Focus rooms are silent by design — but if you want to study with people, a Space is how you do it. A Space is a small group you start inside a focus room, with its own voice chat, group chat, and shared task list. Only the members of your Space can hear you and see its chat — the rest of the room isn't disturbed.
Spaces are available on every plan — no subscription needed. They currently live in the web app on desktop (you'll need a reasonably wide browser window). In the mobile app, Spaces — called Pods there — are temporarily unavailable: the app shows "Private spaces (Pods) are temporarily unavailable on mobile devices" and points you to the web app at app.studystream.live.
Can I use Spaces on my phone?
Not yet. Spaces only work in the web app on a desktop or laptop (a wide browser window; the Spaces button is hidden on narrow screens, including phone browsers). The mobile app has no Spaces button at all: its older version of the feature, called Pods, is switched off and shows "Private spaces (Pods) are temporarily unavailable on mobile devices". To use a Space, open app.studystream.live on a computer.
Where is the Spaces button?
Two different things look alike, so here is the difference:
- The "Spaces" button is the dropdown at the top-left of the room bar, just above the video grid (its tooltip says "Browse and create spaces"). This is where you browse, join and create Spaces.
- The "Space" view is one of the three options in the view switch at the top-right of the room bar (Grid | Space | Pin). It only shows the Space you are already in — until you've joined or created one it stays greyed out with the hint "Shows your active space — join or start one to use it".
If you don't see the Spaces button at all, your browser window is too narrow (it's hidden below about 1024 px wide) or you're on the mobile app, where Spaces aren't available.
Create a Space
- In a focus room, click the "Spaces" button at the top-left of the room bar (just above the video grid).
- Choose "Create a space".
- Pick your setup:
- Name (optional) and a vibe for the space.
- Pomodoro (for pomodoro vibes): presets like 25/5 or 50/10, or your own focus/break timings.
- Audio access — this is where talking is decided:
- Allowed — anyone in the Space can open their mic at any time.
- Breaks-only — everyone is auto-muted during focus and mics open on Pomodoro breaks.
- Disabled — silent body-doubling: cameras only.
- Who can join: Listed (anyone in the room can find and join), Link (only people with the invite link), or Invite (you invite people from inside the Space).
- Capacity: 5–40 people (default 10).
- Click "Create & open".
Created a good setup before? "Reuse a previous space" lists your recent Spaces and re-applies their configuration.
Join a Space
- Click the "Spaces" button at the top-left of the room bar to browse and search the room's open Spaces; each row shows the vibe, the name, the remaining timer and members/capacity (e.g. 1/10). Click a row to join — the one you're in is tagged "YOU'RE HERE".
- Got an invite link? Opening it takes you straight into the Space.
- Invite-only Spaces can't be browsed into — the creator invites you from inside the Space.
Inside, the Space header shows its name, vibe, members/capacity, "Hosted by …", your mic state, the shared-task count, the "Say hi to your space" chat chip and "Leave"; the host also has "Show on my video tile" to display the Space on their tile. You can be in one Space at a time — joining another asks you to leave your current one first. "Leave" asks "Leave this space?" and confirms with "Leave". A Space ends automatically when its last member leaves. It also ends for everyone when the host leaves while the Space is shown on their video tile (the host is warned first); members then see "The owner has ended and closed the space". Its chat and setup don't carry over, but you can recreate it with "Reuse a previous space".
Talking in a Space
Whether you can speak depends on the Space's Audio access setting (above). When audio is allowed, use the mic button on your video pill to unmute — only members of your Space hear you, never the rest of the room. If your mic button says the space has audio disabled or muted during focus, that's the Space's setting, not a bug.
A few rooms don't support audio at all — in those, Spaces are cameras, chat, and shared tasks only, whatever their Audio access setting says.
Shared tasks and space chat
- Tasks: share items from your own task list with the Space ("Share tasks…" in the Tasks tab) — they stay on your personal list, the Space just sees your progress and can cheer you on. Shared tasks disappear when you leave the Space or your day rolls over.
- Chat: every Space has its own chat while it's running. Messages appear as small bubbles in the room — you can turn those off under the room's settings ("Disable space chat bubbles").
Common Space errors
- "This space is full" — it's at its capacity (the creator sets 5–40).
- "This space is invite-only" — you need an invitation from the creator to join.
- "The owner has ended and closed the space" — the Space was closed; ask the creator to start a new one.
- "You don't have the necessary permissions to access this space" — the creator has banned you from their Spaces, or one of you has blocked the other.
Privacy
- People outside your Space never hear your audio or see its chat.
- You control who can invite you to Spaces: on the web, click your profile picture (top-right) → "Privacy settings" → "Private space invites".
- Space creators can remove and ban users from their own Spaces.
Planning ahead
You can schedule a Space in advance as part of a booked focus session — see: Booking focus sessions.