The security-focused messaging app Telegram, which has been in the news a bit this month due to its alleged use by ISIS and/or ISIS supporters, has announced a few new big features related to its core, chat-with-a-ton-of-people-at-once functionality.
"Telegram groups are democratic by design. Everyone can invite new members and change the group's name and photo, which is ideal for small bands of friends or coworkers. But Telegram can also support much larger communities that need more administration. To make life easier in big groups, we're introducing admins today," reads Telegram's blog post.
"From now on, you can choose how your groups will operate. By default, all members are still in control. But if you want more order, you can throw the switch and appoint additional administrators to your group."
Admins will have the power to add and remove members—and that's the only way you'll actually be able to join a group that has switched over to administrator control. Admins will also be able to change a group's name and photo as they see fit.
Telegram is also kicking up the maximum number of people who can be a part of any particular group on the service.
"Telegram groups have always been several steps ahead of the competition. You could have groups of up to 200 people communicating efficiently using replies, mentions and hashtags. Now it's time to go further," reads Telegram's blog post.
"Ever since our launch in 2013, our users have been telling us they would like to migrate even larger communities to Telegram. As of today, once your group is full, you can upgrade it to a supergroup that supports up to 1000 members."
The company notes that groups might want to wait a little bit to upgrade their smaller groups to a supergroup, as those who don't have the latest Telegram client for their devices won't be able to see said groups until they update their apps.