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Focus Rooms & Studying

Everything about studying on StudyStream — joining focus rooms, time limits, streaks, stats, and fixing camera or connection problems.
Marko Gledic
By Marko Gledic
• 9 articles

Streaks: how they work (freezes and repairs)

The rule Spend at least 30 minutes in focus rooms in a day and your streak goes up by one. That's it — a few things worth knowing: - The 30 minutes don't have to be in one sitting — multiple shorter sessions in the same day add up. - Your camera does not need to be on — time counts whenever you're in a focus room. - Time in focus rooms is what counts; the standalone Pomodoro timer on the dashboard doesn't feed your streak by itself. - The day flips at midnight in your account's timezone, and a missed day can be covered automatically by a streak freeze — you can only hold a few of those at a time (1–5 depending on your plan), both explained below. - You can watch today's progress on the streak progress bar (…/30m) on your dashboard (web) or Home tab (mobile). Timezones — when does the day flip? Your streak day follows the time zone set on your account, not your device clock. You can check or change it on the web under profile picture (top-right) → "Profile settings" → "Time zone", or in the mobile app under profile picture (top-left) → "Settings" → "Personal details" → "Time zone" (changes are limited to once per 7 days, since this affects streak calculations). If your device's clock is in a different time zone, the app may show an "Update time zone" prompt. Streak freezes — your safety net If you miss a day, a streak freeze is used automatically to protect your streak — the missed day is simply skipped (it doesn't break the streak, and doesn't add to it either). - You earn a freeze each day you keep your streak (30+ minutes in the focus rooms) — at most one per day, up to your slot cap. - How many you can hold depends on your plan and streak: - Free/Basic: 1 freeze slot - Premium: 1 slot until your streak reaches 3 days, 3 slots from a 3-day streak, and 5 once your streak passes 100 days - When a streak is lost, your freezes reset. - You can see your freezes under Profile → Statistics on the web or Profile → Stats in the mobile app: the Streak Freezes card shows "n out of max left" and a row of slots — a filled slot is ready to use on a missed day, an empty one gets filled by spending 30 minutes in a focus room, and a locked one shows which streak (and plan) unlocks it. I lost my streak — can I get it back? Sometimes, yes — with streak repairs: - On the web dashboard, if your streak recently broke you'll see "Repair your lost streak". You can buy streak repairs to fix the missed day(s) and restore the streak. - Repairs are meant for real streaks that recently broke: the lost streak needs to have been a longer one (10+ days), the break recent, and only a small gap (1–3 missed days) can be repaired. - Streak repair is currently available on the web app only. If your streak was lost due to a bug or outage on our side (you studied 30+ minutes but the day didn't count), start a chat with us at app.studystream.live or in the StudyStream app and tell us the date — we can verify against the session records and restore days that were genuinely lost in error. Don't want to lose it in the first place? Turn on the "Losing your streak soon" notification — web: profile picture (top-right) → "Account settings" → "Mobile notifications"; mobile: profile picture (top-left) → "Settings" → "Communication preferences" — and we'll ping you when the day is running out. A few more rules worth knowing - Deactivating your account doesn't pause your streak — days away count as missed days, so your freezes get used up and then the streak resets. - Streaks can't be transferred between accounts (there's no account merging), so keep access to the login you built your streak on. Common questions - "I studied but my streak didn't update." Stats refresh every few minutes — give it a moment. If your streak suddenly shows 0 after an app issue, it often corrects itself within a day — worth waiting before writing in. If it still doesn't update, check that you hit 30 minutes in your account's timezone that day, then start a chat with us at app.studystream.live or in the StudyStream app and tell us the date. - "My streak number looks wrong after a fix." Corrections can take up to a day to show everywhere. - "Can support restore any streak?" We restore streaks lost to verified bugs/outages. For missed days that were simply missed, use streak repairs (or freezes next time).

Last updated on Oct 09, 2026

Can't join a focus room? Common issues explained

You were disconnected or can't join — the usual causes If you get kicked out of a room or can't get in, it's usually one of these: - You opened the room in another tab or device. You can only have one focus room session at a time — joining from a new tab/device ends the old one. Close the extras and rejoin. If you just left a room, wait 30–60 seconds for our system to register it before rejoining. - The room reset. Rooms restart automatically every 12–24 hours; just rejoin. - You briefly lost connection. An internet blip disconnects you from the live room — rejoin when you're back online. - You hit your daily time limit. Free and Basic plans include a set amount of focus room time per day — it resets based on the time zone set in your Profile settings, not your device clock. Heads up: with the room open in several tabs or devices at once, your time is used up by each of them, faster than the on-screen counter suggests. See: Plans and daily focus room time limits. - You were removed or timed out by a moderator. A timeout message shows how long until you can rejoin. See: Reporting users and appealing bans. - The room is at capacity. "This focus room is at capacity" — try again in a few minutes or join another room. (Some rooms also limit guests — logging in helps.) The room is laggy or won't load properly - Reduce the number of video tiles per page (in-room Settings → Video). - Use the lite version — on the web, choose "Join lite" on the room card. It's much lighter on slow connections and older devices. - Close other bandwidth-heavy apps and, if you're on a VPN, try without it. A router restart fixes a surprising share of repeated-disconnect cases. - Try another browser (Chrome and Edge tend to work best) or restart the app. There's no sound in the room — is that a bug? No — focus rooms are silent by design. Everyone is muted to keep the rooms distraction-free. Nothing is wrong on your end! Want to actually talk with people while you study? Create or join a Space — a small group inside the focus room with its own voice chat that only its members can hear. Click "Spaces" in the room's bottom bar (desktop web). See: Spaces: study together in a focus room. Leaving the room resets pins Heads up: when you leave a focus room, your pins and encouragements for that session reset — that's how sessions work, not a bug. (Premium users can restore recently lost pins from the in-room menu.) Focus pairs (Premium) Pairing links your video tile with a friend's so you sit side by side in the grid, joined by a link icon with your partner's name. - Both users need Premium, and both must be in the same room. Invite from the user's tile menu → "Invite to pair"; they get a " wants to pair with you" notice and tap "Accept". If you see "Both users must be in the room to start a pair session" right after one of you joined, wait a moment and try again. - A pair lasts up to 24 hours, or until one of you ends it: hover the link icon on your tile → "End the session" → "Unpair". - One pair at a time — inviting someone new asks you to end the current pair first ("End & Pair"). Accepting an invite after the inviter has already paired with someone else shows "This invite is no longer valid because the person who invited you is already paired." - If your partner left the room, the badge (and its End button) disappears while the pair is still active — either wait for it to expire, or invite someone else and confirm "End & Pair", which ends the old pair. - Don't want invites? Set "Pair invites" in your Privacy settings. Rooms won't load only on your home network? If rooms work at university or on mobile data but never load on one specific network, a DNS filter (router setting, Pi-hole, NextDNS and similar) may be blocking our video servers. Allowlist these domains and try again: - prod.studystreamvid.com - studystream.livekit.cloud Which browser, device or network works best? There are no strict system requirements, but rooms are video-heavy, so a few things make a real difference: - Browser: Chrome, Edge or Firefox on an up-to-date version. We see more connection problems on Safari (rooms that stay on "connecting" or drop), so if a room won't connect on a Mac or iPad, try Chrome first. Browser extensions that block scripts or trackers, and some antivirus suites, can block the video connection; try an incognito/private window with extensions off. Opera's built-in VPN causes a rejoin loop; switch it off for StudyStream. - Device: an older laptop or tablet copes better with fewer tiles per page and "Join lite". There is no desktop app; the website is the desktop version. Chromebooks that the Play Store calls "not compatible" can use the website in Chrome. Phones without Google services (some Huawei models) can't use the Google sign-in button in the app; the website, or an email-and-password login, works. - Network: school, university and office networks, and some public Wi-Fi, block the video connection. Ask IT to allow prod.studystreamvid.com and studystream.livekit.cloud, or use "Join lite", which gets through more often. A phone hotspot is a quick way to confirm it's the network. VPNs can have the same effect. - Mobile browser vs app: the website works on a phone too, so if the app misbehaves after an update, log in at app.studystream.live in Safari or Chrome while we fix it. Private rooms A note on the Pomodoro rooms: they run a fixed, shared 25/5 timer for everyone in the room — it can't be adjusted individually. Some rooms are private: "This room is private… you can ask the administrator to add you to the list of users allowed to join." Creating your own private group room isn't currently a self-serve feature, but inside any focus room you can create a small pod/private space with friends. Still can't get in? If none of the above matches, we'd like to see what's happening. Start a chat with us — at app.studystream.live, or from the StudyStream app — and send: 1. A screen recording or screenshot of what happens when you try to join 2. Your device and model (e.g. iPhone 13, Windows 11 laptop) 3. Your browser (or app version) 4. The country you're connecting from, and whether you use a VPN

Last updated on Oct 12, 2026

Camera and microphone troubleshooting

First, good to know: your camera is optional — it's off by default, and your study time and streaks count either way. But if you want it on and it won't cooperate, work through this list. The camera won't turn on On the web 1. Check that your browser has camera permission for app.studystream.live: click the padlock/settings icon next to the address bar and allow Camera. (In Chrome: Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → Camera.) 2. Make sure no other app is using the camera (Zoom, Teams, OBS…) — close them and try again. 3. Pick the right device: in the room, open the camera selector ("Video Settings") and choose your camera from the list. 4. Still nothing? Restart the browser — or the whole device; this fixes most "camera is in use" errors. On the mobile app (iOS & Android) 1. If the camera won't turn on, open the room's Settings (the gear): when the app has no camera permission, the preview area says "Please enable camera permission in settings" with an "Enable camera" button. Tap it; if the phone has blocked the permission you'll see "Your camera is off! You have disabled camera permissions for StudyStream" with "Open permission settings", which takes you to the phone's settings page for StudyStream (iOS: Settings → StudyStream → Camera; Android: Settings → Apps → StudyStream → Permissions). 2. If you see "Camera is used by another application at the moment", close other camera apps or restart the device. 3. In the room's Settings you can switch between the front and rear camera. "Camera is being used by another application" Despite the wording, this message often actually means the browser was denied camera permission — check the site permission for app.studystream.live first (padlock icon next to the address bar). If permission is fine, close video apps that may be holding the camera (Zoom, Teams, Meet, OBS, the system camera app). If the message persists, restart the device — that releases the camera almost every time. One known stubborn case: if you use an iPhone as a Continuity Camera with a Mac, only restarting the entire laptop clears it. My video looks mirrored Mirroring only affects your own preview — other people see you the right way around. That's normal! My camera turned off by itself mid-session Two possibilities: - A moderator or automated check paused your video. If your video tile is reported or flagged, it can be temporarily paused (typically for a few minutes) while our moderation team takes a look. If everything is fine, no action is taken on your account — you can turn the camera back on afterwards. - New accounts may need to pass a quick automated safety check before the camera becomes available — wait a moment and try again. Microphone Focus rooms are silent by design, so there's usually no mic in play. Where audio is used (e.g. pods/private spaces with audio enabled), the same permission rules apply — allow Microphone for StudyStream in your browser or phone settings if you see "You have disabled microphone permissions for StudyStream". Mobile: video is cropped in landscape Check that your device's rotation lock is off when you rotate the phone. Using OBS or a virtual camera (timers and overlays) Some people show a timer, their current track or a wallpaper on their tile. They do it with OBS Studio (or a similar app) running as a virtual camera: StudyStream doesn't offer a stream key or an RTMP address, and you don't need one. 1. In OBS, build your scene and click "Start Virtual Camera". 2. On the web, open your tile panel → "Video Settings" and pick "OBS Virtual Camera" as the camera. Pick it again after restarting OBS if it drops off the list. Overlays are fine as long as they follow the community guidelines. OBS isn't our product, so we can't support its setup; if the virtual camera doesn't appear at all, make sure OBS is actually running the virtual camera and no other app is holding it. Still broken? Start a chat with us — at app.studystream.live, or from the StudyStream app — with: 1. A screenshot or screen recording of the problem 2. Your device model and OS version (we support iOS 15+ and Android 8+; tablets are not supported) 3. Your browser (if on the web) 4. When it started, and whether it happens in other apps too

Last updated on Oct 14, 2026

Pins and pin reasons explained

Pinning keeps the people who motivate you on your screen — and it's one of StudyStream's most-loved (and most-asked-about) features. Here's how it all works. Pinning someone - On the web: open a user's tile menu and choose "Pin" (choose "Unpin" to remove). - On the mobile app: double-tap a user's tile to pin them; your pinned users live in the Pinned view (swipe right). How many people you can pin depends on your plan: 4 on Free, 20 on Basic, 40 on Premium — see: Plans and daily focus room time limits. A few rules that surprise people: - Leaving a focus room resets your pins (and encouragements) for that session. The same happens on a page refresh or if the room restarts. - Lost your pins to a refresh or a restart? Premium users can bring them back with "Restore pins" in the room's action menu (tooltip "Acquire recently lost pins"): it re-pins the people you had pinned, and re-pins you for the people who had pinned you, as long as it was within the last 10 minutes, in the same room, and they are still there. It can be used once every 10 minutes and the pins can take up to 2 minutes to reappear. - Premium users can bring recently lost pins back with "Acquire recently lost pins" in the room menu (usable once every few minutes). - Blocking someone removes any pins between you automatically, in both directions. Pin reasons When you pin someone (or someone pins you), a short reason can be attached — "They're really focused", and so on. - Some reasons are anonymous by design. The more personal options aren't shown with a name attached, no matter your plan — so no, there's no way to find out who left one of those. - A "mutual pin" popup ("You are pinning each other!") appears when you and another user pin each other. If you turned it off and want it back: in the room open Settings → "Pin settings" and switch off "Hide mutual pin notification" (web only). Your pin summary and who pinned you - Pin summary (the chart): appears once you've received at least 10 pin reasons in the selected time period. If you see "Not enough responses yet to show pin summary", try a longer time frame — or collect a few more pins. - Who pinned you and why (the breakdown): a Premium feature. It shows who left most reasons over the last 30 days — except the anonymous-by-design ones, which stay anonymous for everyone. - Who is pinning me right now? In the room, the participant list has a "Pinning Me" tab with Now / Today / Yesterday views — full lists are a Premium feature. Free users see the counts, and can occasionally use an earned reward ("Use one of your rewards to reveal") to unlock the Now list once. - On the mobile app there is no "Pinning Me" tab; use the "See who pinned you" button in the room (or the same list from the dashboard). The pin-reason question and chart work the same as on the web. Pairing tiles, the mutual-pin setting and greeting mode are web-only. What is pin-for-pin (P4P)? Pin-for-pin automatically pins back the people who pin you. Users who have it on show a "P4P" badge on their tile when you hover — pin them, and they'll pin you back (as long as they have free pin slots). - Turn it on (Premium) in the room: Settings → Pin settings → "Enable pin-for-pin" (web and mobile app). You can choose which groups it auto-pins back: pre-university students, university students, professionals. - Looking for people open to connecting? The room's filters can show only users with "Has P4P on" and "Has pin slots remaining". Favorites: your shortlist (with mobile notifications) Favorites are your private shortlist of people you like studying with — mark anyone with the star in the participant list. - Get notified when they show up: the bell next to a favorite sends you a mobile notification the first time they turn their camera on each day (you'll need the mobile app installed). You can switch notifications on/off for all favorites at once in the "Manage favorites" list. - Order matters: drag favorites into your preferred order in "Manage favorites". Premium users can then "Sort by favorites" (pinned tiles follow your favorites order), "Auto-pin favorites" (pins them automatically when you join — web only), and "Auto sort pinned favorites". - How many favorites you can have depends on your plan. Nobody is notified when you favorite them — it's visible only to you. Favorites vs. following vs. pinning — what's the difference? Three separate things, easy to mix up: - Pinning — keeps someone's tile on your screen in the current room session. Resets when you leave. - Favorites — your private, permanent shortlist: notifications when they come online, and control over how your pins get ordered. - Following — the social connection (the "Follow" button on someone's profile). The participant list's Following tab shows which people you follow are in the room, and profiles show "Follows you" / "Mutual follow". Encouragements, waves and reactions - Encourage (thumbs-up) and wave (👋) at people from their tile or the participant list. A wave is simply a friendlier flavor of encouragement — a quick hello rather than a "keep going" — and the two work exactly the same way: they share one daily allowance that depends on your plan, with a short per-person cooldown so they can't be spammed. - On the mobile app (iOS & Android): the tile menu has a single "Send encouragement" option — waving is currently web-only. - When someone encourages you, it appears in the encouragements tray (bottom of the room) — you can encourage back one by one or "React to all". - Emoji reactions: react to anyone's tile message with any emoji — free for everyone. - Want peace and quiet? Room Settings → Troubleshooting → "Disable encouragements" turns incoming ones off; there's a matching "Disable pinning" if you don't want to be pinned at all. What happens when I send or receive an encouragement? After you send one, a small note confirms it and shows how many encouragements & waves you have left for today (they share one daily allowance). The other person sees a "You received an encouragement!" popup with your tile and message, plus tips: view your profile, view your video, or send one back with the thumbs up. If they're in Focus+, the note says "This user is currently focussing. They'll see your encouragement later on." What is greeting mode? Regulars who've received enough pins can activate greeting mode (the hand icon in the room's action bar, camera on required): it automatically welcomes new users with an encouragement and a friendly reaction. A nice way to pay the warm welcome forward.

Last updated on Oct 10, 2026

Booking focus sessions

Want to commit to studying at a specific time — and let others join you? Focus sessions are bookable 30 or 60-minute sessions that run inside a space in a focus room. Anyone can RSVP to a session they see on the calendar and join when it starts. Book a session Booking is done on the web: 1. Click "Focus sessions" in the left sidebar (the calendar icon) — this opens the Book Focus Sessions calendar. 2. Find your time slot and click "+ Book". 3. In "Create Event", pick the room, give the session a name, choose the start date and time (in 15-minute steps), and the duration — 30 or 60 minutes. 4. Click "Add" — your session appears on the calendar for others to see and RSVP to. Focus sessions are available on every plan — no subscription needed. Reminders After booking, use "Add it to your calendar" to create a reminder in Apple, Google, Outlook, or another calendar. That's the only reminder there is — StudyStream doesn't send push or email reminders for booked sessions, so the calendar entry is worth the click. Joining a session - RSVP first: open the session on the calendar and click "RSVP" — only RSVP'd members can join. Up to 20 people can RSVP to a session, so grab a spot early. - At start time, open the session and click "Join" — it takes you straight into the session's space in the focus room. The button unlocks when the session starts: "RSVP'd members can join this event at the start time." - You can remove your own RSVP from the session details at any time before it ends. Time spent in a booked session counts like any other focus room time — toward your daily limit and your streak (see: Plans and daily focus room time limits). Changing or cancelling a session - Sessions can't be edited — to change the time or duration, delete the session and book a new one. - Only the creator can delete a session (open it on the calendar → "Delete"), and it can't be deleted while it's running. - If nobody joins, nothing happens — an unattended session simply lapses; there's no penalty.

Last updated on Aug 07, 2026

Spaces: study together (and talk) in a focus room

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 1. In a focus room, click the "Spaces" button at the top-left of the room bar (just above the video grid). 2. Choose "Create a space". 3. 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). 4. 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.

Last updated on Oct 10, 2026

Your video tile: camera, backgrounds, status and privacy

Your own tile is the panel labeled "Your video tile". On the web it sits at the top-left of the room, right next to the "Spaces" button on a wide window (on a narrower window there is no Spaces button and the bar is the first thing on that row; on a phone-sized window it moves to the bottom-left corner). It is always there, whatever the window size. It starts collapsed as a small rounded bar — your avatar, VIEWER or LIVE, the camera button, boost, the privacy shield and the settings gear — so it doesn't look like a video tile until you click the down arrow at its right end to expand it (on a narrow window the expanded panel opens in the middle of the screen, on a phone-sized window it fills the screen). It's your control center: camera, backgrounds, your tile message, and how you appear to others. This article covers all of it for web focus rooms; where the mobile app has the same control, it's noted. How do I turn my camera on or off? Use the camera button on your own tile panel. A few things worth knowing: - The first time you turn it on, a "Video Settings" window asks you to pick your camera and reminds you that study rooms are public — anyone in the room, including people who aren't signed in, can see your camera. Click "Turn camera on". - You can only toggle the camera once every 2 seconds — quick double-clicks are ignored on purpose. - "Test camera" (in the expanded panel) shows you your own picture without anyone else seeing you. - The camera is optional. Your study time and streaks count with the camera off — see: Streaks: how they work (freezes and repairs). Can I blur or change my video background? Yes — on the web, on every plan. With your camera on, click the background-effect icon on your own video tile panel ("Virtual backgrounds") and pick an option: Soft Blur, Hard Blur, one of the ready-made background images, or None to turn it off. The picker only works while your camera is on. Virtual backgrounds aren't available in the mobile app. How do I post or change the message on my video tile? The short line shown under your name on your tile (your tile message, or status line) is set from your own tile panel. At the top-left of the room, right next to the "Spaces" button on a wide window (on a phone-sized window the same bar sits at the bottom-left), there is a small rounded bar with your profile picture, your role (for example VIEWER) and a few icons. Click the down arrow at its right end to expand it: you'll see "Test camera", a preview titled "Your video tile" (with the pin, new-user-marker and "Virtual backgrounds" icons on its right), and under the preview the text field "Post video tile message...". Type your message there and press Enter or the send arrow; it appears under your tile for everyone in the room. To change it later, type the new text in the same field and send again. Click the X in the bar to collapse the panel. - Messages are 2 to 90 characters, and you can update once every 10 seconds. - Other users can react to your message with emoji — the top reaction shows as a chip on your tile. - "See history" brings back a recent message that earned reactions, so you can re-activate it (available once your account is a few days old). What is the tick next to some names? (Premium tick) The small tick you see next to a display name — on video tiles, in the participant list, in Spaces and on profiles — is the Premium tick: it marks users on a plan with Premium features (Premium and Buddy). Free and Basic users don't get one, and there's no badge for hour-pack purchases. It's the only plan status that's ever visible to others. You can hide your own tick if you'd rather not show it: on the web, click your profile picture (top-right) → "Account settings" → under the tick options choose "Hide tick" (the default is "Show tick based on subscription"). What is boost (and superboost)? Boost pushes your tile ahead of the crowd in the room's tile order — use the boost button on your tile panel when you want to be seen (and pinned) more. It's a simple on/off switch with no limit or cooldown, and it switches off again each time you leave or rejoin the room. Superboost is the Premium version: while boosted, Premium users get extra weight in the order. Same button — it upgrades automatically with your plan. The rocket icon in the corner of a tile means that person is currently boosted (a highlighted rocket = a Premium superboost). It's just the indicator — you'll see the same rocket on your own tile while your boost is on. How the grid is ordered (the same rules decide which page you land on): people with their camera on come first; among them, boosted users come before unboosted; within that, more pins ranks higher (a boosted Premium user gets a bonus on top of their pins); ties go to whoever boosted or joined earlier. So a boost moves you ahead of everyone who isn't boosted, but not ahead of boosted users with more pins, and nothing puts you ahead of users with more pins if your camera is off. If you'd rather not see the room ranked by pins, open the room's Filter panel and under Sort choose "Ignore pin counts" (the default is "Most pins"). This only changes the order on your own screen. Who can see my video? By default, everyone in the room. Premium users can limit who sees their camera: open your Privacy settings (profile picture (top-right) → "Privacy settings", or the shield icon on your tile bar in the room) → "Other" tab → "Blur my video for others (Beta)" and choose: - "Off — don't blur my video" (the default) - "Blur for non-Premium members" - "Blur for accounts newer than 7 days" - "Blur for people with their camera off" Viewers outside your chosen group don't see your video, only a note that you share it with a limited group. Two honest caveats shown next to the setting: it's applied in the app rather than on our servers, so we can't promise it's impossible to bypass, and study rooms are public, so anyone who can see your camera could record it. (Hiding your self-view — below — doesn't affect what others see.) On the mobile app, the same setting lives in the room's Settings → "Blur my video for others (Beta)", with the same options. How do I hide my own preview? Two separate things: - Self-view toggle on your tile panel ("Hide self view video") hides your own preview from yourself. Others still see you normally. - "Self video view" in the room Settings → Video enables a small draggable floating preview of yourself you can position anywhere. Video quality and performance settings In the room, open Settings (gear on your tile panel) → Video: - "Number of tiles per page" — fewer tiles = less bandwidth and CPU. Free accounts can show up to 12 tiles per page; subscribers up to 20. (Above 12 you'll see a warning — that many streams needs a powerful machine.) - "Preferred resolution" (Premium) — choose up to 1080p, 540p, 360p, or low resolution. - "Mirror my video for myself" / "Mirror my video for others" — your preview is mirrored only for you by default; others always see you the right way around. - "Zoom camera to fit 16x9". - Struggling on a slow connection? The Troubleshooting tab has "Decrease my own video resolution", and "Join lite" on the room card is the biggest saver — see: Can't join a focus room? Common issues explained. Can I show what I'm listening to? Premium users can connect Spotify and show their current track on their tile. Spotify is web only for now — the mobile app doesn't have it yet. In a focus room on the web, expand your tile panel, use "Connect Spotify" (Spotify opens in a new tab to approve), then switch on "Show now playing". Turn the toggle off any time to stop sharing; "Disconnect Spotify" in the same place unlinks the account. If your track doesn't show: - Check that "Show now playing" is on and that something is actually playing (a paused player shows nothing). - Make sure you connected the Spotify account you're listening on, and that Spotify's Private Session is off. - Podcasts and audiobooks never show, only music. - If you see "Your connection to Spotify has expired", click "Connect Spotify" again. - Other people only see the track while you have Premium; on a phone-sized window it appears when they hover your tile. What's the NEW 🎉 tag on my tile? It marks your first week, so others give you a warm welcome (new users also get a highlighted tile border). If you'd rather not have it: expand your own tile panel and choose "Remove new user marker". Watching tiles while you work in other tabs The picture-in-picture button on your tile panel pops your pinned tiles into a small always-on-top window, so your focus buddies stay visible while you work elsewhere. Free accounts get the 4-tile layout; larger layouts are a Premium option.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

Focus rooms: everything you can do

A focus room is more than cameras and a timer. This is the tour of what you can do inside one, with pointers to the deep-dive guides. Most of these features are on the web app (app.studystream.live); the mobile app keeps rooms simpler, and each section says what applies there. Ways to view the room - Grid — everyone in the room, page by page. Use the arrows at the top-centre of the room bar (or swipe, on touch screens) to page through; double arrows jump 10 pages. - Pin view — only the people you've pinned. - Space view — your active Space, once you've joined or created one. The Grid | Space | Pin switch sits at the top-right of the room bar, next to the participant count. On plans with a daily limit, your remaining time shows as "Daily time left" in the header at the top of the page — see: Plans and daily focus room time limits. Can I talk with other people in the room? Focus rooms are silent by design — everyone is muted so the room stays distraction-free. To talk or chat with specific people while you study, create or join a Space: your own small group with voice chat, group chat, and a shared task list that only Space members can hear and see. Full guide: Spaces: study together (and talk) in a focus room. There's also a room chat (the chat icon at the top-right of the room bar, left of the view switch) — a text channel for the whole room. Your own video tile Camera controls, blur and virtual backgrounds, your tile message, boost, privacy settings, and video quality all live on the "Your video tile" panel. Full guide: Your video tile: camera, backgrounds, status and privacy. What can I do on someone else's tile? Hover a tile for the quick actions — Pin, Encourage (thumbs up), Enlarge tile (or double-click the video), Hide user (eye) — and the "…" (More options) menu: Encourage · Wave · Invite to pair · Message · Focused tasks history · User bio · Report user · Block user · Hide user · Two-way hide (some need Premium, see below). "Message" opens a small direct-message window at the bottom of the page without leaving the room. Pins, favorites and encouragements Pin the people who motivate you, favorite the ones you want to study with again (with mobile notifications when they come online), send encouragements and waves, and react to tile messages. Full guide: Pins and pin reasons explained. What is pairing (linking your tile with a friend's)? Pairing places your video tile and a friend's tile side by side in the grid, marked with a link badge — a little shared-desk feeling inside a big room. - Both of you need Premium, and you must be in the same room. - To invite: open the other person's tile menu and choose "Invite to pair" (the first time, a short "How pairing works" explainer asks you to confirm with "Yes"). They get a small "Pair invite" notice — " wants to pair with you" — and tap "Accept"; the pair starts right away. - A pair lasts up to 24 hours. Both tiles show a link icon; hover yours to see the time left ("Your connection will automatically end in …") and choose "End the session", then confirm with "Unpair". The pair and its badge stay until the 24 hours are up or one of you ends it, also when your partner leaves the room or you both come back later; when the time is up it ends on its own. - You can only be in one pair at a time. If your partner leaves the room, the pair stays active (your badge remains) until it expires or you end it. - Accepting an invite after the person who sent it has paired with someone else shows "This invite is no longer valid because the person who invited you is already paired." — ask them for a fresh invite. - "Both users must be in the room to start a pair session" can appear in the first seconds after one of you joined or reconnected — wait a moment and send the invite again. - Don't want pair invites? Turn them off under "Pair invites" in your Privacy settings. Pairing is web only — the mobile app doesn't have it. What are Focus Partners, and how do I become someone's acquaintance? Focus Partners are the people you keep focusing alongside. A partnership starts when you pin someone and they pin you back, both with your cameras on — from then on, every minute you spend in a room together while you're both pinned with cameras on is counted for the pair, together with the number of distinct days (UTC) it happened on. Nothing else counts: chatting, pairing or being in the same room without the mutual pin doesn't add time. As the shared time and days grow, the partnership moves through levels, each with a badge and a notification when you reach it. Both the hours and the days are needed for a level: | Level | Time together | Days together | |---|---|---| | 👋 Acquaintance | 30 minutes | 1 | | 🤝 Reliable Connection | 1.5 hours | 2 | | 🛡️ Consistent Ally | 5 hours | 5 | | 🔥 Core Focus Mate | 12 hours | 12 | | 🌟 Trusted Buddy | 25 hours | 20 | | ⚓️ Focus Anchor | 50 hours | 35 | | 💎 Pillar of Motivation | 100 hours | 60 | | 🌠 Legendary Bond | 200 hours | 100 | So after a single 30-minute session pinned with the same person, they become your Acquaintance — that's the "you're on your way to your first Focus Partner" message you see in the room. Where to see them (web): click your profile picture (top-right) → "View profile" → the "Focus Partners" tab. It lists each partner with the total time, the days, the current level and progress to the next one. The table is private — only you can see your own Focus Partners, and nobody can see that they're on yours. You don't have to do anything to "add" a partner; the mutual pin does it. Focus Partners are separate from pairing (linking two tiles side by side, see above) and from following someone — you can be Focus Partners without either. Can I hide another user's video? Yes. If someone's tile distracts you, you can hide them — they won't know, and it only changes what you see. Hiding someone (web) - Hover their tile and click the eye icon ("Hide user"), or open their tile menu and choose "Hide user", then confirm "Yes" in the "Hide this user?" window. - Hiding applies everywhere and stays until you unhide them — it's not just for the current room or session. It also removes any pin between you. Unhiding someone (web) Open the Participant list, go to the "All" tab, and click the eye toggle next to the search box ("Show hidden users"). You'll see everyone you've hidden, each with an "Unhide" button. Two-way hide (Premium) Premium users also get "Two-way hide" in the tile menu: it hides the user from your grid and removes your tile from their grid (they aren't told). Note that a two-way hide also removes any mutual favorite between you, and it can't be applied to moderators. On the mobile app The mobile app has a simpler "Hide user" that lasts only for your current session — it resets when you leave, and it doesn't sync with the web. What is Focus+ (distraction-free mode)? Focus+ strips the room down to just you and the tiles you choose, for a set time. Click "Start working" (Focus+) at the top-right of the page header, pick a task — create one or pick one you've saved (optionally shown publicly on your tile) — choose a duration (30, 60 or 90 minutes, or unlimited), and start. While Focus+ is running you won't receive encouragements, Space invitations, or message notifications — and you can't pin, unpin, or message either. Pause for a break or end it any time with the timer controls. Not available while you're in a Space. On the mobile app: tap "Start working" at the top of the room (or the snoozed-bell button in the bottom bar), optionally type what you're working on, pick 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes, choose whether to show it as a public focus task, and tap "Start working"; user actions are disabled while it runs. What is Quiet Mode? The Quiet Mode button (the crossed-out bell icon at the top-right of the page header, left of the What's new and Tasks icons) mutes the pop-ups and sounds for new chat messages for a period you choose (30m, 1h, 2h, 6h or 12h). Unread counts still tick up, and notifications return automatically when the time is up; choose "Enable notifications now" from the same menu to end it early. Quiet Mode is web only (the snoozed-bell button in the app's room bar is Focus+, not Quiet Mode). Finding people: filters and Focus Buddies The filters button (the filter icon labelled "Find Focus Buddies" at the top-right of the room bar) opens filtering and sorting for the whole room: filter by gender, user type, country, or subject; sort by most pins; or show only users with pin-for-pin on, free pin slots, or new users. "Find Focus Buddies" is the quick version — a couple of taps to find people open to connecting. The participant list The participant list button (the people icon with the live participant count, far top-right of the room bar) opens a panel on the right with everyone in the room. Open "Filters" to switch between the tabs (hover an icon to see its name): On the mobile app: the people icon in the bottom bar opens "Participants" with the tabs All, Pinned, Following and Favorites, a search box, and a star (favourite) and pin button on each row. - All — everyone in the room, with a search box. The crossed-out eye next to the search box shows your hidden users (see below). - Pinning — the people you're pinning, with "Manage favorites" and "Sort by favorites". Empty: "You are not pinning anyone currently." - Following — people you follow who are in the room right now. Empty: "None of the people you follow are in the room at the moment." - Favorites — your favorites who are in the room. Empty: "Favorite users list is empty." - Pinning Me — who's pinning you now and today (see: Pins and pin reasons explained). - Tasks — what people in the room are working on. Empty: "No one has set a task yet." Each row has, left to right: an eye that jumps to that person's tile in the grid, their avatar and name (click either for a small card with their role, age, current room and a "Stats" link; the avatar shows "Pinning you" when they pin you), their streak badge, then a star (add to or remove from your favorites), a pin and the "…" menu, which holds the same actions as the tile menu (encourage, wave, invite to pair, message, focused tasks history, user bio, report, block, hide, two-way hide). On the Favorites tab a bell per person turns on a mobile notification the first time they turn their camera on each day. The globe icon at the top shows a world map of where everyone in the room is studying from. The list also shows a viewers count — those are people watching the room without being logged in. They're counted separately from the members you see in the tabs. Tasks and your focus task You have a to-do list on both platforms, and you can show the task you're working on right on your tile. On the web - Open the Tasks icon at the top-right of the page (a tray slides in; from inside a room it opens the full Task Board in a new tab) or the "Today's tasks" box on your Home page. - Create: click "Create task", type in "Describe task...", optionally "Add Date" and a "Label", then "Add" (or press Enter). Tasks without a date sit under "Unscheduled"; the board shows the next 7 days, and past-due tasks move to a "reschedule" group. - Edit: click the task text to change it; the calendar and label icons on the row change its date and label. - Complete: tick the checkbox. Switch between "Active tasks" and "Completed tasks" with the toggle at the top-right of the board. - Delete: hover the task and click the bin icon ("Delete task"), then confirm "Delete" ("This cannot be undone."). - Focus task: click the target icon on a task to make it your current focus. It shows on your video tile as a target icon with the task text, and other people can read it, so keep that in mind. Click the target again, or complete the task, to clear it from your tile. Who can see the history of your focus tasks is a privacy setting (Privacy settings explained). - Labels: "Create label" opens the Label Editor (colour + name, up to 10 labels). On the mobile app (iOS & Android) - Tap the Tasks icon (the right-most icon on the bottom bar) or the "Today's Tasks" card on Home. - Create: tap "+", fill in Name, Date and Label, then "Add". Edit: tap the task. Complete: tap the round checkbox; the "Completed" switch shows your history. - Delete: swipe the task to the left and tap the red bin, or long-press it and choose "Delete task". There is no confirmation either way. - Focus task: the target icon on a task; the room's Settings also has "Set focus task". How do I delete a task (to-do)? - On the web: open the Tasks icon at the top-right (or app.studystream.live/tasks), hover the to-do and click the bin icon ("Delete task"), then confirm "Delete". Deleted tasks can't be restored. To only remove the task from your video tile, click its target icon again or tick it as complete. - On the mobile app: swipe the to-do to the left and tap the red bin, or long-press it and choose "Delete task" (no confirmation). Inside a Space, the Tasks panel on the right is a shared list for the Space (Spaces: study together (and talk) in a focus room); the Tasks tab of the participant list shows what people in the room are working on. Groups and the community feed The feed is the community timeline (Following and Popular tabs) on your Home page (web, right column; app, the Feed tab, second icon on the bottom bar). Posting and commenting on the feed is limited to a few per day on Free and Basic. Groups are public communities around a subject or goal, each with its own feed. - On the web: click "Groups" in the left sidebar. "Featured Groups" lists groups to join ("View" → "Join"); your groups are under "My groups". Only members can post and comment. Creating a group (the "+" next to "My groups") is a paid-plan feature: Basic can run one group, Premium several, and Free accounts see "Please upgrade to be able to create a public group." Share copies the group link to invite people; there's no invite list. - On the mobile app: tap the Groups icon (fourth on the bottom bar). "Discover" lists groups to search and "Join"; once you're in at least one group, a "My groups" card appears above it with a "+" to create your own (the app can't create a group before you've joined one, so use the website for that). - Leaving: in the group's About / members panel choose "Leave group" (app: the group menu). Deleting is for the group's admins: open the group, click its name (web) or the group menu (app) → "Edit group" → "Delete this group". A group always needs one admin, so the last admin can delete the group but can't leave it. - Group admins and moderators can make members moderators, remove them or ban them from the group; feed and group posts can be reported like anything else. First steps: the milestones bar New to rooms? The milestones bar at the top walks you through the basics — join, pin someone, send an encouragement, turn your camera on, post a tile message, complete your profile, and study your first 30 minutes. Dismiss it any time with the X. When you're done: session summary "Finish session" ends your room session and shows your session summary — duration, pins, encouragements and waves received, and any badges you earned. You can switch between your last session and the whole day, and download a screenshot to share. Someone is behaving badly — what do I do? Use the in-room "Report user" option on their tile menu — rooms are moderated 24/7 and moderators act within minutes. You can also block users so they can't interact with you at all. Full guide: Reporting users, blocking, and appealing bans.

Last updated on Oct 22, 2026

Your stats, hours, rank and badges

StudyStream keeps track of the time you spend in focus rooms and turns it into statistics, a rank, leaderboards, streaks and badges. This guide explains how the numbers are made, so you know what to expect, and what to check when they look off. Where to find your statistics On the web Click your profile picture (top-right) → "View stats" (or "View profile" → the "Statistics" tab). You'll see your Overall Rank, Best streak, Current streak, Streak Freezes, and a chart of your focus room time with "Last Week", "Last Month" and "Last Year" views and a "Table" option that lists each day with its streak status. The ⓘ icon opens "Your stats explained". On the mobile app (iOS & Android) Tap your profile picture (top-left) → "Profile" → the "Stats" tab: hours studied with a 7D / 30D switch, Overall rank, This week rank, current and best streak, and the streak-freeze card. Under the chart, "Update Timezone" opens the time zone picker (the same setting as "Settings" → "Personal details"). How is my focus room time counted? - Your time counts from the moment you join a focus room until you leave it, with or without your camera on. Breaks inside the room count too, so a session you leave open over lunch is counted in full. - You can be in one focus room session at a time. Opening a second tab or device doesn't double the time. - Spaces inside a room count as room time. Time in the solo room or with the Pomodoro timer outside a room doesn't. - Statistics, ranks and leaderboards refresh every 5 minutes, so give a finished session a few minutes before you check. - Your day starts and ends at midnight in your account's time zone, not your device's clock. Many accounts, especially ones created in the app, are still on the default UTC: if your "today" looks shifted or a late-night session shows up on the next day, that's why. Set it under profile picture → "Profile settings" → "Time zone" on the web, or "Settings" → "Personal details" → "Time zone" in the app (see: Editing your profile and account details). Session summary When you click "Finish session" in a room you land on your session summary: duration, pins, encouragements and waves received, badges earned, and a "Last Session" / "Today" switch. In the app the summary opens by itself when you leave a room, with a star rating for the session at the top. The camera icon next to "Great work!" downloads a screenshot you can share. You can reopen the latest summary from the room card on your Home page. In the app, the summary opens when you leave a room and from the "Session summary" card on Home. What does my rank mean? - Overall Rank compares your total focus room time with everyone else's, all-time. The exact number is shown for the top 1000; after that it reads "1000+", and keeps reading that until you're inside the top 1000. It refreshes every 5 minutes, and the Leaderboards page shows the same ranking with Last 7 days and Overall columns. - A "Top N%" line appears under your streaks once you're in the top half of users for that streak. - N/A means you haven't had a session yet. - The Leaderboards page (left sidebar on the web) has two tabs: Focus Room Time, with Last 7 days and Overall columns, and Focus Room Streaks, with Current Streak and Best Streak. Click a column heading to sort by it. Your own row sticks to the bottom while you scroll. The app shows your overall and weekly rank on the Stats tab instead of a leaderboard page. - There's no setting to hide yourself from the leaderboards; they list everyone. Streaks and freezes A streak day needs 30 minutes in a focus room before midnight in your time zone; freezes cover the odd missed day. All the rules, including repairing a lost streak, are in Streaks: how they work (freezes and repairs). Badges On the web, open your profile and the "Achievements" tab ("Badges" in the app). Earned badges are in colour, with the name on hover; unearned ones are greyed out. Two groups: - Milestones: Turned camera on · Posted a video tile message · Sent an encouragement · Pinned another user · Completed all profile info · Achieved 30 mins inside focus room. - Streaks: Achieved 1 day streak, then 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 25, 50, 75, 100 and every hundred days up to 1000. New badges are checked while you're in a focus room and on your session summary, so a badge you've earned shows up the next time you're in a room. Streak badges follow your best streak, which updates with the statistics (every 5 minutes). The Summary tab shows your highest and latest badge, and your Pin Count once 20 different people have pinned you. My hours or stats look wrong Check these first: 1. Wait 5 minutes and reload; the numbers update in batches. 2. Time zone. A session after midnight UTC may be filed under the "wrong" day if your account is still on UTC. The day on the table view is the account time zone's day. 3. Daily time left vs stats. The header's "Daily time left" counts down your plan's daily allowance and resets at midnight in your time zone; it's not the same number as the time in your statistics. See: Plans and daily focus room time limits. 4. Which number you're comparing. The chart shows the last week, month or year; there is no all-time total on the profile. "Overall" on the leaderboard is all-time. If a whole session is missing, a day shows far more time than you studied, or your total dropped: tell us. Start a chat with us at app.studystream.live or in the StudyStream app (no login needed) with the date, the room and roughly how long you were in it, and we'll check the session records on our side.

Last updated on Oct 14, 2026