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submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by Zeon@lemmy.world to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

To my understanding, Signal requires that you have a physical phone to use the desktop version. Is there any way to scan the QR code without a physical device? I'm trying to make an anonymous Signal account.

My idea:

1.) Set up Android VM on Linux laptop

2.) Use laptop camera to scan the QR code on my desktop

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[-] bad_news@lemmy.billiam.net 4 points 1 day ago

In my experience it won't let you make a new account if it can't access the SMS stack on the phone itself to see the confirmation code come in, so you'd need to somehow get the Signal confirmation code forwarded from a real number into Waydroid or whatever you're virtualizing in. Not sure that is possible, but it may be. There would still be a 1-1 phone number to account association, though.

[-] sudoer777@lemmy.ml 3 points 21 hours ago

I've used Signal with Google Voice before installed on separate profiles

this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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