diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Messages.svelte b/frontend/src/components/Messages.svelte
index 7cafb3f..cf0863c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Messages.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Messages.svelte
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 <script>
     import { afterUpdate, beforeUpdate, onMount } from "svelte";
-    import { messagesStoreProvider, showSidebar } from "../stores.js";
+    import { messagesStoreProvider, showSidebar, smallViewport } from "../stores.js";
     import Message from "./Message.svelte";
 
     export let channelId;
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@
         // TODO: hack
         // showSidebar is false on small viewports
         // scrolling to bottom when the virtual keyboard pops up does not work on chromium purely based on isScrolledToBottom for some reason
-        const isSmallViewport = !$showSidebar;
-        if (isScrolledToBottom || isSmallViewport) {
+        if (isScrolledToBottom || $smallViewport) {
             scrollAnchor.scrollIntoView(false);
         }
     };
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.svelte b/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.svelte
index 3f7c63c..6edcf62 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.svelte
+++ b/frontend/src/components/Sidebar.svelte
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@
                     <HashIcon />
                 </div>
                 <span>{ channel.name }</span>
+                {#if channel._hasUnreads}
+                    <span class="unread-indicator">•</span>
+                {/if}
                 {#if $userInfoStore && channel.owner_id === $userInfoStore.id}
                     <button class="icon-button icon-button-auto" on:click|stopPropagation="{ () => overlayStore.open('editChannel', { channel }) }">
                         <MoreVerticalIcon />
@@ -63,6 +66,11 @@
 </div>
 
 <style>
+    .unread-indicator {
+        color: var(--purple-2);
+        margin-left: auto;
+    }
+
     .sidebar-container {
         background-color: var(--background-color-1);
         border-right: 1px solid var(--background-color-2);
diff --git a/frontend/src/stores.js b/frontend/src/stores.js
index 6e6b1e8..d9d3198 100644
--- a/frontend/src/stores.js
+++ b/frontend/src/stores.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { writable } from "svelte/store";
 import gateway, { GatewayEventType } from "./gateway";
 import logging from "./logging";
 import request from "./request";
@@ -22,6 +21,11 @@ class Store {
         };
     }
 
+    set(value) {
+        this.value = value;
+        this.updated();
+    }
+
     updated() {
         storeLog(`updated(): calling ${this._handlers.length} handlers - value changed`, this.value);
         this._handlers.forEach(e => {
@@ -30,6 +34,11 @@ class Store {
     }
 }
 
+export const selectedChannel = new Store({ id: -1, name: "none", creator_id: -1 });
+export const showSidebar = new Store(false);
+export const showChannelView = new Store(true);
+export const smallViewport = new Store(false);
+
 class ChannelsStore extends Store {
     constructor() {
         super(gateway.channels || []);
@@ -63,6 +72,30 @@ class ChannelsStore extends Store {
             this.value[index] = data;
             this.updated();
         });
+        gateway.subscribe(GatewayEventType.MessageCreate, ({ channel_id }) => {
+            const index = this.value.findIndex(e => e.id === channel_id);
+            if (index === -1)
+                return;
+            if (!this.value[index])
+                return;
+            if (selectedChannel.value.id === channel_id)
+                return;
+
+            this.value[index]._hasUnreads = true;
+            this.updated();
+        });
+        selectedChannel.subscribe(({ id }) => {
+            const index = this.value.findIndex(e => e.id === id);
+            if (index === -1)
+                return;
+            if (!this.value[index])
+                return;
+            if (!this.value[index]._hasUnreads)
+                return;
+
+            this.value[index]._hasUnreads = false;
+            this.updated();
+        });
     }
 }
 
@@ -270,7 +303,3 @@ export const gatewayStatus = new GatewayStatusStore();
 export const messagesStoreProvider = new MessagesStoreProvider();
 export const userInfoStore = new UserInfoStore();
 export const overlayStore = new OverlayStore();
-export const selectedChannel = writable({ id: -1, name: "none", creator_id: -1 });
-export const showSidebar = writable(false);
-export const showChannelView = writable(true);
-export const smallViewport = writable(false);
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 24131a5..429af97 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -8,6 +8,5 @@
     "esModuleInterop": true,
     "strict": true,
     "outDir": "./dist",
-    "rootDir": "./src"
   }
 }
\ No newline at end of file