Key concepts

A flat is a space you create on flat.social. It holds your rooms, people, branding, and settings, and lives at its own web address like flat.social/f/your-name. See Create a flat.

The lobby is the landing page of your flat. People arrive there, see which rooms are live, chat, read announcements, and pick a room. See Organize your lobby.

A room is a place inside your flat that people join to talk. Each room is either Open Spatial or Conference, and has its own address like flat.social/f/your-name/room. See Room types.

The classic flat.social room: you move an avatar around a 3D map and voices get louder as you get closer to people. It suits mingling, events, offices, and games. See Room types.

An Open Spatial room can be a Walk & talk room or a mini-game: Football, Maze race, Arena shooter, Territory, or Surf. The style is chosen when the room is created. See Game rooms.

A video-grid call where everyone shares one audio channel, with a stage for screen shares, slides, and activities. Use it for talks and meetings. See Conference rooms.

Text chat is built in: one Lobby chat for the whole flat, one chat per room, and direct messages between people. See Chat and direct messages.

Voices get louder as you walk closer to someone and fade as you step away, just like real life, so several conversations can share one room. See How spatial audio works.

A walled room, pod, or stage inside an Open Spatial room where the people inside only hear and see each other. See Audio isolated rooms.

The small round character that represents you in an Open Spatial room, showing your camera or photo. You move it with the keyboard or mouse, and where it stands decides who you hear. See Move your avatar.

A map is the 3D layout of an Open Spatial room. Everything on it is an element: floors, walls, furniture, plants, games, and vehicles. People with the Build Map permission edit the map live in build mode. See Build mode.

A vibe is a one-click lighting preset for an Open Spatial room, from Daylight to Soft Night or Matrix. See Customize rooms.

An auditorium element with seats and a big screen. Whoever stands on stage is heard by the whole hall and can share their screen or a YouTube video. See Host a talk on a stage.

A shared tool you run inside a room: a whiteboard, a standup, slides, or a webinar. See Activities.

The searchable list of every action, opened with ⌘K (Mac) or Ctrl+K. See Quick Access.

The owner controls a flat and its billing. Roles such as Member and Moderator give other people extra abilities, like building or moderating. Guests can join with just a name if the flat allows it. See Roles and permissions.

Your plan sets how many people can be in your flat at once. A seat is one spot at the same time, not a named person. See Plans and limits.

Reactions are quick effects like hearts and fireworks that play at your avatar. The torch is a light you carry whose beam follows your cursor. See Reactions and actions.