Maps & Android Auto + Signal & Molly? Calling while driving?

xyzalphabeta

Just did my first test run with Google Maps + Android Auto (separate user profile).
Managed to play music etc although not through car screen unfortunately, had to launch the apps via phone.

Then. I got a call. Through Signal. In my general user profile that hosts most of my day to day apps.

This was a pain because i obviously couldn't pick up while I was driving, and since the call was happening in a different user profile it wasn't being routed to my vehicle for hands-free operation.

Afaik you can only run one instance of mobile Signal. When I signed into Signal on my current GOS phone, I was immediately signed out of any other device.

So now I wonder.. Can I run an instance of the same Signal account through Molly within the Google Maps user profile I use for driving? This way I can (hopefully?) receive calls on Molly (signal) while I'm driving.

Anybody try this? I thought I'd ask before I try because I don't wanna accidentally wipe my chats if by some reason the backup doesnt work.

Thank you!

MyIdentityIsntImportant

xyzalphabeta So, I got good news and bad news.

Good news first: you can run multiple instances of Molly on multiple phones/profiles that are connected to the same account.

And then the bad news: while you can run multiple instances of Molly, in practice you can't do so on the same phone on multiple profiles without some caveats. The issue is logistics. When you want to link your Android Auto -profile instance of Molly to your main one, Molly shows you a QR-code that you're supposed to scan with your main device (which in this case is the instance of Molly installed in your main profile). Well, how can you scan your own phone's display with its own camera? You can't. And even if you take a picture of the QR-code or write down the link itself, the moment you close the Android Auto -profile to go to your main one to link the new Molly instance, the device connection link is invalidated, thus making the linking impossible.

The only band-aid solution I came up with was to use a second phone as the "main" device for Molly, and then use that one to designate multiple Molly instances on the main phone in separate profiles as linked devices. This way you can have Molly on multiple profiles of the same phone. But that has its own issue of needing a second phone. But maybe it can work for you.

Hope this helps.

xyzalphabeta

MyIdentityIsntImportant hey thx yes i ran into exactly that loop. Hadnt tried the second phone yet. Good idea! Will try and update.

xyzalphabeta

MyIdentityIsntImportant installed molly on old phone to try and link a device to the user profile in GOS but I can't seem to link a device from Molly, only from signal. I guess because the Molly on the old phone is already a linked profile? Idk.

MyIdentityIsntImportant

xyzalphabeta the Molly on the old phone is already a linked profile?

This is exactly the issue. You can't link new instances of Molly from a linked instance/device. You can only do so from your "main" instance.

In order to designate your old phone as the main instance of Molly, you'll need to re-register to Molly through that phone. So, after you've installed Molly on your old phone and you're in the "get started" screen, you'll need to go through the standard registration process of writing in your phone number, getting the verification SMS, etc.

After that's done, your old phone will be the "main" instance of Molly. You'll of course be signed out of the Molly instances(s) on your new phone, but that's normal.

Then, on your new phone (which has now been de-registered), you can clear the Molly user account data throught Settings > Apps > All apps > Molly > Storage & cache > Clear storage (Uninstalling and re-installing Molly clears the user data too, so that works too.) This'll get you back to the set-up phase of Molly, allowing you to register your new/proper phone's Molly intances as linked devices. You can do this both for your main profile and your Android Auto -profiles.

Good luck & best wishes.

xyzalphabeta

MyIdentityIsntImportant aha OK now I get it... Makes sense. I wonder if backups would be an issue then.

xyzalphabeta

MyIdentityIsntImportant also wondering about the privacy implications

MyIdentityIsntImportant

xyzalphabeta Re-registering Molly will lose your messages unless you back them up first. You can do so by opening Molly in your current main instance, going to its settings, and then into Backups, and in there using a solution that works for you. That way you can transfer your message even through the re-registering.

xyzalphabeta wondering about the privacy implications

What about them? Got any specific worries; like something inside Molly or outside of it? Linked devices by themselves do not compromise the security or privacy of your messages; they're still encrypted as they should be. Sure, since you'll have two devices linked to your Signal/Molly account, you'll have increased the potential attack surface against your messages. But since you're on this forum, I trust you know how to keep your devices secure, so that shouldn't be an issue.