Focus rooms and the leaderboard

Working beside other people is the oldest focus tool there is, and it is why libraries are quiet and cafés are full of laptops. A room is that, for a phone: you can see that four other people are in the middle of a session, and it is oddly harder to quit while they are still there.

Private and public rooms

• <b>Private.</b> You create it and share a code. A study group, a batch of friends, a team. Nobody else sees it.
• <b>Public.</b> Open rooms you can join alone. These carry an age check and moderation, because they put you in a room with strangers.

What the leaderboard counts

Minutes the server measured, from your phone checking in while a session runs — not minutes anyone typed in. A separate badge marks sessions verified by a key tap. That distinction is the point: a ranking you can win by claiming is not worth being on.

You appear on a leaderboard only if you switch it on, and on a public one only if you switch that on as well. Two opt-ins, because being ranked among friends and being ranked among strangers are different decisions.

What other people can see

In a room, others see your display name, your @handle, your photo if you added one, and your focus time. In a public room that includes strangers, which is why the age check exists and why you are asked to pick a display name rather than having your real one used. They do not see which apps you blocked, what you were doing, or anything from your stats.

Public rooms carry report and block, and a room's owner can remove a member. That machinery exists because a room full of strangers needs it, not because we expect trouble.

The honest limits

• Rooms need an account and a connection — they are the one part of Spark that is not offline-first.
• A leaderboard is a motivator for some people and pressure for others. It is off until you turn it on, and turning it off puts you back to invisible.
• Measured minutes are minutes your phone was locked and checking in. They are not proof anybody was working.