

[sukitsubaki]

It's especially annoying when you're in the middle of recording a voice message, and then an alarm, timer, or incoming call causes the message to be lost after you dismiss the interruption. I think it would be great if the recording could at least be paused or temporarily stopped during interruptions like alarms, timers or incoming calls, rather than continuing to record and then disappearing. This would allow users to recover more gracefully from these disruptions.

It's particularly frustrating when you're recording something emotional or important. After the interruption, it's difficult to get back into the same flow and sometimes, you even forget some of the details you wanted to say – or had already said. For longer messages, parts of the message may be lost as well, which makes it even harder to recreate the message afterward.

It would be nice if the app could allow users to continue the recording where they left off or simply pause the recording until the interruption is resolved. This would definitely improve the user experience for people who often record longer voice messages.

Additionally, I've noticed this behavior sometimes even occurs when I briefly navigate to another app during the voice recording to check something. After returning to Signal, the recording is lost, which is equally frustrating.

[paperc07]

Please fix this for the love of God. It's so damn annoying, especially if you're doing a long voice message.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[sweah82]

Bug is still there and should be fixed quickly. I have many iPhone users leaving Signal because of it.

[MoritzDPTV]

What version are you running? In version 7.63 on iOS 18.5 it seems to be fixed. Only the visualization of the audio amplitudes seems to not work - see example below, where the upper voice message is recorded with an interruption, the lower on without, while the sound is being the same.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions.

[github-actions[bot]]

This issue has been closed due to inactivity.