How do you add a new contact?

Product feedback & support
1

Hi experts,
KS reward only just arrived so I’m an absolute newbie…

I’ll be going on a hike tomorrow with a friend who’s willing to install the gotenna app. How do I pair with him?

  1. I can’t allow access to the phone contacts because it’s a company phone and I can’t share the company’s address book.
  2. He’s a doctor so there’s no way he’ll expose his mobile number, so we’ll have to use generated IDs.

I was hoping for one of the following to exchange IDs but none seem possible…

  1. Hook up through the gotenna’s hardware ID since I own both so I could do that in advance… not possible.
  2. Scan a qr-code (like threema) - the app doesn’t appear to generate one
  3. Swap IDs by copying and pasting them into Telegram or WhatsApp - copy isn’t possible on my iOS phone.
  4. Proximity method (users within 4 meters) or bluetooth hand-shake… not supported.

That leaves us with dictating and typing which seems a bit awkward and error-prone for a modern device. Especially if you have to do this often.

Is there a better way?
alanrick

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2

Good question! The best way I know is to send a “shout” or broadcast message. The other phone will receive it. Then have him click on the sender and add the contact.
Edit: Not click but long press on the message.

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3

You can also manually enter the other users GID / cellphone number

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4

That’s cunning but works :slight_smile: Thanks @giqcass

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5

If you want to add each other without using the shout feature, manually entering the contact information using each GID would be the best way to get set up!

6

True, but keying in long sequences of digits is error prone.
This would be simpler and more reliable if you could copy and paste the ID into a messenger app to send while still online. Qrcodes would work offline.

So currently the shout method is the only reliable method. It’s a reasonable workaround.

3 Likes
7

1
It may be a good idea to allow the application to access a camera and read a QR code displayed by the application. The QR code would contain the GID. For example you have your device with you and you bring up a QR code. Your buddy scan the QR code with his or her device and it automatically sets up the GID the contacts portion of the app.

Applications that have this function in the Android platform are openkeychain (PGP) and Signal private messaging application. Each of the applications gives the user the ability to exchange contact information by bringing up a QR code for the other person to scan. All of these functions are performed within the application.

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8

CutnPaste of the GID is still not possible in 5.02 so here’s my hack to explain what I mean.

IMG_2453
IMG_2453.JPG3024×4032 2.13 MB

In this case the qrcode is a contact card… if gotenna generated this it would be even better because qrcodes work offline. For many phones it’s enough to point the camera at the code to automatically create the contact card - no app is needed.

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9

I often have difficulty sending the initial 1-1 message to a new instance of the GoTenna app on another device. Typing in the GID and sending a message often doesn’t work. I guess this is because of the E2E encryption? Sending a shout and adding the contact works every time.

As for contacts, you can deny the permission and still use the app as it will create its own contacts as you add them.