Terranos Manual

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Messages ​

Tuesday afternoon. Ana sends Ghiță a direct message asking whether the Retezat trip allows dogs. Levente posts in the activity thread: "Anyone want to be picked up from Pitești instead of Bucharest?" Andrei replies in the per-car thread: "Yes — Pitești works for me." Three different conversations, three different scopes, all in the same Messages hub.

Messages are how anything that's not a public comment happens. Direct conversations, per-activity threads, per-car operational chat, equipment coordination — all here.

The hub ​

Tap Messages in the bottom navigation. The hub has four tabs:

  • Messages — direct conversations and general activity threads.
  • Transport — per-car threads (one per transport offer).
  • Equipment — equipment-coordination threads (one per equipment-match between participants).
  • Updates — administrative and event-state notifications. See Updates.

The split exists so operational chat doesn't drown out direct conversation. If you join an activity with five cars, that's five transport threads — but they all stay under the Transport tab, not flooding Messages.

Each tab shows a list of threads sorted by latest activity. Unread threads have a bold title and an indicator dot. Muted threads stay in the list but don't push notifications — see "Muting threads" below.

Direct messages ​

Tap any user's avatar (on a participant list, on a profile, on a comment) and choose Send message. A direct thread opens. Type your message, tap send.

Direct threads are private to the two people involved. Nobody else sees them, including admins (admins can intervene only on moderation grounds, and those tools log access).

Direct messages bypass the activity scope — you can message someone you've never been on an activity with. They'll see the message and can choose to ignore it or block.

Activity threads ​

Every published activity has a default thread. Tap Messages on the activity action card or open it from Messages > Messages.

The thread is for the whole activity — organizer, all participants, visible to everyone joined. Use it for:

  • Schedule updates (weather change, meeting time shifted).
  • Group decisions ("we'll need to leave 30 minutes earlier").
  • Last-minute coordination ("running late, will be there at 7:15").

The activity comments section is for public Q&A and lives on the activity page itself. The thread is for the people actually going.

Per-car threads (Transport) ​

When a transport offer is published, a thread auto-opens for the people in that car. The driver and reserved passengers are added automatically; nobody has to invite anyone.

Use it for the practical bits:

  • "I'm at the meeting point now."
  • "Light traffic, ETA 5 minutes."
  • "Everyone bring 50 RON in cash if possible."

These threads close when the activity completes. The history stays accessible in Messages > Transport > Past.

Equipment threads ​

When the equipment board matches a borrower with a lender (Andrei needs a harness, Ana lends one), a thread auto-opens for the two of them — plus the organizer if the activity uses verified equipment.

Used for the handover practicalities: where to meet, what condition the gear is in, when to return it.

Equipment threads also stay accessible after the activity for the sake of the return-confirmation step.

Inside a thread ​

Tap a thread to open it. The composer is at the bottom. You can:

  • Type a message and tap send.
  • Attach an image (10 MB max), GPX file (5 MB max), or PDF (20 MB max). Tap the attachment icon, pick the source, the file uploads in the background and appears in the thread when ready.
  • React with an emoji to a specific message. Long-press the message, pick a reaction.
  • Reply to a specific message — the reply quotes the original inline.
  • Reply privately — for activity threads, this opens a direct thread with the person you're replying to instead of posting in the group.
  • Edit your own message for a few minutes after sending.
  • Unsend your own message — removes it for everyone, replaced with a "deleted" placeholder.
  • Delete for me — hides the message in your view only. Others still see it.

The emoji picker is in the composer. Stickers and GIFs are not supported.

Managing threads ​

From the thread header (or by long-pressing a thread row in the list):

  • Mute thread — silences notifications for this thread without removing you from it. The thread stays in the list, doesn't bing your phone. Useful for an activity you're on but not actively engaged with.
  • Mark as read — clears the unread state without opening the thread.

From the hub header:

  • Mark all as read — clears unread state for the currently selected tab. Useful after a long stretch where you ignored notifications.

Notifications ​

Push notifications fire when:

  • Someone sends you a direct message.
  • Someone replies to a thread you're in.
  • Someone @-mentions you (where supported).

Muted threads don't push. Notification preferences per category (activity threads, transport, equipment, direct) live in Profile > Notifications. You can disable any category if it's too noisy.

Privacy and limits ​

  • Direct messages are visible only to the two people involved.
  • Activity / transport / equipment threads are visible to the members of that scope and not beyond. The activity organizer can see the activity thread but not the per-car thread (unless they're the driver) or per-equipment thread (unless they're the organizer of an activity using equipment verification).
  • Admins can access threads only for moderation, with auditing.

There's no read-receipt indicator — you can't tell if someone read your message before replying. By design.

When something looks off ​

  • A thread is empty after I tap into it. Either it's actually empty (nobody's posted yet) or your local sync is behind. Pull to refresh.
  • Attachments fail to upload. Check the size limits, the file type, and your connection. Failed uploads stay in the composer with a retry option.
  • A message I sent shows "pending" forever. The send is queued in the local outbox. If your connection is back and the message still isn't going out, check Profile > About > Clear offline actions. Be aware that clearing will drop the message.
  • I muted a thread but I'm still getting notifications for it. System-level notifications can override per-thread mute on some Android setups. Check the notification settings for the Terranos app system-wide.
  • Someone is harassing me in messages. Block them from their profile, and report from the message menu. See Privacy Policy and Support.