Signal-desktop: [Feature Request] [Linux] Re-enable notification sounds in Linux

[kemsar]

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

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Description

As mentioned in #2377 et al, notification sounds have been disabled in Signal-Desktop for Linux. However, for Linux users this isn't really acceptable since the advice to "look into your window manager's notification system" and turn on sounds or "install some other component that could add sounds to notifications" is neither user-friendly nor even a viable option in many cases.

I propose that the option to enable notification sounds be reintroduced for Linux, possibly with the option for the user to select an audio file to be used for the notification.

[kemsar]

I have a working branch that enables notification sounds in Linux. If this is something people want and gets approved, I can submit a PR.

[PorcelainMouse]

kevinsarsen, can you explain how notification sounds were "disabled" on Linux? I would really like to understand this better.

[t-nelson]

@PorcelainMouse they weren't "disabled." Signal only supports native notifications now. Which means, at least under Ubuntu, you either get notifications and all of the annoying desktop sounds or no notifications at all. The only middle ground is some completely hack nonsense of deleting the select sound files from the filesystem.

I think the ideal solution here would be to introduce a "Use native notifications" toggle in preferences allowing a choice between native notifications and Signal handling them itself. Ala Telegram.

[PorcelainMouse]

I don't know why you are telling me. That what my understanding, too.

However, I'm getting system sounds from other desktop apps, but not Signal. So, your statement is also incorrect. Signal seems to be doing something different than other apps.

[kemsar]

kevinsarsen, can you explain how notification sounds were "disabled" on Linux? I would really like to understand this better.

Apologies for the late response. I guess saying "disabled" isn't the appropriate verbage. However, if you look at line 5 in Settings.ts you'll see the root reason that sounds don't work in some distros of Linux. Essentially, the code says that if it's running on Linux, audio notifications aren't supported.

[howlett]

I use the i3wm with debian. Neither sound nor notifications work for me. In fact, when I'm supposed to get a notification, the window is highlighted as expected but the window freezes for a prolonged time - no updates and the screenbuffer doesn't get updated. Is this the same issue or is this fundamentially different?

It sounds like this bug is just about the sound being controlled by the WM - which i3 doesn't really handle. It might be worth mentioning that I'm using pulse audio as well.

I would expect this to work a lot like slacks notification - a noise and a little pop-up. I'm new to signal, but it looks like the desktop app is a browser window (not sure on this) so I don't see the functionality and implementation being all that different from what firefox has implemented.

[scottnonnenberg-signal]

@howlett Visual notifications should still work for you - maybe enter a new bug about that?

[Hnasar]

I also don't get any notifications or sound using GNOME + Debian Buster

[Kufat]

This is also a problem on ChromeOS, which doesn't appear to support the notification mechanisms alluded to in #2377 for virtualized Linux apps.

[Nisc3d]

I am still missing Notification Sounds on Arch Linux with KDE. That would be a great feature.

[Trento89]

Could somebody please just add this functionality already? It's been more than a year now and nobody has taken any action. I need to know when somebody has sent me a message.

[wazlecracker]

In KDE, it's not possible to enable sound notifications for Signal. Most other apps have the option.

[Trento89]

My environment is Window Maker, not KDE. Is there a reason nobody has bothered to add notifications? It's not like this is somehow impossible - for example, Slack has desktop notifications.

[lots0logs]

This issue makes Signal on linux pretty useless since you have to remember to check for messages yourself throughout the day. I don't understand what the problem is tbh. All other Electron based apps that I use have notifications that work perfectly fine on both GNOME and KDE desktops. It seems Signal is just not doing something correctly.

cc: @alan-signal @Imperiopolis-Signal @jlund-signal @moxie0 @scottnonnenberg-signal

[Mati20187]

I'm using Arch with Xfce and haven't been able to get notification sounds to work for Signal. In my experience, Transmission was the only program which works fine with sound notifications on Linux. Either way, even if I were able to enable sound for notifications, I probably wouldn't because I only want sound notifications for crucial programs such as messaging

[alex91ar]

Please enable notification sounds in linux! Otherwise the application is lacking a very important feature!!!!

[Neverminder]

This really is annoying. I use Ubuntu 18.04 with Unity and all the other apps have sound notifications, just to name a few - Thunderbird, Slack, Skype, Telegram. It should be pretty simple to implement. Are there like political reasons not to do this?

[dfeinstdigidems]

Please implement this feature!!!

[EvanHahn-Signal]

This feature has been added to the latest beta version of Signal Desktop! You might need to enable it in the settings.

If you're not already on the beta, see the instructions here. If you're on an unofficial distribution channel like Flatpak or AUR, you'll need to consult them to figure out how to switch.

Hope this helps.

[Nisc3d]

Thank you so much for adding this. It's working great for me.

[EvanHahn-Signal]

This has now been released to the production version of Signal Desktop, so I'm going to close this. Thanks everyone for your help here!