Sunup for UnifiedPush help (for Molly)

DeletedGravy

Ok, so none of this has made sense to me, and the UnifiedPush and Sunup Codeberg how-to descriptions are super simple, but don't explain anything that I need. The Molly end says stuff about a Molly Socket that sounds like I need some kind of server setup (as did earlier threads on here, at least according to my very limited understanding of them), which is just way outside the realm of usability for regular folks, like me, and I'd sooner stay with WebSocket than try to set up this many moving parts.

Or, am I missing something? The Sunup app gives me no tools that I can see to connect to Molly, and Molly demands some kind of QR code. What am I missing?

ZetaDroid

You need a MollySocket server to use UnifiedPush with Molly. You can host it or yourself, or use a public instance. I've seen https://adminforge.de/services/mollysocket/ mentioned here. I don't know if it's good, but it should be reasonably safe in the sense that the hoster cannot read your messages. See MollySocket's README section on security.

That said, there's nothing wrong with using Molly's persistent WebSocket connection. I've heard it used to consume a lot of battery in the past, but that's not my experience.

With UnifiedPush you may save some battery consumption if you use more than one app with it. For example, Molly, an IRC client, and a Matrix client. See this list of UnifiedPush-compatible apps.

The way it works with Molly is that MollySocket registers itself as a linked (Signal) device with a persistent WebSocket connection to Signal. Upon receiving a message (which it won't be able to decrypt, see above) it sends a notification to a UnifiedPush distributor (server) such as Sunup. The distributor then forwards the notification to the distributor app on your phone, which in turn, tells the Molly app on your phone to check for new messages.

DeletedGravy

ZetaDroid Thank you! Helpful description. I'm getting pretty solid battery life out of my new Pixel, so far, with Molly using WebSocket, so I will probably just stay there. It was the encryption at rest preventing notifications going through that made me want to switch, but I will probably limit myself and pick fewer battles.

harp

ZetaDroid With UnifiedPush you may save some battery consumption if you use more than one app with it.

Not the only benefit. You also get notifications about new messages with UnifiedPush when molly's database is locked. That's not working with the built-in Websocket solution, that only works with unlocked database.

mmobder

DeletedGravy UP typically pays off if you have multiple apps that can rely on it instead of per-app connections. If it's only one app, I find it more feasible/reliable not to introduce two extra dependencies multiplying potential issues/failures