Home and the Five Tabs
Home, the five tabs, the one-ritual-at-a-time rule, and exactly what the free tier includes.
After onboarding, Bonded opens on Home. Five tabs sit along the bottom.
The Tabs
| Tab | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Home | Your dashboard: an active ritual, the primary start card, pings, friends, decks, memories, insights, and the Premium card. A badge shows unread pings. |
| Join | Type a partner's 6-character code and join their ritual. |
| Start | "Who's this for?" — pick a friend, or start with someone new. |
| Friends | Requests, your circle, and requests you have sent. A badge shows incoming requests. |
| Profile | What your friends see: avatar, username, bio, and prompt answers. Settings live behind the icon at the top right. |
The Home Sections
Home is ordered by what needs your attention, top to bottom.
| Section | Who sees it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Session in progress | Anyone with an open ritual | Rejoin it, or end it. Pinned above everything. |
| Start a new ritual | Free and Premium | One tap into session setup, with your recommended deck. Free accounts see how many hosted rituals are left. |
| Play with someone you know | Anyone with at least one friend | A shortcut to the Start tab's friends grid. |
| Pings | Free and Premium | New pings for you, and a shortcut to send one. Sending is Premium. |
| Friends | Free and Premium | Faces you have played with, then everyone else in your circle. Tap one to open their profile; use + to find people. |
| Rituals | Free and Premium | Recommended decks. Tap one to look inside before starting. |
| Memories | Premium saved list; free preview only | Memory Capsules from finished rituals. |
| Insights | Premium | A look back at how you bond. |
| Premium | Free only | What Premium adds. Subscribers see nothing here; subscription management lives in Settings. |
One Ritual at a Time
You can host or play only one ritual at a time. While one is open:
- The Start a new ritual card on Home is replaced with a line saying to finish or end the current one.
- The Start tab shows a "You have a session in progress" card that takes you back into it.
- Creating another returns
SESSION_ALREADY_OPEN, and Bonded routes you into the ritual you already have.
To release it, tap End session on the Home card or inside the ritual. Ending closes it for both people; anything already saved is kept.
Free Limits
| Limit | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted rituals | 1 per rolling 7-day window | Unlimited |
| Ritual length | Up to 4 questions | 2, 4, 6, or 10 questions |
| Decks | Starter only | Every deck |
| Profile prompt answers | 4 | 10 |
| Saved Memory Capsules | Preview only | Full archive |
| Connection Insights | No | Yes |
| Sending pings | No | Yes |
Joining someone else's ritual is always free and never counts against the hosting limit. Guests play the host's full length, so a guest of a Premium host plays a 10-question ritual for free.
| Action | Counts toward the free hosting limit? |
|---|---|
| Creating a ritual | Yes |
| Waiting for a guest after creating one | Yes, because the ritual exists |
| Joining someone else's ritual | No |
| Opening an invite link as a guest | No |
| A Premium hosted ritual | No, Premium is unlimited |
If you hit the limit, Bonded offers Premium in place. Your next free hosting slot opens when the oldest counted ritual falls outside the rolling 7-day window.
Announcements
Occasionally Bonded shows a card about a new feature or offer. It never appears while you are signed out, mid-quiz, mid-onboarding, in a ritual, or over another modal, and it is always dismissible. Push notifications for these are opt-in — see Settings > Notifications > News & offers.
Home Troubleshooting
| Problem | What to try |
|---|---|
| Home keeps loading | Check your network and tap Retry on the error card. If you were signed out, sign in again. |
| Home shows an error but still has your data | The refresh failed; what is on screen is the last good copy. Pull the screen again later. |
| Sessions remaining looks wrong | The limit uses a rolling 7-day window, not a calendar week. |
| Premium sections are missing | Confirm Premium is active and not expired. |
| The recommended deck is unexpected | It comes from your Connection Profile quiz. You can still choose any unlocked deck manually. |
| Memory Capsules are empty | Finish rituals and flag moments. If nothing was flagged or revealed, the capsule can be empty. |
| Tapping a friend does nothing | Profiles may be switched off server-side. The face still starts a ritual in that case. |
Next steps
If this does not resolve the issue, check the related path below or use the support checklist with the exact error or screen name.
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