Chat
6 min · 7 sections
For talking to the people at home without leaving the NAS: one to one or in a group, with messages arriving as they are sent, unread ones flagged and a search across everything said. You can pass on a file from the NAS without giving anyone the whole folder, and each conversation decides how long its messages last.
| If what you want is… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Talk to someone or set up a group | Starting a conversation |
| Pass on a photo or a document from the NAS | Passing on a file |
| Not keep what is written forever | Messages that expire |
| Know who can read what you write | What the chat is not |
| Let someone at home use it (or not) | Who can use it |
| Fix something that does not work | If something goes wrong |
Starting a conversation
Open Chat from the desktop. Your conversations are on the left, and the ones with unread messages say how many; at the very top, "Search your conversations" finds a message by what it said.
- With one person: press "New conversation", tick who in "Who do you want to talk to?" and press "Start". If you were already talking, the one you had opens.
- In a group: tick several people, give it a name if you like ("Group name (optional)") and press "Create the group".
- In a group's "More options" menu you can rename it or add people. Whoever joins only reads what is written from that moment on, not what came before.
- A conversation between two has no name and takes nobody else: to talk among three, create a group.
- "Leave" removes the conversation from your list. In a group, if you are the last person, the group is deleted with everything written in it; between two, it is deleted once both leave.
- You remove one of your messages with "Delete for everyone": it disappears for everyone in the conversation. Only whoever wrote a message can delete it.
Passing on a file
The paperclip, "Attach a file from the NAS", opens your folders so you can pick a file. Nothing is copied or uploaded: the message carries a link to that file, with a preview if it is a photo, a video, audio, a PDF, an office document or text. Whoever receives it views it right there or gets it with "Download".
- Whoever receives it opens only that file, never the folder it is in or what sits next to it.
- It opens with the permissions of whoever sent it. If that person loses their permission on the file, or the file is deleted or moved, the link stops opening it and the chat says so.
- Sending files requires being able to open Files; receiving them does not.
Messages that expire
At the top of each conversation, "Messages last" chooses how long what is written lives: Forever, 1 hour, 1 day, 7 days or 30 days. It applies to what is written from then on; earlier messages keep the duration they had. A message that expires carries a small clock.
What has expired or been deleted cannot be recovered. Each message is stored encrypted with its own key; when it expires or is deleted, the key is destroyed and the text is overwritten, so nothing is left on the disk or in a backup made afterwards. Nor does it travel in the NAS configuration backup: conversations belong to people, they are not settings of the device.
What the chat is not
It is not end-to-end encryption. Messages travel encrypted to the NAS and are stored encrypted on it, but it is the NAS itself that encrypts them and keeps the keys: while a message exists, the NAS can read it. And whoever manages the NAS controls the whole device, so if this matters to you, assume that whoever manages it could get to them. The app itself says so below the list.
For what truly nobody else must read, use messages that expire soon or an end-to-end encrypted application.
Who can use it
Chat comes switched on for household accounts and switched off for guest accounts. Whoever manages the NAS changes this in Control Panel → Users and groups, in each account's permissions, like any other app:
- With full permission you read and write.
- With read-only permission you see the conversations but cannot write: the app says so where the message box would be.
- Without permission, the app does not show up. And "New conversation" only lists people who can use the chat.
Each account sees only the conversations it is in. Not even whoever manages the NAS sees other people's from the panel.
Limits
The chat is made for a household, and it has caps so that nobody clogs it by accident:
- The pace. If many messages are sent in a few seconds, the chat asks you to wait a moment before carrying on.
- Groups and conversations. A group takes a limited number of people, and each account can be in a limited number of conversations; when you reach it, the chat asks you to leave one you do not use.
- What is kept. Each account keeps up to a certain number of messages. Beyond that, the oldest ones of that account are dropped, never anyone else's.
When one of them is reached, the chat says which and what to do.
If something goes wrong
- "The chat could not be loaded": the panel cannot reach the NAS. Check the connection and open the app again.
- New messages do not arrive on their own: the live connection has dropped. Close Chat and open it again, or reload the panel.
- "Nobody else on the NAS can use the chat yet": the other accounts do not have the permission. Whoever manages the NAS grants it in Control Panel → Users and groups.
- The chat says you are going too fast: wait a few seconds and send it again.
- A file that no longer opens: whoever sent it has lost their permission on it, or the file is gone. Ask them to send it again.
- "That link has already been used" or "has expired": press "Download" again or open the file again from the message.
- A document that cannot be viewed here: it is too large or has no preview. Download it and open it on your computer.
- You cannot send files: you are missing the Files permission. Ask whoever manages the NAS.
If none of this explains it, see When something is not working.