Other uses / Groups
Groups
A group is your own list of contacts, so you can send one capture to several people at once. Nobody else sees it: members don't know the group exists or who else is in it.
How groups work
- Groups are local. They stay on the device where you made them: groups on your phone and groups in lwis on a machine are separate lists.
- Members must follow you. You can only add contacts who accept your captures. If someone stops accepting them, blocks you or is removed, lwis skips them when you send and names them (lwis on a machine also says why).
- One upload, sealed for each recipient. A group send uploads the encrypted capture once, then sends each recipient device its own sealed message with the key. The server deletes the upload once every recipient has fetched it.
- Limits: up to 200 members per group (enforced by lwis on a machine), and up to 50 receiving devices per send. Names are up to 48 bytes.
On your phone
- Open People → Groups.
- Type a name and tap Create.
- Tap the contacts to add. They appear as chips under the group.
- To send, capture something as usual. Your groups appear next to your contacts, for example Send to design (3).
You can rename a group, remove a member or delete the group from the same screen. After a send, the app confirms how many people it reached and lists anyone it skipped.
With lwis on a machine
lwis groups create design
lwis groups add design alice bob carol # petnames or contact ids
lwis groups # list groups and their members
lwis groups remove design carol
lwis groups rename design design-team
lwis groups delete design-team
Send a capture to a group with send-to --group:
lwis send-to --group design-team screenshot.png --note "which one?" --wait-ack 60
The command prints the capture id and the members it reached. Skipped members are listed with the reason:
| Reason | What to do |
|---|---|
| removed | the contact no longer exists; remove them from the group |
| blocked | you blocked them |
| does not accept your captures | they must follow you (lwis follow on their side) |
| no live inbox endpoint | none of their devices can receive right now |
Delivery and replies
Delivery is tracked per person, not per device: the first device of a member that acknowledges counts for that member. lwis inbox shows a group send as a summary such as:
sent c_… to group design-team: alice ✓ · bob ✓ · carol …
Each member replies to you privately. Replies come back to you only, never to the rest of the group. See Inbox, replies and forwarding.