Cabana

Cabana is our app for hanging out with friends and watching videos. You can download it from the App Store (iOS) or the Play Store (Android) at your leisure.

Getting started

After you log in with your Yahoo account (or make a new one) you’ll find yourself on Cabana’s home screen, where you can find and invite friends to hang out or select videos to watch. Among the things you can tap on this screen:

• The “In” button indicates a room you’re already in. Tap it to check out what’s going on in that room.
• A “Join” button indicates an active room you’re not in. Tap it to join it. 
• Tapping “Hey” lets you get the attention of a friend who isn’t online. They’ll get a push notification letting you know you’re inviting them to hang out.
• The little human in the top right corner lets you invite more friends to Cabana.

Also, if you have any new friend requests, you’ll see them here on your home screen.

Finding and adding friends

Cabana lets you hang out and watch videos with up to five of your friends. There are a few ways to add your friends:

• Tap the little person icon next to the avatars in the “People you may know” list on the home screen.
• Tap “Invite more friends” on the home screen, allow access to your contacts, and follow the directions there.
• Tap “Invite more friends” on the home screen and search by Cabana username.

The people who show up in your “People you may know” list are based on mutual friends within the app. They’ll show up in your list, and you’ll show up in theirs. If you’d rather not be discoverable in this fashion, tap the person icon in the upper right corner of the home screen, then tap three dots in the upper left corner, then tap “Settings,” and turn that setting off.

When you receive a friend request you can either accept or ignore it, of course. Totally up to you.

Hanging out

When you open the Cabana app, all your friends will be notified that you’re available to hang out. Similarly, whenever any of your friends opens the app, we’ll let you know that they’re there.

• From the home screen, tap “In” or swipe left to check out the room you’re currently in. 
• To join a different room, tap “Join” on any room on the home screen.

Up to six people (including yourself) can hang out in a room at once. If you want to keep anyone new from coming into a room, tap the three dots in the lower left corner of the room and select “Lock room.”

If you want to mute yourself or flip from the front-facing camera to the rear-facing one, you can do so from the same menu.

If you want to invite specific friends to a room, tap the add-a-person icon in the lower right corner of the room, then tap “hey” on the people you’re looking for.

Tap the x in the top left corner to leave whatever room you’re in and return to the home screen. To return to the home screen without leaving the room you’re in, just swipe right.

Also—and this is pretty wild—you can use other apps on your phone without leaving a room. Anyone you’re hanging out with will still be able to hear you (unless you’ve muted your mic), and you’ll still be able to hear them. You’ll see a red banner across the top of your screen to indicate that your Cabana session is still active.

Watching stuff

There are a few ways to choose what you want to watch in Cabana.

Choose from one of the featured videos on the home screen. You’ll automatically begin watching that video in a new room.
From a room you’re already in, tap “Watch” at the top of the screen to select videos or search YouTube.

Any user in a room can tap the video to pause or play, change the video by selecting “Swap video,” or close the video by tapping the trash can icon.

Note that restricted content on YouTube is not available through Cabana.

Settings and privacy

Your Cabana username and photo are public, just like on Tumblr. Other users can look you up by your Cabana username, if they know it.

Any of your phone contacts who are using Cabana can see your Cabana profile picture and username.

If you have any mutual friends with another Cabana user, that user will see your Cabana profile photo and username in the “People you may know” section of the home screen. (If you’d rather not be discoverable in this fashion, tap the person icon in the upper right corner of the home screen, then tap three dots in the upper left corner, then tap “Settings” and turn that setting off.)

If you’re in a room, people in your friends list can see you and the usernames of everyone in the room with you.

If you want to edit your profile, just tap the person icon in the top right corner of the home screen. You can change your photo, view your friends list, add friends, and send feedback.

From your profile, you can also access Tumblr’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Just tap the three-dot icon.

You can also manage which of your Yahoo accounts have access to Cabana from here. It’s in the “Manage Accounts” option.

Push notifications

You’ll get push notifications from Cabana whenever:

• Your friends are live in the app.
• Someone sends you a friend request or accepts your friend request.
• A person from your friend list invites you to a room.

Notifications are pretty key to hanging out with friends in Cabana, but if you ever feel like turning them off, go to the Settings app on your phone, scroll down and tap Cabana, then tap “Notifications.”