How chat works

Turning chat on

Chat is part of Minuku for every driver, no code needed. Tap the Chat row on Minuku's main screen.

• Sign in with Google. Chat uses your Google account so your name stays yours on a new phone.
• Read the chat rules and tap I agree, then pick your chat name.

Who can post

• During your free trial and with a subscription: all of chat. Post in groups, start or join groups, message friends.
• After the trial, without a subscription: chat turns read-only. You can still read Announcements and the groups you already joined, but you can't post, start a private chat, or start or join a group.
• Always open to everyone: Announcements, and Reply privately to reach Minuku about billing, your trial or anything else. Reporting and blocking are always open too.

Tester code

Minuku testers get a code that adds them to the private Testers group. In Settings, tap Have a tester code? under Minuku testers. Chat works the same without one. To become a tester, email minukuapp@gmail.com.

Online or Invisible

The switch at the top of chat sets how friends see you. Online: friends see you online while Minuku is open or you're dashing. Invisible: friends see you as offline, even while you dash. You still see who's online, and friends' messages wait for you.

Your chat name

• 3 to 20 letters, numbers or _ (underscore).
• Nobody else can have it. Capitals and underscores don't count, so Papa_Joe and papajoe are the same name.
• Names that look like Minuku staff are refused, look-alike spellings too (a 0 for an o, a 1 for an i). Words like Minuku, support, admin, official and moderator can't be part of a name.
• You can change your name once every 30 days. Your old name is held for 30 days so nobody can grab it and pose as you.

Announcements

News from Minuku to every driver: outages, DoorDash changes, new versions. Only Minuku posts there; you can read but not reply in it. To ask about one, tap Reply privately under it, which opens a private chat with Minuku.

The Announcements tile says New until you've opened it, and Minuku can show a notification when a new one arrives. The latest 20 are shown.

Groups

Find a group

The chat home lists Groups in your state, busiest first. Minuku asks your state once; tap it to change. The search box finds groups in any state by name or city.

Public, private or Hidden

A group's rules are shown before you join. Groups must be about DoorDash, delivery driving or Minuku.

Invites

An owner can send an invite link (it also has an 8-letter code), or invite a driver by their chat name. A name invite shows at the top of your Groups under Waiting for you. To use a link or code: open chat, tap Have an invite?, and paste the link or type the code.

Start a group

Tap + Start a group on the chat home. Give it a name, optional rules, a state and (if you like) a city, and choose Public, Private or Hidden.

• Your chat account has to be 3 days old, and you can start one group a day.
• You can own 2 groups and be in 15. A group holds up to 200 members.

Owner tools

Open your group and tap Manage group for:

• Requests to join: approve or decline.
• Share the invite link, invite a driver by name, or stop the invite link (the old link stops working and you get a new one).
• Edit the rules, the state and city, public or private, and whether it's hidden.
• Hand over ownership to another member.

Also, as owner you can:

• Remove a member: tap Members, their name, then Remove from group. They lose access and can't ask to join or be invited again. Choose Remove only, or Remove and delete messages to clear what they posted too.
• Delete any message: press and hold it, then Delete message.
• Delete the group for everyone. This can't be undone.

History

Group messages are kept for 30 days, then cleared. Minuku can turn on Keep history for a group; then messages past 30 days move to an Archive button in the group instead.

Leaving

Tap Leave this group at the bottom of the group. You can join again later; for a private group, the owner approves again.

Minuku staff can read any group, private and Hidden ones too, to handle reports.

Friends and private messages

Friends

Friends can be anywhere. Swap chat names, tap + Add friend on the chat home and send a request by name; the other driver accepts it under Friend requests. You can also tap a driver's name in a group and choose Add friend. Your friends list shows who's online. To remove a friend, press and hold their name.

Who can message you

Friends, drivers in a group with you, and Minuku staff. Nobody else can start a private chat with you.

Private chats

• With a friend: saved on your phone, like any messenger, not by Minuku. If they're offline, they get it when they're back; it waits up to 7 days and is removed from the server once delivered.
• With someone from a group: tap their name in the group and choose Private chat. Until you're friends it isn't saved: it's gone when either of you closes Minuku.

Safety: block and report

Block a driver

Tap the driver's name in a group (or in the group's Members list) and choose Block. You won't see each other in groups, member lists or messages, and they aren't told. Blocking also ends a friendship and any friend request between you.

To unblock: chat's Account button, then Blocked drivers. Unblocking doesn't bring back the friendship. Minuku staff accounts can't be blocked.

Report

• A message in a group: press and hold it, tap Report message and pick a reason. It's hidden for you right away. A message reported by three drivers is hidden for everyone.
• A private message: press and hold it, or tap the report line under the message box.
• A driver: tap their name in a group and choose Report.
• A group: open it and tap Report this group at the bottom. A group reported by several members drops out of the group list and shows "Under review" until Minuku looks at it.

A reported group message goes to that group's owner, who can delete it, remove the member, or mark it fine. If the owner hasn't handled it within 24 hours, or the owner wrote it, it goes to Minuku staff. Reports about a driver or a private message go straight to Minuku staff.

Bans

Minuku staff can ban a driver who breaks the chat rules. A banned driver sees Chat is off for this account with the reason and an email address for questions. Only Minuku staff can ban; nobody can ban or report themselves, and staff accounts can't be banned or blocked.

Your chat account

Tap Account at the top of chat to see the Google account you're signed in with, sign out, change your name, or manage blocked drivers.

Delete your chat account

On the same screen, tap Delete my chat account. It removes your name, friends, blocks and groups from Minuku chat and signs you out. Your name is held for 30 days so nobody can pose as you. Your dash data isn't touched. This can't be undone.

• If you own a group with other members in it, hand it over or delete it first.
• Messages you already posted in groups aren't deleted with the account; they clear after 30 days like everyone's.

Message limits

• A message can be up to 500 characters.
• One message every few seconds (3 seconds). Send faster and Minuku asks you to slow down.
• Group messages are kept for 30 days, unless Minuku turned on Keep history for that group.
• A message to an offline friend waits up to 7 days.