Notifications
Stay informed about what's happening in your groups — in-app, by push, by email, and by SMS.
Notification Center
Tap the bell icon in the app navigation to open your notification center. This is your central inbox for all activity across every group you belong to.
Each notification card shows:
- A type-specific icon (bell, calendar, user, etc.)
- The notification title and details
- A relative timestamp ("Just now", "5 minutes ago", "2 days ago")
- A blue dot on the right for unread notifications
Unread notifications have a blue left border and a subtle blue background. Tap any notification to mark it as read and navigate to the relevant content.
Tap Mark All Read in the page header to clear all unread indicators at once. This button only appears when there are unread notifications.
Priority levels
Some notifications are marked with a priority style:
- Info — standard blue left border (default)
- Warning — amber left border
- Urgent — red left border with a pulsing animation
Load more
The notification center loads 20 notifications at a time. Scroll to the bottom and tap Load More Notifications to see older ones.
Group Invitations
When you're invited to join a group, the invitation appears as a special notification card with the group name and your assigned role. Two buttons appear directly on the card:
- Accept Invitation (green) — joins you to the group immediately and navigates you there after a short delay
- Decline (red) — declines the invitation. This cannot be undone.
If you don't respond within 7 days, the invitation expires automatically. Expired invitations show an "Expired after 7 days" message on the card. Contact the group admin if you need a new invitation sent.
Push Notifications
Push notifications appear on your device's lock screen, in notification banners, and in your notification tray — even when the app is not open.
To manage push notifications, go to Account → Notification Preferences → Push Notifications. This opens your device's system settings for the Grūps App, where you can enable or disable banners, sounds, and badges.
Email Notifications
Email notifications send updates from your groups to your email address. Go to Account → Notification Preferences and toggle Email Notifications on or off.
This is a global setting — it controls email delivery for all your groups at once. To fine-tune which emails you receive per group, use that group's My Group Settings (see Per-Group Settings below).
SMS Notifications
SMS notifications send text messages to your phone number for important group activity. SMS is configured per-group in My Group Settings.
To use SMS notifications, you first need a verified phone number on your account. Go to Settings → Security → Phone Verification to add and verify your phone number. Once verified, you can enable SMS per group in My Group Settings.
Which SMS notification types are available (event reminders, urgent announcements) may vary by plan.
Per-Chat Notification Level
You can control how loudly each chat room notifies you. This is useful for high-traffic group chats where you don't need an alert for every message.
To change notification level for a chat:
- Open the chat.
- Tap the info icon in the chat header to open Chat Info.
- Select the Notifications tab in the info panel.
- Choose your preferred level.
| Level | What triggers a push notification |
|---|---|
| All messages | Every new message in the chat |
| @Mentions only | Only when someone @mentions you, uses @here, or uses @channel |
| Off | No push notifications for this chat |
The setting applies only to your account — other members are not affected.
Per-Group Settings
Each group has its own notification settings, separate from your global preferences. Open any group, then go to My Group Settings (usually in the group menu or settings) to configure:
- Which types of activity trigger email notifications for that group
- Whether SMS notifications are enabled for that group (requires a verified phone number)
- Q&A subject subscriptions — which subjects send you notifications when new questions or answers are posted
Frequently Asked Questions
Why am I not receiving push notifications?
Check these common causes:
- Push notifications may be disabled in your device settings — go to Settings → Grūps App → Notifications and enable them.
- Do Not Disturb or Focus mode on your device may be silencing notifications.
- The per-chat notification level may be set to "@Mentions only" or "Off" — check the chat's notification tab.
- The feature may not send push notifications on your current plan — this can vary by plan.
How do I stop getting emails from a specific group without leaving it?
Open that group and go to My Group Settings. You can turn off email notifications for just that group while keeping emails enabled for others.
Can I mute a chat without leaving it?
Yes. Set the per-chat notification level to Off to stop receiving push notifications for that chat. You'll still see new messages when you open the chat — you just won't be alerted.
What if I missed a notification because the invitation expired?
Invitations expire after 7 days. If yours expired, contact the group admin and ask them to send a new invitation.
Will I get notified when someone reacts to my message?
Reaction notifications depend on the feature and plan. Chat message reactions, photo reactions, and post reactions each generate a notification to the original poster. Check your per-group settings if you want to adjust these.