Parks, beaches and fun runs: the 500 m room outdoors, where the room moves with you

Stadiums and campuses have walls and gates. Parks, beaches and fun runs don't: people spread out across the grass, drift along the sand, and run past in a long line. CicadaChat's 500 m room works outdoors just as well, and in one way it works better, because the room is a circle around you that moves as you do. This article is about using the 500 m room outdoors: on a sunny day in a big park, on a busy beach, at a fun run or a charity walk, and on a long stroll along a river. It also explains, in plain terms, what happens to the room, and to your messages, when you're on the move.

A 500 m room that moves with you

Most chat rooms are places you join. A CicadaChat room is a circle drawn around wherever you are. The 500 m room is a circle a kilometre across, and while CicadaChat is open, it follows your phone's location.

That has a few consequences that are worth understanding before you set off.

New messages follow where you are now

CicadaChat updates your position as you move. Each time you've moved a little way, 25 m or so, it tells the server where you now are. From then on, new messages reach you if they were sent within 500 m of your new position. Walk from one end of a park to the other, and the live conversation walks with you.

Old messages stay where they were sent

Every message is pinned to the spot where it was sent. It doesn't follow its sender around. So "ice cream van at the lake entrance" stays at the lake entrance: people near the lake see it, and people who've walked a kilometre away don't.

The history loads when you open the room

When you open the 500 m room, or switch to it from another room, CicadaChat loads what's been said within reach of where you are at that moment. If you've walked a long way and want to see what was said around your new spot, switch to another room and back, or close CicadaChat and open it again.

Distances are measured from you, now

Next to each message is how far away it was sent, measured from where you are: right here under 50 m, otherwise rounded to the nearest 50 m. Walk towards a message's spot and its distance shrinks. Walk away, and when it's more than 500 m behind you, new ones from there stop reaching you.

A big park on a sunny day

A city park on a warm weekend holds thousands of people, and most of the park fits inside the 500 m room. It's a good room for small practical things:

• "Ice cream van at the lake entrance 🍦"
• "Café by the bandstand has tables in the shade."
• "Toilets by the playground are closed, use the ones by the main gate."
• "Anyone up for a game of frisbee? We're on the big lawn, near the oak tree."
• "Found a child's red scooter by the pond, left it with the park café."

Parks are also where dog walkers, runners and families come back week after week. The 500 m room becomes a small community of regulars: "Did anyone else see the heron by the boathouse this morning?"

A screenshot of the 500 m room at a fun run in a park. Runners, supporters and volunteers share one room.

The beach

A busy beach stretches along the shore, and the 500 m room covers a good stretch of it: a kilometre of sand, with you in the middle. Beach questions are easy to answer from the people who are there:

• "Is the water rough at the north end? The flags look red."
• "Beach bar by the pier has sunbeds free."
• "Jellyfish in the water near the rocks, be careful."
• "Anyone need a volleyball player? We're one short."

For anything about safety, like flags, currents or someone in trouble, go to the lifeguards first. The room can help spread the word afterwards; it can't replace them.

Fun runs, charity walks and races

A fun run is a moving crowd: runners, supporters along the route, volunteers at water stations, and marshals. The 500 m room covers a stretch of the route around wherever you are, which makes it useful for everyone involved:

• Before the start: "Fun run starts in 20 minutes, bag drop is by the bandstand."
• Volunteers: "Water station at the 2 km mark is set up, go volunteers 💪".
• Supporters: "Anyone else supporting at the finish line? Bring a sign!" "Runners coming past the pond now 🎉".
• After the finish: "Medals are being handed out by the gate, and there's free fruit in the tent."

If you're running, put your phone away and enjoy the run. The room will still be there at the finish, and the most-reacted messages will be in Hot, the flame button in the header.

If you're a supporter trying to see your runner, keep that in a private chat with them. Tap their name, and share your location there if it helps: tap the paperclip, then Location. They'll know exactly which bit of the crowd to wave at.

Walks along a river, a promenade or a coastal path

On a long walk, the 500 m room changes as you go. Every kilometre or so, you're in a mostly new circle, with new people and new messages. It's a gentle way to feel connected to a place you're passing through: "Café at the lock is open and does great cake." "The path's flooded past the second bridge, go round by the road."

A few messages will reach you that were sent near where you've just been. That's normal: their spot is still within 500 m of you for a while.

Picnics and meet-ups in the park

A park is one of the easiest places to arrange something with people you've met in the room, because it's public, open and full of landmarks. A few ideas that work well:

• A regular walk. "Saturday morning walkers meet by the main gate at 9, all welcome, dogs too."
• A game. Frisbee, football, volleyball on the beach. "We're two short for five-a-side on the east field."
• A shared picnic. Say where you'll be using the landmark everybody knows, like the bandstand or the big oak, not a shared location in the public room.

When it becomes a regular thing, create free accounts, add each other as friends, and start a private room for the group, so you can arrange the next one from home.

Location outdoors

Outdoors, under open sky, your phone usually knows where it is to within a few metres, much better than inside a building. A few things still help:

• Allow location for CicadaChat. Without it, only the Global room is available, which has no location at all. If you've blocked it by mistake, the help article how to turn on location for CicadaChat (and unblock it in your browser) explains how to fix it in each browser.
• Keep CicadaChat open to follow you. The room follows your location while CicadaChat is on your screen. If your phone locks or you switch apps for a while, open it again when you want to catch up, and it picks up where you now are.
• Don't worry about precision. Other people only ever see a rounded distance, never your coordinates, however accurately your phone knows where you are.

Why two friends in the park see slightly different rooms

If you and a friend are at opposite ends of a big park, 600 m apart, you're each in your own 500 m circle. A message sent near you might be outside your friend's circle, and the other way round. You'll share most of the conversation from the middle of the park, but not all of it. It's the same rule as everywhere in CicadaChat: a message shows up when the distance is no more than both the sender's room and yours. The help article why two people in the same room can see different messages explains it with more examples.

Battery and sunshine

A day outdoors is hard on phones. Screens need to be bright to read in the sun, and location uses power.

• Close CicadaChat when you're not using it. It doesn't need to be open to keep your messages; they'll be there when you come back.
• Light mode in bright sun. Dark screens can be harder to read outdoors. In Settings, choose Light, or System to follow your phone.
• Keep enough charge to get home. Especially after a long walk or a race.

Lost things, lost people

Parks and beaches are where water bottles, sunglasses, keys and, now and then, small children go missing. "Lost a blue water bottle near the playground, if anyone sees it" is a good message. For a child, tell the park staff or lifeguards straight away, and then use the room to reach everyone nearby. The article lost in the crowd: finding your friends and lost things within 500 m has more.

Keeping it pleasant

• Don't describe strangers. "The couple on the blue blanket are so loud" might be read by the couple on the blue blanket.
• Photos of the view, not of people. Photos are re-encoded on your phone to strip their GPS data, but what's in them is up to you. Sunbathers didn't agree to be in your picture.
• Keep meeting places for private chats. "We're on the big lawn" is fine for a frisbee game. "I'm here on my own by the boathouse" is for people you've chosen.