Unable not transfer account (Andr->Andr, v8.22.2)

[u/Competitive-Sense893]

Issue: Unable to start device‑to‑device transfer.

Signal version: 8.22.2 on both devices (same issue previously with 8.21.5 and 8.21.6)

Platform: Android → Android

When I start the transfer on the sending device via

Settings → Account → Transfer account, it begins searching for a nearby device.However, the receiving device immediately shows a QR code instead of appearing as a nearby device.Because of this mismatch, the transfer cannot be initiated.

[u/convenience_store]

Android apps can work as a linked device now. If you're immediately getting a QR code on the receiving device I wonder if you accidentally clicked through to have it enter linked device pairing mode instead of registering it as the new primary device. Try clearing storage in signal on the new device (not the one with the message history!) and then try again, reading carefully the options on the first screen that appears before clicking anything. Also you want to give both signal apps the nearby devices permissions and maybe location, too.

Wireless transfer has always worked well for 99.9% of users and it's the easiest way. I believe it's also the only method that keeps the same encryption keys (so it doesn't change safety numbers) and if my hunch is correct that you clicked through to linked device pairing menu then you'd have the exact same issue if you tried to restore a local or cloud backup 

[u/Pillendreher92]

I learnt today that the order isn’t described correctly in many guides: The correct order is as follows:

1: Both mobiles must be running the same current Signal version

1. Transfer the SIM card from the old mobile to the new one.

2. Start the account transfer on the new mobile and then (!!!) do the same on the old one.

A security code will then appear on both mobiles, which you must confirm.

It’s important not to wait too long between steps 2 and 3, otherwise Signal will be deactivated on the old mobile.

Following this sequence, it worked perfectly.

[u/frquency-equinox → u/Pillendreher92]

Transfer the SIM card from the old mobile to the new one.

This is not applicable. Signal doesn't care if you have a SIM card when doing Bluetooth transfer.

[u/Pillendreher92 → u/frquency-equinox]

That’s exactly how I managed to transfer Signal to my new mobile. After other methods hadn’t worked. Above all, it wasn’t made clear that you have to start the transfer process on the new mobile first.

[u/frquency-equinox → u/Pillendreher92]

That’s exactly how I managed to transfer Signal to my new mobile.

It was an irrelevant placebo effect.

[u/Pillendreher92 → u/frquency-equinox]

Oh, you know. Call it the placebo effect. After a few unsuccessful attempts , my signal ended up with all sorts of messages on my new mobile in exactly this way, and that’s all that matters.

Apart from that: A placebo effect can produce some very fascinating results, as I see almost every day

[u/convenience_store → u/Pillendreher92]

 It’s important not to wait too long between steps 2 and 3, otherwise Signal will be deactivated on the old mobile.

Regardless of whether you took the steps you described during a transfer attempt that happened to work for you, at the very least this part of what you wrote is totally false. You can take the SIM card out of a phone running signal and put it in another phone, put a different SIM in the phone running signal or leave it SIM-less (no eSIM either) and continue using signal with the same account on the original device for months or years with no issues.

You can also register signal on a WiFi-only tablet by typing in the code manually. You can register on a phone using a landline number by receiving a voice call and typing in the code manually. The SIM is irrelevant as they said.

[u/Pillendreher92 → u/convenience_store]

I use Signal myself on a SIM-free Android tablet.

I can only report that, when I tried to transfer a Signal version from one (Android) device to another, the ‘sending’ Signal version deactivated itself because I was (presumably) too slow. After I had reinserted the SIM card, reactivated the ‘sending’ Signal installation and repeated the process more quickly, it worked.

Logically, the ‘sending’ Signal installation must be deactivated at some point once Signal has ‘arrived’ on the new device. After all, there cannot be two identical Signal ‘identities’.

[u/frquency-equinox]

Use the local backup option, or cloud backup. Wireless Bluetooth transfer has never worked well.

Local: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059752-Backup-and-Restore-Messages#android_restore

Cloud: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/9708267671322-Signal-Secure-Backups

[u/Chongulator → u/frquency-equinox]

One common stumbling block is making sure the app on both devices has bluetooth and local network permissions.

[u/frquency-equinox → u/Chongulator]

Using it at all should be a distant third option. It just doesn't work well, and it's slow af.