Some people want a nudge from a crowd. Others would rather eat glass. Respite’s leagues are for the first group, and entirely skippable for the second. This page explains how weekly leagues and friends work, what other people can see about you, and how to step out.

Leagues are part of the game layer, which is free on iPhone and Android and needs a free sign-in with Google or Apple. The browser extension does not have them yet.

How do weekly leagues work?

Every week runs Monday to Sunday. The first time you open the league that week, Respite places you in a group of up to 30 people in your tier. You start in the lowest tier, Acorn. The five tiers, from bottom to top, are:

  1. Acorn
  2. Sprout
  3. Sapling
  4. Oak
  5. Evergreen

Inside a group everyone is ranked by:

  1. Days kept within their limits this week, then
  2. Acorns earned this week as a tie-breaker, then
  3. Who joined the group first.

That means a steady week beats a lucky day. Nobody is ranked on how little they use their phone in total, only on whether they kept the limits they set for themselves, so someone with a generous limit and someone with a strict one compete on equal terms. That is also why it is worth setting limits you can keep: see how acorns, streaks and streak freezes work.

Who moves up and who moves down?

When the week closes:

  • The top 7 are promoted one tier (unless they are already in Evergreen).
  • The bottom 5 are demoted one tier (unless they are in Acorn).
  • Everyone in between stays.
  • The top three get acorns: 100 for first place, 60 for second and 40 for third.

Two safeguards keep it honest:

  • Small groups scale down. If a group has few people, promotion and demotion shrink to a third of the group each, so nobody is both promoted and demoted. A group of fewer than three has no moves and no prizes, so a solo “win” never pays.
  • You have to take part. Promotion and podium acorns go to people who kept at least one day or earned some acorns that week. Being absent does not win you a prize.

The week closes automatically, so you do not have to be there at the end. Next time you open the league, you will see how last week went.

How do I add friends in Respite?

Friends are separate from leagues: a small board of just the people you chose, ranked the same way. To add one:

  1. Open Journey, tap the league card and pick Friends.
  2. Choose Invite a friend. Share the link, or read out your 6-character code.
  3. Your friend taps the link, or chooses Add a friend and types the code. The code ignores capitals, spaces and dashes.
  4. They send a request, and you accept it from Requests.

When an invite is accepted, both of you get 50 acorns. The bonus counts for up to five accepted invites per person each calendar month, and you can have up to 50 friends. Your code stays the same until you replace it.

What do other people see about me?

On a league board or friends board, people see:

  • The display name you chose, up to 20 characters. It is not your email or your Google or Apple name unless you pick it.
  • Your streak (shown up to 30 days), days kept and acorns earned this week.
  • The outfit your Biscuit is wearing.
  • Your time saved, rounded to the nearest 10 minutes. Time saved is how far under your limits you stayed.

They do not see which apps you use, what you do in them, or how long you spend in any one app. Names go through a word filter before they are accepted, any name can be reported, and a reported name is replaced with a placeholder (“Biscuit fan”) until it has been reviewed.

Can I hide from leagues?

Yes, and it is one switch: Hide me from leagues, in your account settings under the You tab. When you turn it on:

  • You leave this week’s group right away and are not placed in later ones.
  • You do not appear on anyone’s league board.
  • Friends can still see you, because you chose them.
  • Your streak, acorns and quests are unaffected.

Turn it off whenever you like and you will be placed again the next time you open the league. Your tier follows the last result you earned.

Are leagues good for you?

That depends on you. Friendly competition motivates many people, and a rank based on keeping your own limits, not on raw minutes, is gentler than most leaderboards. But if watching a ranking makes you more preoccupied with your phone, not less, hiding is the right call. We go through the trade-offs in gamified screen time apps: do streaks and rewards help?. If the real problem feels bigger than a scrolling habit, our guide to phone addiction help points to better places to start.

Next step

Open the Journey tab and invite a friend; a friend who also wants to scroll less is worth more than a rank. If you do not have Respite yet, download it and set your first limit.