Session Release Roundup #4: Spreading the love

Three-hop onion requests improve anonymity on Desktop, Android, and iOS

You get an update! You get an update! Everybody gets an update! Session isn’t playing favourites this week, every platform is getting an update — iOS, Android, and Desktop. 

Seeing as we live in the land of kangaroos, one-hop onion requests simply weren’t enough — onion requests have now been upgraded to three hops on all platforms. 

Mobile users might notice a mysterious glowing dot in the corner of their Session app — try tapping on it to find the brand new onion requests display. There, you can see the path your messages take all around the world.

This update is also packing lots of new bug fixes and user interface changes that should help make sure Session sparks joy.

Let’s get right into it! 

Big hops: What’s in the latest update

¿Hablas español? Use an Android phone? Both? You asked for it, you got it. Session now has a Spanish-language version. This is our first foray into translating Session, so we’re only rolling out on Android for now — we’re looking forward to hearing your feedback! 

• Spanish-language support added (Android)

A hop, skip, and a jump! Three-hop onion requests have finally arrived! This is a really big deal — Session now provides more anonymity than ever before. For that reason, this one is rolling out on all platforms at the same time.

• Three-hop onion requests enabled (iOS, Android, Desktop)

Three-hop onion requests are a pretty big deal, so we thought we’d show you what we’re talking about. Tap the green dot in the corner of your conversation screen on Android or iOS to find our newest feature — a way to display the path your messages take through the Service Node network. 

• You can now see the Service Nodes used by your app for onion requests (and what countries they’re in) (iOS, Android)

iOS devices were going a bit overboard with push notifications Obviously one notification per message is plenty, this fix should get us to that 1:1 ratio we’ve been after.

• No more duplicate push notifications (iOS)

Group chats had some problems that made it hard to know who was in on the conversation — members counts for open groups got stuck, and profile pictures weren’t displaying correctly in closed groups. We’ve patched groups up so that you’ll always know who’s in the room. 

• Open groups show the actual number of members now (iOS, Android)

• Fixed profile pictures in closed groups (iOS, Android)

Some users were experiencing a bug that stopped them from accessing the bottom of their conversation list, but with this change, you should be able to get in touch with those long lost friends.

• The bottom of your conversation list is now always reachable (iOS)

Sometimes it’s a bit cumbersome trying to share your friend’s Session ID with someone else. Loki Name System will help with this — you can add contacts via a nickname. But in the meantime, we’ve made it possible to copy your contact’s Session ID from your conversation settings. 

• Made the Session ID in conversation settings copyable (iOS)

We updated the conversation button on mobile a little while ago, but it never quite worked properly on Android. You should now be able to either long-press or tap on the new conversation button!

• Improved responsiveness of new conversation button (Android)

Android and iOS recently got some big fixes for friend requests and multi-device, but Desktop is still to come. Desktop will be getting some major lovin’ over the next few weeks, but a few tweaks should improve things in the meantime. 

• Minor protocol refactoring resulting in friend requests and multi-device bug fixes (Desktop)

Not everyone has an 8K 34” ultrawide display. Lots of users have mentioned problems with Session’s user interface on smaller screens, but thanks to this update, size truly doesn’t matter.

• User interface displays and works correctly on small screens (Desktop)

Party planning: Future updates

We’ve put a lot of work into making sure closed groups are stable and working as expected lately, and now the party can really get started. We’re planning our first major upgrade for closed groups — they should be able to handle way more people once we’ve implemented an upcoming feature called shared sender keys. Keep an eye out, it’s coming soon!

That Desktop refactor is on the way, and it’s one of our top priorities. It will include a lot of the same improvements you’ve already seen on Android and iOS: performance improvements, improved closed groups, working multi-device, and a looooong list of bug fixes.

We’ve also got a couple of behind-the-scenes things to add for onion requests. We want to add onion requests for the file server (the server that’s used when you send images and files through Session) and open groups. Although this might not seem as shiny as some of the other things we’re working on, it’ll provide an extra layer of protection for all Session users.

Thank you!

We’re so happy with how Session has been coming along the last few weeks. We’ve made huge leaps in stability and performance across all platforms — and we couldn’t have done it without YOU! To everyone reading these update notes, sending in feedback, and talking to their mates on Session — thank you so, so much. Talk soon!

The Session Team

Still have questions?

We’re happy to help with any questions you might have. Check out our FAQ for more information on our helpful features, or reach out to us at [email protected].