Soft Delete & Swipe-to-Delete in Messaging App #79
Description
I ran into some friction with handling spam messages. The app has an Archive feature, but it didn’t have a “soft delete” or swipe-to-delete option, which are common in modern messaging UX. To explore and learn, I forked the app and implemented these features, following the code style and patterns already present.
What I’ve Built
This feature adds a Trash / Recently Deleted functionality, similar to what you’d find in many email/txt clients
Two-stage deletion – conversations first go into Trash, then are permanently removed later.
Configurable retention – choose how long messages stay in Trash (0–999 days, default 14).
Swipe-to-delete – delete conversations quickly with a swipe.
Restore option – recover accidentally deleted conversations from Trash.
Auto-cleanup – Trash empties itself automatically once the retention period expires.
How It Works
Delete a conversation → it moves to the Deleted Screen just like the Archive one.
Restore from Deleted → select and restore.
Permanently delete → delete again while in Deleted Screen.
Configure retention → Settings → Advanced → Recently deleted retention.
If retention is set to 0 days, messages are deleted immediately (skip Trash).
If set to -1, autodelete is disabled.
Technical Details
Added deleted_status and deleted_timestamp columns to DB.
Upgrade safe...
Auto-delete job runs daily at 00:05 AM and on app open
Single source of truth for retention default (14 days in constants.xml).
Behavior is safe-fail: background jobs fail gracefully, user actions have safe defaults.
I’ve been testing this on my Pixel 8 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro XL, but I’ll continue stress testing to make sure I haven’t missed anything.
Next Steps & Questions for the Community
Would this functionality be useful to others here?
I’d be happy to open a PR with these changes if the maintainers think it’s aligned with the project’s direction.
I know the core developers already have a lot on their plates, and I deeply appreciate the work that’s gone into making GrapheneOS what it is. My intent is to contribute thoughtfully, listen to feedback, and see where I can be most helpful.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, suggestions, and guidance.