Group chats in Signal are supported for admin roles and mentions

Chatapp Signal has added a number of new features to group chats. It will be possible to set up admins for groups and to direct mentions to specific users. The feature only works for new groups for now.

The new features are in the group chat function that Signal introduced at the end of last year. It was possible to set up groups, but they were still lacking many functions that alternative chat services such as WhatsApp and Telegram had. A major change is that Signal groups can now get admins. They have the option to remove members from groups. Admins can also change the rights of other members of a group. For example, they can appoint other admins and determine who can change the group name and image and add new members.

In the future, group chats will also include ‘mentions’. Users can designate a user by typing @ whom they want to name specifically. When a user is mentioned, it is possible to jump straight to that message. Users can set in the menu whether they want to receive specific notifications from everything in a group chat or just a mention.

The new functions are immediately available for new groups. To do this, all group users must be on the most recent version of the app. For existing groups, the new features will be released in ‘a future update’, but it is not clear when that will happen. Signal currently distinguishes between two types of groups: New Groups with the new functions and Legacy Groups which do not yet have the new functions.