Chapter 13: Social Circles and Groups

The Social tab (also called Social Circle) is where all your groups live. It shows the groups you are a member of, any group invites waiting for you, and a button to start a new group.

A search icon (to search your groups), the Toolbox icon, and the ⋮ menu. The ⋮ menu on this tab includes New Group, along with Profile, App Theme, Notification Sound, Language, Blocked Users, Reminders and Logout.

No. Social is for groups you chat in. The Business tab is the Business Circle, a directory of businesses (Chapter 14).

No. Groups work with your contacts even before you join a Samaj. If you have joined, you can also pick people from your Samaj when you create a group.

Tap the Social tab at the bottom of the screen.

Pinned groups come first. Under them, the groups with the most recent message come first. Each group shows its picture, name, the last message and the time. A date such as "Yesterday" appears for older messages. A new group with no messages shows "No messages yet".

You see "No groups found. Tap + to start one!" Tap + to create your first group (13.3).

The app could not reach the server. Check your internet and open the tab again.

Press and hold the group and tap Pin group. Use Unpin group to undo it. Pinning is personal. Other members' lists are not changed.

• Delete for me: removes the group from your own list only.
• Select multiple: tick several groups, then remove them from your list in one step. You see "Remove N groups?" and "These groups will be removed from your list.", then Remove.
• Delete for everyone: shown to group admins only. It permanently deletes the group and all messages for all members.

Delete for me only tidies your own list. Delete for everyone removes the group and its messages for every member and cannot be undone. You are asked to confirm: "Delete group for everyone? This will permanently delete the group and all messages for all members. This cannot be undone."

At the top of the Social tab as an invite card with the group name and two buttons, Accept and Reject (see 13.7).

1. On the Social tab, tap + or tap ⋮ then New Group.
2. On the Create Group screen, choose people from the Contacts tab or from the My Samaj tab (it shows your village name).
3. Tap Next (it shows how many you selected).
4. Type a Group Name. Tap the round picture to add a group photo. You can crop it.
5. Tap CREATE.

The group opens with a "Group created" message.

People in your phone contacts who are on KuhuChat, and members of your Samaj. Contacts not yet on KuhuChat are greyed out with a lock icon and the note "Not on app yet", and cannot be selected. Invite them to KuhuChat first.

Yes. When you create a group, everyone you select becomes a member immediately, with no invite step. The invite and accept step applies only to people you add later (13.6 and 13.7).

Yes. CREATE does nothing until you type a name. You can rename the group later (13.4).

No. You can add or change it later from Group Info.

Up to 1024, including you. The Create Group screen shows how many slots are left. If you go over, you see "Groups are limited to 1024 members".

The creator and an admin. You can make other members admins later.

Untick them before you tap Next. After the group exists, an admin can remove members (13.5).

Open the group chat and tap the group name at the top.

• The group picture and name, with the number of members.
• The group description ("Add group description" if you can edit it, or "No group description").
• Mute Notifications.
• ADMIN SETTINGS (admins only).
• Add Members (admins only).
• MEMBERS LIST, with an ADMIN tag beside admins.
• Pending Members (admins only, when invites are waiting).
• Exit Group.
• Delete Group (admins only).

Tap the name, picture or description on Group Info. You see Rename Group with a box for the new name, and Group Description with a box for the text. Tap Save. You can do this only if you are an admin, or if the admins have left Lock Group Info switched off.

On Group Info, switch on Mute Notifications. The label changes to Muted. Switch it off and you see "You will be notified of new messages". Muting affects only you.

No. Messages still arrive in the group. You just don't get notifications for them.

On Group Info tap Exit Group, then Leave. You see "Leave group? You will no longer receive messages from this group." The group shows "A member left the group".

The group continues. If you were the creator, the next admin becomes the creator. If no admin remains, the first remaining member becomes an admin. If you were the last member, the group is deleted.

Only an admin can. On Group Info tap Delete Group. A warning explains that the group and all messages are permanently deleted for every member. To confirm, type the exact group name, then tap Delete Group. It cannot be undone.

The person who created the group, plus anyone an admin promotes. Admins have extra controls.

• Add members.
• Remove members.
• Make another member an admin, or dismiss an admin.
• Switch on Lock Chat and Lock Group Info.
• See and cancel pending invites.
• Delete other people's messages in the group.
• Delete the group for everyone.

Read messages, send messages (unless Lock Chat is on), delete their own messages, mute the group, and leave it.

When an admin switches it on, only admins can send messages. Everyone else can read but not post. It is useful for announcements. Switch it off to let everyone write again.

When it is on, only admins can change the group name, picture and description. When it is off, any member can.

As an admin, tap the member in the members list, then Make Group Admin. To take the role away, tap the member and choose Dismiss as Admin.

As an admin, tap the member and choose Remove from Group, then Remove. You see "Remove member? [Name] will be removed from this group and will no longer receive new messages." Afterwards the group shows "[Name] removed from the group".

No. Admin controls apply only to the group.

If a member has a business listed on KuhuChat, this opens their business profile.

Only admins. The Add Members button appears on Group Info for admins.

1. On Group Info tap Add Members.
2. Choose people from the Contacts tab or the Samaj tab.
3. To add a person who is not in your contacts, tap Add a new number and type their phone number.
4. Tap ADD.

Up to 5 new members each time. The screen shows "N of 5 selected" and how many slots remain in the group. If you try more, you see "Maximum 5 new members per add". Add more people with another Add Members.

They may already be members, or they may already have a pending invite. A person who has been invited and has not yet answered cannot be invited again.

Yes, 1024. Pending invites count towards that limit too.

No. They receive an invite and become members only when they accept (13.7).

You get a notification titled Group invite that says you have been invited to join the group and can accept or decline. Tapping it opens the Social tab, where an invite card is waiting at the top of your list.

On the invite card, tap Accept to join, or Reject to decline. After you accept, the group appears in your list like any other.

No. Declining simply removes your invite. The admin is not notified.

Check that notifications are allowed for KuhuChat. Even without the notification, open the Social tab. The invite card shows there as long as the invite is still pending.

Yes. Admins see Pending Members on Group Info and can remove an invite before it is answered.

Not through Add Members. People added later always get an invite they can decline. The exception is a group's creator choosing people at the moment the group is created, who become members straight away. If you do not want to stay in a group, tap Exit Group.

On the Social tab tap the search icon. Type part of the group name in "Search groups by name...". Matching groups appear as you type. Group member names are shown under each group.

You see "No groups found" or, after you type, "No groups matching" with your search words.

No. It searches only the groups you belong to.

Pehchan, which shows how you are connected to a phone number through contacts and Samaj. See 4.5.

A notification with the group name and the sender's name, for example "Family: Ravi". Under it is a short label for what was sent, such as Photo, Video, Voice message, Document or Location. Text messages show as "Message".

KuhuChat opens that group chat on the Social tab, even if the app was closed.

No. A muted group sends you no notifications.

The Social tab badge counts unread group chats. Each group in the list shows its own unread count. Opening a group clears its count.

These show as notes inside the group chat, such as "Group created" and "A member left the group". Invited people also get a Group invite notification.

Mute each group (13.4), or turn off notifications for KuhuChat in your phone's settings.