Description:
Hello Delta Chat team,
I’m using Delta Chat channels successfully for a small neighborhood community (e.g., announcing local events like running meetups or mulled wine evenings). The broadcast-like nature works great: share a QR-code invite link on our bulletin board, no account hassle, and auto-deletion after 1 year keeps things tidy – perfect!
However, there’s one key limitation: when someone joins an existing channel late (e.g., via QR scan), they cannot see previous announcements. This misses the core use case for announcements – newcomers need access to past events to catch up (e.g., “What was the last run date?”).
Proposed Feature:
- Option for channel admins: Toggle “Share history with new members” (on by default for new channels).
- Implementation idea: Upon join, auto-resend the last N messages (e.g., 50, or last 6 months, respecting 1-year deletion) from admin devices/server, or use lightweight server-side caching (e.g., on Chatmail providers) for recent history. New members get them chronologically placed.
- UI: In channel settings: “History for new members: Visible / From join date only”. Show a note on join: “You’ve joined! Loading recent history…”.
- Privacy/Security: Only admins control this; E2EE preserved; limit to recent messages to avoid bloat.
Why this matters:
- Matches real-world broadcast needs (like Telegram channels or mailing lists with archives).
- No full server dependency – hybrid: P2P where possible, minimal sync for late joiners.
- Enhances adoption for communities/groups without forcing Matrix/Discord alternatives.
Existing discussions (e.g., resend history on add, announcement channels ) align with this. Happy to discuss/test!
Thanks for the great app – this would make channels perfect!