Signal-android: Allow to set and sync Contact Pictures

[lablans]

Allow users to set their own contact picture and sync it to other TextSecure users. In contrast to WhatsApp, provide those pictures to the system contact list to be used in any app, including but not limited to TextSecure.

Is this possible using a SyncAdapter ( #890 ) coupled with a ContentProvider?

[tinloaf]

This would mean that TS would need the server storage capacity (not to mention the data transfer capacity) to store and transfer those pictures. Also, if you would want to sync these pictures into your address book (which I think would be a great feature...), you would want high-resolution pictures, increasing the amount of storage etc. we need...

I'm not sure that's an issue, but servers are to become the bottleneck in the future, I guess (since someone has to pay for them). I'm not sure if the current server owners think this is realistic...

[generalmanager]

This would be possible with a storage server, but I'm not sure it would be the best way to do it.
Why don't we just send an IM to all contacts that are on a data connection with the new picture?
Contacts without a data connection could get it via MMS (expensive in Europe and bad quality).

The transfer would still create some traffic, but not much more than the average instagramm user creates in two days.
And people don't usually update their pictures every few days.

[0xACE]

I thought textsecure was only meant to provide encrypted conversations. Contact pictures are assigned by each phone by itself.

There are other 3rd party tools that will sync profile pictures from other services, if you desire it...

[L3st3r]

I think the average user don't want to use another app to include contact pictures, but contact pictures certainly improve the user experience. If it is possible to achieve this like @lindworm suggested, so that the photos don't have to be stored on a server, than it would be perfect in my opinion.

[generalmanager]

@L3st3r yes, I don't see why that should'nt work, it's not really any different from the pictures we are sending now.
For recipients without data, we would have to ask the user if he really, really wants to send XX number of MMS. I'm sure I'd triple or quadruple my monthly bill if I sent just 20 MMS.

[ghost]

Profile pictures are the feature that my WA friends are missing the most. They find TS a bit too... boring...

[ghost]

With the new notifications that came with the last update, this is even more important. When you get a new message and you drop down the notification bar, you can see the profile picture of the contact that sent the message -- too bad you can't set it up though, so unless it's a group avatar you're not going to see anything.
I would at least suggest setting default profile pictures showing the initial(s) of the contact, like it's being done in group chats. I think that's the approach in Signal on iOS too but I'm not sure

[bartz1]

"In contrast to WhatsApp, provide those pictures to the system contact list to be used in any app, including but not limited to TextSecure."

Actually I don't like this. If I set a profile picture within Signal I'm expecting it to be encrypted, but if other apps can use it too then how do I know they're not uploading it to their own servers? (ex facebook or hangouts etc..). Did I understand correctly what you meant?
(By the way there's a similar issue in #706 but it's locked to collaborators so I'd suggest to leave this open since no one can talk over there)

[DoS007]

Pro feature: I know nobody who goes _through all profiles and sets a photo_ (which probably should _be recent_ and with the _person of profile in focus_; _does everybody has photo for each of their contacts?!_: I think no.). I think this goes for 80% of people using signal.

Pro setting manually: I think there is also a legimate reason for setting a photo manually. The contact uses photos I don't want him to have (nature picture or ...). I think this goes for 20% of people using signal.

Why not combine these features:

1. Show the picture about a contact who uploaded it himself when both contacts have both exchanged their telephone number.
2. Allow overwriting the picture of the contact with a custom picture.

I recommended signal to many people and all of them including me would very like this feature. This is in my eyes one of two major feature lackings of signal.

[FeuRenard]

Isn't this a duplicate of #706 ?