Sunshine Circles are for people who want company in a daylight habit without turning wellness into surveillance sport. You invite a few humans. You cheer when someone caught the sun. You skip the leaderboard that would quietly teach over-exposure.
Definition page: what a Sunshine Circle means. Product context: how Basky works. Privacy posture: private sun app.
The feeling Circles are for
Some habits stick better when someone else is also trying. Not competing — trying. A partner on a lunch walk. A sibling who also forgets winter light. A friend who texts “porch?” without needing your GPS.
Circles exist for that soft accountability. They do not exist to rank burn minutes or publish vitamin D theater.
What is shared (on purpose, and almost nothing)
When you are in a Circle, others can see:
- A first name you choose for the group.
- Your Basky look (pixel presentation).
- A simple ☀️ sun-day signal — whether you caught the sun today.
That is the list. Not location. Not streak length. Not the vitamin D estimate. Not session start times. Not a map of where you basked. Not a public profile page.
Invite with an unguessable code. There is no Circles directory to browse strangers. Leave whenever you want.
What Circles refuse to become
- A leaderboard of who stayed out longest.
- A shame feed for missed days.
- A leaderboard club or “how dark are we getting” gallery.
- A back door that demands a Basky account email.
- A reason to ignore the safe sun timer cap.
Over-exposure earns nothing in Basky generally, and Circles do not invent a loophole. The cheer is for showing up inside a conservative window — or for an honest daylight check-in when UV is resting — not for grinding past ~60% of a MED.
How Circles sit beside the solo loop
Your personal math still starts with Fitzpatrick type and live UV (Open-Meteo when location is allowed). Windows still clamp to roughly 5–90 minutes. MED reference points (J/m²) still look like I 200 through VI 1000 across types. Circles do not rewrite that science layer; they only add optional social warmth around the habit layer.
On gray days, a check-in can keep your daylight streak kind without inventing baskable UV. Circles still only see the sun-day signal — not a weather essay.
SharePlay is different (and also optional)
Basky can also support basking side by side over FaceTime with SharePlay as a real-time option. Circles are the ongoing group cheer layer. Both stay optional. Neither requires you to broadcast health metrics.
Free, private, anti-account
Circles live in the free core. There is no subscription gate on inviting your people. Basky Forever is cosmetic skins only — one-time, never rent on friendship features. No ads. No tracking of Circle chatter into marketing funnels. No account wall.
Optional Apple Health remains write-only Time in Daylight for your own device — Circles never become a Health-sharing graph. See Apple Health daylight.
Who Circles are for
Families coordinating gentle outdoor minutes. Friends who already walk together. Small teams that want a wellness nudge without a corporate surveillance dashboard. Anyone who likes community and hates leaderboards.
Now on the iOS App Store. Questions in the FAQ. Words in the glossary. Contact andrewkittridge@icloud.com. Cheer the sun day. Leave the scoreboard at the door.
Designing social without the dark patterns
Most social layers grow by maximizing time-on-screen and comparison. Circles grow by minimizing what must be shared for cheer to work. If a data field is not required for “you caught the sun,” it stays out. That is how first name + ☀️ became the brief instead of a mini Instagram of outdoor selfies.
Invites and exits
Create a Circle, share the code with people you trust, bask on your own terms. If the group energy shifts, leave. There is no public discovery, no suggested strangers, no growth hack that emails your contacts. Unguessable codes beat open search for this use case.
Kids, families, and judgment
Families may use Circles as a gentle coordination layer. Basky is still general wellness guidance for adults and families using caregiver judgment — not a pediatric medical product, not a school compliance tool, and not a reason to put children in unprotected high UV. Sunscreen and shade remain the grown-up call.
Side-by-side vs ongoing cheer
SharePlay-style side-by-side basking is for a live moment. Circles are for the week-long “did you get light?” nod. Use either, both, or neither. The solo loop never requires an audience.
Moderation by architecture
When you do not share location, streaks, or estimates, you remove entire categories of bullying and bragging. Architecture is moderation. Basky prefers that to a thick rulebook after harm.
How Circles relate to safety copy
Every Basky surface repeats the same spine: ~60% MED target, 5–90 minute clamp, over-exposure earns nothing, sunscreen still matters. Circles inherit that spine. A friend cheering your sun day is not cheering a burn.
Read next
Sunshine circle meaning, daylight streak, private sun app, FAQ. Now on the App Store. Contact andrewkittridge@icloud.com.
Free forever, like the rest of the core
Circles are not a Basky Forever exclusive. The one-time cosmetic unlock dresses pixel skins; it does not rent friendship features. That keeps social cheer aligned with the same free-core promise as the safe sun timer and UV index app layers — no subscription required to invite people you already trust.