Encrypted messaging app Telegram, which has been in the news lately because of its use within the terrorist group ISIS, today announced a few new features aimed at people who use the app to chat in groups.
Now it’s possible for certain users to be designated as admins of a given group. Admins can add people to and remove people from the group. They can also change the name and photo of the group, according to a blog post on the updates.
The other big change is a good indicator of how popular Telegram is becoming: Groups can now contain a maximum of 1,000 members, up from 200 until now, thanks to the launch today of new supergroups. You’re only able to turn an existing group into a supergroup once you’ve reached the 200 mark. At that point, in an apparent allusion to McDonald’s, the app asks, “Supersize that?”
One interesting part of the new feature is the way Telegram is trying to keep the noise out of these larger conversations.
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“Supergroups are muted by default and send fewer joined/left notifications,” Telegram wrote in the blog post.
Telegram was delivering 12 billion messages per day as of September.
