[whispersystems] Support for broadcast lists #3301

[johnny unitas]

I noticed a feature request posted on the TS GitHub page about support
for broadcast lists.

https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure/issues/3301

This feature would be similar to the non-push group "broadcast" option,
except you would be able to create and save persistent "groups"
(actually more like recipient lists) that you can select to broadcast
to. This feature is already implemented in WhatsApp:

https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/iphone/23782313

This seems like a good feature to have, especially when you take into
consideration the utility to dissident groups who would like to
broadcast to lists to spread word, put out a call to action, or for
tactical reasons during political demonstrations. I can see this feature
being used as a more decentralized alternative to Twitter and WhatsApp
since it is much harder for regimes such as Turkey to block SMS.

I was thinking of attempting to implement this, but I wanted to check
first with the WS devs to see if this is something they would be
interested in having as a part of TS before I went and did any work on
it.

Johnny

[Crci Crc]

This feature is present in Telegram also. However where TS differs is the
SMS+TS mixup.

Do you intend that non-textsecure users be sent regular sms in these
broadcasts or will it support TS users only.

Post by johnny unitas
I noticed a feature request posted on the TS GitHub page about support
for broadcast lists.
https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure/issues/3301
This feature would be similar to the non-push group "broadcast" option,
except you would be able to create and save persistent "groups"
(actually more like recipient lists) that you can select to broadcast
https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/iphone/23782313
This seems like a good feature to have, especially when you take into
consideration the utility to dissident groups who would like to
broadcast to lists to spread word, put out a call to action, or for
tactical reasons during political demonstrations. I can see this feature
being used as a more decentralized alternative to Twitter and WhatsApp
since it is much harder for regimes such as Turkey to block SMS.
I was thinking of attempting to implement this, but I wanted to check
first with the WS devs to see if this is something they would be
interested in having as a part of TS before I went and did any work on
it.
Johnny

[johnny unitas]

For this type of feature I think it makes the most sense to support both
TS and non-TS users for broadcast.

For non-TS users, this functionality is already present. The feature
would require the ability to maintain persistent lists of those
contacts.

For TS users, the "broadcast" option isn't yet available, so in addition
to adding support for persistent "broadcast lists" it makes sense IMHO
to be able to add TS users to these lists. I'm not entirely sure yet
about supporting mixed TS/non-TS lists, or whether there is a reason on
the part of the TS devs that there isn't already support for
broadcasting to TS users. Maybe they can give some insight into this.

Johnny

Post by Crci Crc
This feature is present in Telegram also. However where TS differs is the
SMS+TS mixup.
Do you intend that non-textsecure users be sent regular sms in these
broadcasts or will it support TS users only.

Post by johnny unitas
I noticed a feature request posted on the TS GitHub page about support
for broadcast lists.
https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure/issues/3301
This feature would be similar to the non-push group "broadcast" option,
except you would be able to create and save persistent "groups"
(actually more like recipient lists) that you can select to broadcast
https://www.whatsapp.com/faq/en/iphone/23782313
This seems like a good feature to have, especially when you take into
consideration the utility to dissident groups who would like to
broadcast to lists to spread word, put out a call to action, or for
tactical reasons during political demonstrations. I can see this feature
being used as a more decentralized alternative to Twitter and WhatsApp
since it is much harder for regimes such as Turkey to block SMS.
I was thinking of attempting to implement this, but I wanted to check
first with the WS devs to see if this is something they would be
interested in having as a part of TS before I went and did any work on
it.
Johnny

[Moxie Marlinspike]

Post by johnny unitas
I was thinking of attempting to implement this, but I wanted to check
first with the WS devs to see if this is something they would be
interested in having as a part of TS before I went and did any work on
it.

Hey Johnny, it's possible, but that's a really big change. Unless
you've successfully gotten 30-40 smaller PRs merged first, it's unlikely
that we'd find a big PR like that helpful right off the bat.

Thanks,

- moxie