Signal Groups gets admins, @mentions in latest update

There are tons of messaging apps that you can choose out there with varying degrees of features and functionalities. For those who are concerned with privacy, Signal is probably one of the more popular ones. Features-wise, it has a lot of catching up to do with the WhatsApps, Messengers, and Telegrams of this world but they’re constantly adding new things to make it a bit more appealing. The latest update to the app focuses on Signal groups, bringing new features like admin controls and @mentions.

With any group messaging situation, things can easily get out of hand and so some sort of admin control is almost always needed. Signal groups can now have them and they come with some “powers” to configure and manage a group. Admins have the ability to assign admin controls to other members as well as remove any member that has violated the group’s rules and policies.

Admins can also manage some of the group’s permissions. They can control who is able to change the name and avatar of the group as well as which members will be able to add members to the group. While some would say this would restrict members’ freedom, there has to be some semblance of organization and management within a group, especially if the membership is growing.

Another new feature that can come in handy if there are a lot of people talking in a group is the @mentions option. You can tag anyone in the group by typing @ and then selecting a member from the picker. If another person mentions you, you can go directly to that part of the chat where your name has been mentioned. You can also choose to just be notified by the app only when someone mentions you.

You can create New Groups on Signal to test these new features already but you have to make sure that the members in the group are on the latest version of the app. The existing groups you have will receive a future update which will have these two features, although they didn’t exactly say when this will happen.