Invites, people & circles
Being on the same server doesn't mean seeing each other. Each person sees only the people they're connected with: whoever invited them, and anyone they both said yes to. This page covers how people join, how connections are made and what the owner and admins can manage. For what each person shares and with whom, see People & privacy.
Roles
| Role | Can |
|---|---|
| Owner | Everything, including server settings and keys. There's one owner. |
| Admin | Manage the library, people, invites, connections and packs. |
| Member | Browse, download, request titles, watch together, and invite people if the server allows it. |
| Guest | Watch and download. Can't request titles or edit Our List, only sees the people in the circles you add them to, and can have an end date. |
Admins can change anyone's role in Admin → People, except the owner's. To hand the server over, make someone else the owner; you become an admin.
Invite someone
- Admins: Admin → People → Invite. Members: Invite someone, next to your people.
- Add their name if you like, and how long the link stays valid (7 days unless you change it, up to 90). Admins also choose the role, and an end date for guests.
- Share the link however you like (text, email, a note on the fridge). They open it, get the app from the download page, choose Open in Moovo, pick a name and a password, and they're in. The server address and the code come with the invite, so nobody types URLs. If the link doesn't open the app, they copy it and choose Got an invite? Paste it in the app.
Each link works once. You can revoke it before it's used, and removing someone signs out all their devices.
What an invite link shows
The link is your own server's address plus the code, like https://movies.example.com:47219/join/7F3K-Q9PX. Its page comes from your server, not from this website, with no trackers. When you paste it into a chat, the preview says "You're invited to a Moovo", nothing more.
Tick Show my first name on the link when you make the invite and the page and its preview say "Maya invited you to their Moovo" with your server's name and icon instead. It's off unless you turn it on, and only your first name is shown. A used or expired link shows the plain page. Links use the server's public address, so set MOOVO_PUBLIC_URL (see remote access) or they'll point at whatever address you made them from.
Share card on a new invite makes a picture with the link as a QR code and the code, to save or copy. It stays on your computer until you share it yourself.
Joining connects them to you, and only to you. If Sam invites Leo, Leo and Sam are connected. Leo doesn't see you, or anyone else Sam knows, until one of you sends a request and the other accepts.
Invites from members
By default members can invite, and an admin approves each invite before the link works. Both switches are in Admin → Settings → People:
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Members can invite people | On | Turn it off and only admins can invite. |
| Auto-approve members' invites | Off | On: members' links work right away. Off: they wait for an admin. |
Invites waiting for approval show up in Admin → People → Invites. Approve makes the link work; Deny discards it. Approving has a Connect me with them too option, off by default: approving someone's friend doesn't put them on your home screen unless you ask.
To treat one person differently, open them in Admin → People and set Invites to server default, auto-approve, needs approval or can't invite.
Connections
A connection is mutual: both people agreed, and both see each other. Connections are made by:
- An invite: the invitee is connected to whoever invited them.
- A request: type someone's exact username to send one. The reply is always the same ("If someone called leo is here, they'll get your request"), so nobody can find out who's on the server. People can turn off requests by username in their privacy settings.
- An introduction: someone connected to both of you introduces you. You're connected once you both accept.
- An admin: see managing connections below.
Either side can disconnect at any time; the other person isn't told, they just stop seeing each other. Blocking someone goes further, see blocking.
Search and pickers only ever list your own connections. For a close-knit family server, Admin → Settings → People → People directory lets people search everyone by part of a name. It's off by default. There are no "people you may know" suggestions.
Relationships
Each connection can carry a relationship: partner, family, friend or other, plus your own word if you like ("Mom", "roommate", "little brother").
| Partner | Family, friend, other | |
|---|---|---|
| Who sets it | One of you proposes, both confirm | Each person sets their own |
| Who sees it | Both of you | Only you |
| What it changes | Your partner comes first in pickers and on your home screen, is the default guest for movie dates, and the app gets a little more romantic | How your people list is grouped and sorted, and the word the app uses ("you and Mom") |
You might file Mom as family · Mom while she files you as family · my son. Neither of you sees the other's label. Nothing but the partner label is ever shown to anyone else.
Circles
A circle is a named group of your connections: "Family", "College friends". Anyone (except guests) can make one and invite their connections; people join when they accept. An invitation waits under Waiting for you on Your people (and in the circles manager) with Join and Not now, and until then they aren't in the circle.
- Each circle gets its own Our List ("3 of 4 want this"), movie nights, streak, badges and Our Year recap.
- You don't need a circle for two people. Every connection works as a pair for the same things: "🔥 3 weeks with Mom", "Your Year with Mom". Pick a person, a circle or a few people with the switcher on Our List, the badges and the recap.
- On its own the recap is Your Year, just you. The streak on your home screen is your partner's and yours, else whoever you watch with most.
- Watch Together and movie dates can invite a whole circle in one tap, or anyone by name.
Managing connections
The owner and admins manage connections in Admin → People → Connections:
- Everyone on the server, with how many connections each person has, who invited them and any pending requests. Open a person to see each connection, how it was made (invite, request, introduction, admin or upgrade) and since when, and whether they're partners. Other relationship labels are private and never shown here.
- Link two people: Introduce sends both a request that says you introduced them, and connects them only when both accept. Connect now connects them without asking, after a confirmation; both are told and either can disconnect. Neither works across a block.
- Remove a connection. Neither person is told who removed it.
- Audit log: who introduced, connected or removed whom, and when. Kept for a year.
A worked example: you invite your mom and, later, her partner. Both are connected to you, not to each other. Use Introduce and they're connected once both accept; then they can confirm each other as partners.
Upgrading a server
When a server updates to 1.1, everyone who could see each other before is connected, so nothing disappears and nothing new becomes visible. On a server with exactly two people, they're marked as partners. See which app works with which server before you update.
Good to know
- Downloads come straight from your server, so your upload speed is the limit. Set an upload cap in Admin → Settings if you need bandwidth for other things.
- Watch Together needs almost no bandwidth: everyone plays their own downloaded copy.