Deltachat-android: Check whether to change the package name to chat.delta.android

[JavaZauber]

While the current name is okay it doesn't reflect the relationship to https://delta.chat/

Proposed change:
com.b44t.messenger --> chat.delta.android

Community vote via 👍 👎 emoji?

[r10s]

yeah, the current package name was chosen before the whole thing got the name "Delta Chat" :)

however, wouldn't changing the package name also required the users to re-install the app? if so, we should consider this, too.

[JavaZauber]

This will trouble the update routines. Haven't found any official doc yet in what way this would trouble the android system and the f-droid store but I don't think we can avoid trouble.

All I know is that
1) changing the name would increase the trustworthiness of the app, since it's a name associated with an open source group instead of an individual (which is an opinion tbh ; people who vote for this ticket appear to share this view)
2) Doing this as early as possible would result in the smallest damage possible. Similar to ripping off a band-aid.

It's harsh to disrupt the users but we should do it while we're sill a 0.x version.

[JavaZauber]

Pain can be mitigated by releasing a migration-ready version under the old package name when the new version hits the shelves.
On app startup it could display a button which 1) Exports all internal data to Downloads and 2) opens fdroid store on the new app. The migration-ready new app would then take the file from downloads and (when the user verifies a successful migration) delete the migration file from downloads.

That way, the user only needs to push a button and wait for a few seconds. Export format should be whatever is the easiest to produce and read. Export would be just SMTP settings including user password as far as I see it as everything else resides on the users email server.

[johanw666]

Not everyone uses F-Droid, some way to transfer settings to the newly named app without involving F-Droid would be preferrable.

[r10s]

@JonasDralle i fear there are currently definitely not the resources to create and test such a migration version.

However, i've added this to the milestone 1.0 so we can think over it at least before we do a Playstore release some time in the future (this can easily have another ID).

Btw. I am wondering if the ID is always visible to the user: On my Moto G test device with stock-android, it is not shown to the user.

[testbird]

The standard Import/Export function should work. Maybe the renamed package can even be installed in parallel. And a last update for the old package, just puts something like an "old" overlay on the logo in the old package, before the next version is released with the new package name.

[violoncelloCH]

And something like the intro (showing the strength of delta chat) could warn and guide the user to move to the new app.
Maybe even a banner or an entry on top of the chats list which stays there could be added.

[JavaZauber]

@r10s then change package name without migration tool.
All the messages reside inside the email server of the user. The user would only need to login again.

[testbird]

related: https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-android/issues/379

[r10s]

@r10s then change package name without migration tool.
All the messages reside inside the email server of the user. The user would only need to login again.

that's not true.
there is no option to restore messages (not saying that this wouldn't be useful, but it's just not there).
also, it's not only about messages but also about settings, created chats, blocked users and so on.

so, the inital poll should not only be about a nicer internal-id but also if that changing the internal-id may result in hard jobs about export/import - which is a challenge esp. on devices with few harddisk-space.

in https://github.com/deltachat/deltachat-android-ii/issues/230 and on irc and in personal discussions we've reconsidered this, however, decided for an easier update-path.

also, the internal name is not always visible, eg. on my moto-g test-device i did not have found it at all. and, for google-play, we can go for another id.

i would suggest to close this issue, it would result in lot of work for both, maintainers and users, for few effect imho.

[webratte]

Me, as a non tech, but interested user would say:

Minimum 90% of the users are not interested in the package name or even know what it is ;-)

So IMHO it's not needed to change it.

[r10s]

in fact, i was really searching to get the appplicationId, but i did not find it o recent test devices. also f-droid does not display it. closing this issue for now.