Group sessions

A few people in the same room, each doing their own session, and one person watching how settled the group is. This part of the app is being tested and is not yet released. Here is how it works, in one drawing and a few short sections.

Being tested, not yet released. Group sessions work on two phones in our own tests. They are not on for invited testers yet, and nothing on this page is a promise about when they will be.

The whole thing in one drawing

How a group session runs One observer's phone on the left makes a room and shows a four-digit code. Three sitters' phones on the right join with the code. The observer taps Start; each sitter's phone runs its own session and sends one settling number every three seconds. The observer's list shows a coloured light per person that settles to green. When the observer taps Something seen, a mark lands in every phone's log. Observer watches, never sits 4 8 2 1 join code Start Anna settled Ben settling Cara settled Something seen Anna Settle · 12 min Ben Settle · 20 min Cara Self-hypnosis each phone runs its own session one small number each, every 3 seconds encrypted · nothing goes to the internet

Who does what

The observer

The person who makes the room. Their phone shows a four-digit code for the others to type in. They do not sit. Once everyone is in, they tap Start. From then on they see a simple list: one line per person, a coloured light for how settled that person is, and the number behind it. If something happens that they want to remember, one tap on "Something seen" or "Note" puts a mark, with the time, into every phone's record of the session. They can also end the sitting for everyone.

The sitters

Everyone who joins. You type the code, read a short screen that says exactly what your phone will share, and say yes or no to sharing your heart rate. Then you build or pick your own session, just as you would on your own: a 12-minute settle, a longer one, a self-hypnosis session. Nobody is put into a session they did not choose. Start only fixes the moment you all begin. You can leave with one tap at any time.

What travels between the phones

Each sitter's phone measures its own person exactly as it does in a solo session: breathing, stillness, and heart beats if you wear a strap. Every three seconds it sends the observer's phone one small settling number, your breathing rate, and your heart rate if you said yes to that. That is all. No sound, no movement data, no notes, no names beyond the one you typed.

It goes over an encrypted phone-to-phone link inside the room. It does not go to the internet, to us, or to anyone outside the room. The observer's phone keeps none of it once the session ends. Your own phone keeps your own session record, with the observer's marks added, the same as any other session.

If you are not wearing a strap, your light is worked out from breathing alone, and the observer's list says so next to your name.

What the app does not claim

  • It does not detect any special state of mind, in one person or in the group. It measures settling: slower breathing, less movement, a steadier heart. That is what the lights mean and nothing more.
  • It does not say the group has "synchronised", "connected", or reached anything. It shows readings side by side. What you make of them is yours.
  • It is not a medical tool and not for anyone in crisis. The safety page applies to every person in the room.

Practical limits

  • Everyone needs an iPhone with Psiphase on it, in the same room.
  • The link is Apple's short-range phone-to-phone connection. It does not use the internet, but the phones must be near each other with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth switched on. If you use Airplane Mode to keep calls out, turn Wi-Fi and Bluetooth back on afterwards.
  • If a call takes one phone's sound, that person's session pauses itself and asks them to carry on or end; the rest of the room carries on.
  • The code proves that a joiner knows the code. It does not prove who the observer is, so the observer reads the room out loud: names on the list should match the people present.
  • It is meant for a small group. We have proved it on two phones so far.

Full data details are on the privacy page under "Group sessions".