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. Your to-do list and focus task, groups and the community feed, Focus Partners,
the milestones bar and the session summary have their own guide: Tasks, groups, the feed and Focus Partners.
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.
Can I share audio or music with the room?
No. Rooms are silent for everyone: no music, tab audio or microphone from your side reaches the other people. The only
audio on StudyStream is voice in a Space, where members can unmute when its Audio access setting allows it, heard by
Space members only. Music isn't shared there either.
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. On small tiles (many tiles per page, or a
smaller screen) the hover bar shrinks to Pin, Favorite (star), Enlarge tile and "…"; Encourage, Wave, Invite to pair and
Message are then inside the "…" menu, so a missing thumbs-up on the bar doesn't mean the feature is gone.
Why don't I see "Enlarge tile" on someone's tile?
Each user decides who may enlarge their video in Privacy settings → "Who can enlarge my video tile?" (including People
with camera on and People I am pinning). If the option is missing on one person's tile but shows on others, that
person's setting excludes you; it isn't a bug, a screen-size limit or about whether their camera is live. If their
setting is "People with camera on", turning your own camera on is enough.
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.
Pinning each other with cameras on also builds Focus Partners (Tasks, groups, the feed and Focus Partners).
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.
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. To undo it, unhide them as above ("Show hidden users" → "Unhide").
On the mobile app
Long-press their tile and choose "Hide ". It's saved on your account, the same list as on the web. To unhide: tap your
profile picture (top-left) → "Settings" → "Privacy settings" → "Hidden people" → "Unhide". Two-way hide is website only.
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.
How do I find people from my country?
Use the room filters, not the room names: inside a room click the filters button ("Find Focus Buddies", top-right of the
room bar) and pick your country under Country; the room then shows only those users and you can pin them from there.
Rooms aren't organised by country, so the room list won't find one. On the website Country appears once your account is
a day old, your email is verified and you've pinned someone; the mobile app shows all filters from the start.
Why do I only see Gender and User Type in the room filters?
Your account is new. On the website the filter panel starts in a short version, "Find Focus Buddy", with just Gender and
User Type, whatever plan you're on. The full "Filtering and sorting" panel with Country, Subject and the sort options
unlocks a day after sign-up, once your email (and phone, if you were asked for one) is verified and you've pinned at
least one person. Reload the page and open the filters again from inside the room. The mobile app shows all filters from
the start.
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 this room ("Manage favorites" opens your full list). 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.
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.