Loopa has friends. A friend is a social connection, not a data-sharing arrangement — and the difference matters enough that this page leads with it.

== What a friend can see ==

* Your display name
* Your profile photo
* Your '''streak badge''' — how many days in a row you have logged ''something'' — if you leave that switched on
* How many friends the two of you have in common

That is the whole list.

A friend '''cannot''' see your weight, your food diary, your fasting, your cycle, your measurements, your vital signs, your photos, your targets or your allergen list. None of it. Being friends with somebody does not open any of that, and it never will.

Sharing something from your health record is a separate decision: you invite that person as an '''accountability partner''' and choose, category by category, what they may see. Accountability partners are a separate feature with their own screen and their own consent trail. Ending a friendship, or blocking somebody, ends that sharing too — in both directions, immediately.

== Adding a friend ==

'''More → Friends → the person-plus button''' in the app. Three ways in:

=== Your invite link (the easy one) ===

Loopa makes you a link and a QR code. Send the link however you already talk to that person, or let them scan the code off your screen. Whoever taps it sees who you are and can ask to be your friend — you still get to accept.

The link expires after '''seven days''' and you can revoke it at any time. You can have five alive at once. It works even if you have set "who can send me a request" to nobody, because handing somebody your link ''is'' the permission.

=== Scan their code ===

'''Scan a code''' opens the camera and reads their QR. Useful in a room with somebody.

=== Search by username ===

Type their exact username. Search matches '''usernames only''' — never an email address, never a phone number. Somebody only appears if they have chosen to be findable, so if a search turns up nothing, ask them for their link instead.

'''Loopa never reads your contacts.''' There is no address-book permission in either app.

== Answering a request ==

'''More → Friends → Requests.''' Accept or Decline on each one.

Declining is quiet. The person who asked is not told; the request simply stops appearing in their sent list. They cannot ask you again for 30 days.

Cancelling a request you sent is also quiet, and there is no waiting period afterwards — the other person never had to make a decision.

== Who can find you, and who can ask ==

'''More → Who can find me.'''

'''Who can send me a friend request'''
* Anyone
* Friends of friends
* Only people I send my link to ''(the default)''
* Nobody

'''Can people find me by username'''
* Anyone can find me by name
* Only someone who types my exact username ''(the default)''
* Nobody — I am not in search

The defaults are the private ones on purpose. You open outward when you want to.

'''Show my streak to friends''' — on by default. One number, and it does not say what you logged.

'''Show my health achievements on my profile''' — '''off''' by default. Badges like "Ten Pounds Gone" say something about your body, so they stay yours unless you decide otherwise. You always see your own.

== Unfriending ==

On the friend's row or their profile. They are not told; they find out by absence. Any accountability-partner sharing between you ends at the same moment.

== Blocking ==

You can block anyone, whether or not you were ever connected.

* You disappear from each other everywhere in Loopa
* They cannot message you or send you a request
* Any friendship and any sharing between you ends immediately
* '''They are not told, and nothing in Loopa will let them work it out'''

'''More → Who can find me → Blocked members''' lists everyone you have blocked, and only you can see it. Unblocking does not put back a friendship that ended.

== Reporting somebody ==

Every friend, every request and every profile has a '''Report''' control. Pick the closest reason, add anything worth adding, and it goes to a moderator. Reporting offers to block in the same step.

'''Every report is read by a person, and we act within 24 hours.''' You will be told your report was reviewed; what happened to the other account is not something we share.

Blocking is not reporting. If somebody broke a rule, report them too, or nobody else is protected. See [[community-rules-and-reporting|Community rules and reporting]].

== "I cannot find my friend" ==

Usually one of three things, and Loopa deliberately will not tell you which:

# They have set themselves not to appear in search. Ask them for their invite link — it works regardless.
# You are typing something other than their exact username. Search does not match names or email addresses.
# They have closed the connection.

If you have their link, use it. It is the path that does not depend on anyone's search settings.

== Everything, in one place ==

'''More → Preferences → Your Data''' lists everyone you are connected to and exactly what each of them can see, with a button that ends each one. Friends appear there with their real scope: your name, your photo, and your streak badge. See [[your-data-and-privacy|Your data and privacy]].

== Following is a different thing ==

'''Following''' somebody puts their posts in your feed. It is one-directional and
instant: they do not have to agree, and it does not make you friends. Nothing
about your profile changes when somebody follows you.

'''Friends''' is mutual and has to be accepted. That is the connection this page
is about, and the one the streak badge belongs to.

Both live under '''More''': Friends, and Following.