Signal-desktop: [Bug] Contact names won't sync.

[bknie1]

• [x] I have searched open and closed issues for duplicates

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Bug description

Signal desktop won't sync this contact's name. They have Signal and their name has appeared before. As you can see, it defaults to the phone number/grey style. This has happened with one other contact and seems to occur when I restart the computer. I have reinstalled Signal Desktop three times. Each time this happens I have to manually import contacts again. Perhaps, on launch, Signal should auto import just to be safe?

Steps to reproduce

• Install the latest version of Signal Desktop.
• Restart the computer.
• Check to see if all of the contact names still sync.

Actual result: The contact's name is not recognized. It defaults to the phone number and gray color.
Expected result: The contact name should sync and each contact should be color coded rather than the default gray.

Screenshots

Platform info

Operating System: Windows 10
Browser: Chrome 60.0.3112.113

Signal version: 0.43.2

Link to debug log

https://gist.github.com/0c58f9b93f145382bebf538d14531359

[nrizzio]

I'm finding that contacts will go from having their contact recognized to unrecognized after exchanging messages. I don't know how to reliably reproduce the issue though.

Pinging @nitrocalcite - I know that you've had this issue more than I have - can you list exact steps to reproduce plus a debug log?

[norg]

I have the exact same issue now, as soon as I get new messages from a contact, the contact name is gone and the phone number is shown and the contact color is grey.

OS: Arch Linux
Browser: Chromium 60.0.3112.113-1

[mykhi]

+1

[DefineAmerican]

+1 It is "forgetting" group names in addition to not reading contact names.

[scottnonnenberg]

Hey everyone. A couple things would help us track this down:

• if you're on Android, go make a change to the contact, like changing their color. That should be reflected very quickly in Signal Desktop.
• Provide your debug log, as well as the last three digits of the contact which isn't being sync'd properly
• play with the problematic contacts a little bit - if you restart and they aren't showing properly, what event seems to make the name show up? If it's the other way around, what makes the name go away?
• Is there anything weird about the contact - like a character in their name, or whether or not you've messaged with them before?

And a question for all of you: is it just one or two contacts this is happening with? Or all of them?

[tfish77]

Changing the color on Android immediately changed the color (and brought back the correct name) on desktop. As did things like changing the group name. Unfortunately it's happening with quite a few contacts & groups so it'd be great to not have to edit each one on Android if possible. I've seen it with 1 contact with a normal name (no special chars), and 1 group with an ampersand.

[jguluarte]

Something changed in the last couple of days, and I too also have this issue. This is duplicated across Windows 10, OSX, Linux Mint.

Also changing the color does force an update to render the name. So, I will use the workaround for now. Just wanted to chime in that I also experience this issue.

[liliakai]

In the PR above I've attempted to add some logging to debug where this change is happening. So far I haven't gotten it to repro locally.

In addition to Scott's list above, could you tell us a bit about the state of the app at the time these names are lost? For instance, at the time of the change:

• Is the app window open?
• Are any conversations are open?
• Is the affected conversation currently open? If not, has it been opened at all since startup?
• Do you actually see the name disappear when receiving a message, or do you only see the change after a restart?

[lethargosapatheia]

I also have the same problem.
The app window is open when this happens to me, but it's not focused (it's not in the foreground).
A conversation is open - after talking to someone I cannot select any other window than one of the conversations.
One of the contacts turned grey even after having talked to him some minutes before. But the windows itself wasn't focused (it was in the background).
I see the names disappear when receiving the messages.

[scottnonnenberg]

Okay, I believe I understand the core reason for this behavior - receiving messages when the app is 'in the background' in the Chrome App sense. So likely when it's either not visible or you haven't interacted with it lately.

Working on a fix now.

[urza]

Hello, I also had this problem. The workaround (change color of contact on android) helped, but what can I do with groups? I cant change goup color (there is no group color it is composed of persons color). My group on Desktop are remaining without name called "Unknown Group".
How can I force my group on Desktop to get name and icon again?
Thanks

[scottnonnenberg]

You can click _Settings_ in the main triple-dot menu (in the top-middle), then click _Import Now_ at the bottom to request all the latest contact/group information from your phone.

[suprafly]

@scottnonnenberg Thanks, that solved the problem for me.