Multidevice beta: How you can use it — and help improve it

A while back, we pulled multidevice support back into the workshop with the aim of implementing a more effective version in future, promising it would return someday.

Well, today is that day, and the future is now. Multidevice is rolling out in early beta right now to an App Store or Play Store near you!

So how does it work?

Using multidevice: The steps

1. Set up a Session ID on one of the devices you want to use in a multidevice configuration (if you already have a Session ID set up, skip to Step 2)

2. Download Session on the second device you want to set up with the same Session ID, but do not create a Session ID on this device

3. Copy the recovery phrase for the Session ID set up in Step 1

4. Restore that recovery phrase on the second device 

Done! Your second device should now sync with your first device, and both devices should be able to send and receive messages from the same Session ID.

Known issues

There are a few known issues with this early beta release of multidevice. 

• Leaving open groups does not sync between devices (resolution: leave the open group on both devices)

• Message expiration timer changes (disappearing message timers) do not currently sync between devices (resolution: manually change the timer to the desired setting on both devices)

• When you restore your Session ID to your second device, you’ll be asked for a display name. You must set this display name to be the same as on your first device. If you don’t, your display name when messaging other people will alternate depending on which device you’re messaging from!

• If you have already tried restoring your recovery phrase to multiple devices prior to this release, you may encounter unexpected issues (resolution: if you have already tried restoring your recovery phrase to multiple devices prior to this release, you may need to create a fresh Session ID for multidevice to work as intended)

Multidevice is in early beta, so there may be issues we aren’t aware of. If you encounter any unexpected behaviors or bugs, report them on our GitHub (Desktop; iOS; Android) or contact us directly at [email protected] to let us know!