Groups
Buzzio Groups are chat rooms for friends, teams, trips, and circles. When you create a group you choose two things up front:
- History mode — end-to-end (E2E) or open-history
- Lifetime — permanent or temporary (up to 30 days)
That gives four real options: permanent E2E, temporary E2E, permanent open-history, and temporary open-history. You pick the mode at create time — you cannot switch history mode or permanence later.
Get started
- Create a new group in Buzzio.
- Choose E2E or open-history, and permanent or temporary.
- Set a name, optional description/rules, avatar, and invite settings.
- Optionally turn on Secure View and (for E2E) Vanish.
- Invite people with the invite link / QR (and optional password or approval).
- Chat, pin, react, and manage members from the group.
A group can have up to 500 members.
Choose the right group type
| If you want… | Choose |
|---|---|
| Ongoing private circle; new joiners don’t get old backscroll | Permanent E2E |
| Same privacy, but the room should die on a timer | Temporary E2E |
| Shared history so late joiners can catch up | Permanent open-history |
| Shared history only while the event is alive | Temporary open-history |
In plain terms:
- E2E — messages are sealed for members; Buzzio is not designed to read the transcript. New people get access to future chat, not a full old archive.
- Open-history — the room keeps shared encrypted history so people who join later can scroll back. Built for clubs, classes, and projects that onboard mid-way.
- Temporary — you pick a duration; when time is up the group ends and is wiped from the usual group list / room content path.
Temporary duration presets
1h · 2h · 6h · 12h · 1d · 2d · 3d · 7d · 10d · 14d · 20d · 30d (max 30 days).
Invite people
Invite links carry membership access (group id + invite token) — not your recovery phrase and not encryption keys.
Useful controls:
- Share invite link / QR
- Optional join password (minimum about 4 characters)
- Optional require member approval
- Regenerate invite (Super Admin) to invalidate old links
- Permanent groups: join attempt cap (3); removed people can be banned from self-rejoining
Roles
| Role | Day-to-day power |
|---|---|
| Super Admin (creator / owner) | Full control: promote/demote admins, transfer ownership, regenerate invite, change join password, edit description & rules, dissolve when appropriate |
| Admin | Add/remove members (not Super Admin), approve joins, share invite, pin messages, help moderate |
| Member | Chat (unless only admins can send), leave, use normal message tools |
Other room options Super Admin / Admin may use:
- Only admins can send (announcement-style)
- Hide full member list from ordinary members
- Pin messages (pin durations on the order of 24 hours / 7 days / 30 days)
- Batch remove / ban and removal history for operators
Members can still use personal device prefs such as local lock, clear chat, media visibility, and read-receipt preference.
Chat features
In a group you can typically:
- Send text and media
- Reply and react
- Forward within normal type limits
- Browse a media / links / docs gallery
- Use view-once media where supported
- Report for safety
Not first-class in groups today: @mentions, polls, and message edit.
At larger sizes (around 100+ members), some push wake behavior may be batched for scale — messages still arrive through normal sync.
Vanish and Secure View in groups
These are set when you create the group (not the same mutual handshake as 1-to-1).
| Tool | Groups behavior |
|---|---|
| Secure View | Create-time screenshot / screen-recording hardening for the room (E2E and open-history). |
| Vanish | Create-time option on E2E groups only (not on open-history). TTL options like 5s · 1m · 5m · 1h · 6h. |
Capture protection is stronger on some platforms than others — treat it as hardening.
Leave, remove, and end a group
- Members can leave.
- Admins can remove / ban.
- Temporary groups auto-end at expiry and wipe that room’s content path; members get notified.
- Permanent groups live until dissolve / delete by authorized roles.
Tips and limits
- Max 500 members.
- History mode and permanence are create-time only.
- Vanish is for E2E groups; open-history does not use Vanish.
- Use Communities if you need many channels, Discord-style roles, and events.
- Use Broadcast Channels if you only need admin announcements to followers.
Troubleshooting
I cannot create another group
Free accounts own 1 active E2E privacy group and 1 active Open History Group. Leave or dissolve one, or subscribe to Premium.
Late joiners cannot see old messages
That is expected in E2E groups. Use Open History if you need backscroll for people who join later.
Invites or password joins fail
Ask an admin for a fresh invite link. Password is case-sensitive. If join approval is on, wait for an admin to accept.
Voice in the group does not ring everyone
Group voice rooms are join-style, not a 1-to-1 ring. See Group voice rooms.
Related features
- Communities — multi-channel servers with categories, roles, and events.
- 1-to-1 chat — private messages with one person.
- Whisper private chat — temporary anonymous QR rooms.