Reinstalling Viber - channel loss, its restoration - the whole story (updated)

The image on the left is a newly introduced warning that does not solve problems with reserved channel and chat names.

In one of the Telegram channels, user Andrew compudza told an interesting experience of interaction with the technical support service of Viber, a messenger whose main user base is in the Russian Federation. Andrey turned to technical support after reinstalling the application on the smartphone.

It would seem that such an ordinary thing as reinstalling the application or changing the device while saving the phone number (which is the main parameter when registering an account in the messenger) should not cause any problems for the account owner. However - no.
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The fact is that after reinstalling the application, Andrew lost access to more than a dozen public channels in Viber, where he was the administrator. Correspondence with the technical support service of the messenger did not add clarity - as the user who got into the difficulty found out from his own experience, “the security policy of the messenger does not allow returning access until full confirmation of the identity of the channel administrator”. In response to an API key sent from one of the channels (where Andrei tested the bot), the Viber administration asked to list the names of the channels, as well as send them screenshots.

That is, the connectivity of public channels with a user account in Viber is broken at the time of unlinking the application from the device. Changing the device, the administrator of the channel loses control rights.

Another interesting point is that unpublished chats were not deleted after losing administrator access to them. Recreate, respectively, to create channels with the same name is simply impossible. Andrew also checked the restoration of access to the administration of the group: he created a chat, after which he deleted it and tried to recreate it. This turned out to be impossible, as the name is taken, and there is simply no provision for an automated method of recovery in Viber.

It is also interesting that the Viber technical support service does not deny the loss of control over channels by the user when changing the device or reinstalling the application. According to this logic, you do not have the right to change the device, phone number, or simply reinstall the mobile application, unless you are ready to enter into a long and not very simple correspondence with the staff of the messenger support team.

The burning question “Bug or feature?” Will be considered rhetorical.

Andrey responded to our request and provided several screenshots of his correspondence with Viber technical support.





The main conclusion from the above simple - creating channels, public chat rooms and other services (bots) in messengers, always add additional administrators, if necessary, creating additional accounts for themselves. Lack of redundancy control can lead to the fact that it will not be easy to regain control.

Message from Andrey : As a result of communication with technical support and thanks to the prompt intervention of Mikhail Pashintsev (Mikhail Pashintsev - Marketing manager Viber Russia & CIS), the issue of losing access to Viber public accounts has been completely resolved. Channels are back in my account. In the information window, when trying to unlink an account, a warning appeared about losing control over the user agent, in the case of unbinding.