Groups & communities
Groups are for people who already know each other. Communities have channels and threads, and each one says whether you need an account or can join anonymously.
Groups
A group brings people from your contacts into one end-to-end encrypted chat, so groups need an account.
- Create a group from Groups, then invite contacts or share an invite link.
- Joining by link: an admin approves anyone who asks to join through the link. Resetting the link stops the old one working.
- New members see messages sent after they join. Earlier messages aren't shared automatically.
- Leaving or removal stops new messages. Messages already on that person's devices stay there. See Groups you've left.
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything an admin can, and chooses admins. Can make someone else the owner |
| Admin | Approve requests, remove members, delete any message, clear messages for everyone |
| Member | Chat, reply, react, leave |
A message an admin deletes goes to the group's Trash, and only admins can restore it.
Groups you've left
A group you left, or were removed from, stays in your chat list on the devices that had opened it. Open it to read the messages already on that device, under a banner that says you left or were removed. It's read-only: there's no message box, and messages have no reply, reaction or other actions. New messages don't arrive, and these groups aren't part of search.
Communities
Browse the Communities directory, or open a community's link.
- Access: each community is either Account needed or Anonymous allowed. Joining anonymously uses a display name; it doesn't guarantee that nobody can tell who you are.
- Channels: a community holds channels, and channels hold threads. A private channel is readable only by the people added to it.
- Community link ID: 8–20 lowercase letters, numbers and dashes, picked by the creator.
- Mature: an 18+ mark for adult topics, never explicit content. Mature communities show only to people who say they're 18 or older, and always need an account. AChat doesn't verify the declaration, and AChat admins can change the mark.
Communities and their channels aren't end-to-end encrypted.
Moderation
- Admins create channels, manage private ones, and handle reports and bans. Only the owner chooses admins.
- Reports: the messages you select go to the community's admins and to AChat's moderators. You choose a reason: spam, harassment or bullying, sexual content, threats or violence, or something else. The moderation queue never shows who made a report.
- Bans: a banned person can't read or post in any channel of that community until an admin lifts the ban. Their earlier messages stay unless an admin removes them. If you think a ban is wrong, you can ask the AChat team for a review through the contact page.
- A message an admin or moderator removes goes to that space's Trash, and only its admins can restore it.
Communities keep a moderation history of reports, bans and removals.
Waiting to join an encrypted group
Groups are end-to-end encrypted, so an owner's or admin's device adds each new member. After you accept an invitation, the group stays on Groups as Waiting until that device is online, and AChat tells you when you're in. An owner's or admin's device adds waiting people whenever AChat is open on it.