Presence and desktop
Desktop modules
Modules are optional features you switch on when you want them: the Game Overlay, Broadcast Studio, Multi-Window and Split View, plus the desktop app's advanced settings. Most of them only exist in the desktop app.
- Settings
- Modules
One switch per feature. Each one that has more settings gets its own tab in Settings once it's on.
| Module | What it does | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Game Activity | Shows what you're playing. See Game Activity. | Desktop |
| Rich Presence | Shows what you're listening to. See Rich Presence. | Desktop, Android |
| Streamer Mode | Hides message text in notifications. See Streamer Mode. | Everywhere |
| Plugins | Install local plugins. See Writing plugins. | Desktop |
| Broadcast Studio | A video compositor with RTMP outputs. | Desktop |
| Multi-Window & Split View | Two conversations side by side, or a second window. | Split View: desktop and web. Second window: desktop. |
| Game Overlay | A floating voice HUD over your game. | Desktop |
Game Overlay#
While you're in a call, the overlay shows who's in it and who's talking, floating on top of your game, plus copies of Sunflare's toast messages. You don't have to alt-tab to see who just spoke.
- It appears when you join a call and disappears when you leave.
- It's see-through and click-through: your mouse goes straight to the game.
- Hide or show it mid-call with the Toggle Game Overlay keybind.
- While it's showing, new messages appear as toasts in the overlay instead of system notifications, so nothing pops over your game. Do Not Disturb silences those too, and Streamer Mode hides who sent them and what they said.
Broadcast Studio#
Broadcast Studio builds a live video feed out of your camera, your screen, and the cameras or screens of people in your call, then sends it to a streaming service like Twitch or YouTube over RTMP. It's a node graph: you add boxes (nodes) and wire them together.
Open it from its icon on the server rail once the module is on.
Setting it up#
- Broadcast Studio uses ffmpeg to encode video. If the status pill in the toolbar says ffmpeg isn't installed, click Install now.
- Right-click the canvas, or click + Add Node, to add nodes.
- Drag from one node's output to another's input to connect them.
- Start an RTMP Output node to go live.
Nodes#
- Source
- A video input: your camera, your screen share, or a call participant's camera or screen (only if they've allowed it; see below).
- Transform
- Scale, rotate, and move its input (scale, rotation in degrees, X and Y offset in pixels).
- Merge
- Combines two inputs, A and B, with a blend mode (Normal for B over A, Screen, or Multiply), and B's size and position as percentages. Use it for picture-in-picture.
- Brightness / Contrast
- Adjusts its input. 100% is unchanged.
- RTMP Output
- Sends its input to a streaming service: RTMP URL, Stream Key, width, height, frames per second, and video and audio bitrate. You can have several outputs at once.
- Add a Source set to your screen share, and another set to your camera.
- Add a Merge: screen into A, camera into B. Blend Normal, B size 25%, X 72%, Y 70%.
- Add an RTMP Output: URL from your streaming service (for Twitch, its ingest address), your stream key, 1280 by 720, 30 fps, 3000 kbps video, 128 kbps audio.
- Wire Merge into the output and start it.
Using other people's video#
Someone's camera or screen only appears as a Source option if they've turned on Allow My Camera/Screen in Others' Broadcast Studio in their Privacy settings. It's off by default. If they turn it off while you're using it, their video stops in your graph straight away.
Multi-Window and Split View#
- Split View (desktop and web): a header button splits the main area into two resizable panes, each showing its own channel or DM. Read one conversation while typing in another.
- Second window (desktop): opens a second, independent Sunflare window you can put on another monitor. It shares your login.
Advanced#
- Settings
- Advanced
- Hardware Acceleration
- Uses your graphics card to draw Sunflare, which is faster and smoother. Some graphics drivers misbehave with it, causing crashes, flickering, or wrong colors; turn it off if you see that. Takes effect after a restart.
- Startup Window State
- Open maximized, windowed, or the way you last left it.
- Startup Display
- Which monitor Sunflare opens on, if you have more than one.
Updates are covered in Apps and platforms.