Reply-to-Sticker messages missing after historical backup transfer from Android to Desktop

[taihuynh0902]

Guidelines

• I have searched searched open and closed issues for duplicates
• I am submitting a bug report for existing functionality that does not work as intended
• This isn't a feature request or a discussion topic

Bug description

When linking a Signal Android device to Signal Desktop and performing a historical backup data transfer, reply messages that quoted a Sticker are not transferred correctly.

Steps to reproduce:

1. On Signal Android, send a sticker in a conversation.
2. 2. Reply to that sticker message with a text message (creating a "reply-to-sticker" message).
3. 3. Link Signal Android to Signal Desktop using the device linking + historical backup transfer feature.
4. 4. Open Signal Desktop and navigate to the same conversation.
      Expected behavior:
      The reply message should display the quoted sticker as context (showing the sticker thumbnail in the reply bubble), followed by the reply text — matching the appearance on Android.

Actual behavior:
On Signal Desktop, the sticker appears as a standalone message with no reply context. The "reply-to-sticker" relationship is lost — the message shows only the sticker itself, not as a quoted reply.

Additional context:

• This only affects messages where a sticker is the quoted/replied-to message.
• • Regular text reply-to-text messages appear to transfer correctly.
• • • The issue is reproducible consistently after the historical backup transfer.

Screenshots

Screenshot 1 – Signal Android (correct behavior):
Shows a conversation where a sticker was replied to with the text "123". The reply bubble correctly displays the quoted sticker as context ("Rep sticker" label + sticker thumbnail), followed by the reply text. A second reply "Rep cua rep ticker" also correctly shows the quoted reply context.

Screenshot 2 – Signal Desktop after historical backup transfer (bug):
The same conversation on Signal Desktop. The sticker appears as a standalone message only (highlighted with red box in the screenshot). The reply context is lost — there is no "reply-to-sticker" bubble shown. The red annotation reads: "This is only the sticker, it should be the Reply message with Sticker"

_(Screenshots available — please see attached images)


Device

Samsung (Android smartphone)

Android version

Android 12+

Signal version

8.6.1

Link to debug log

No response