📣 Version 4.0 Available NOW! 📣
If there’s ever been a Software Update you should install… trust me, it’s this one 🙌
I know, I know, we remind you to update A LOT.
But truly, everyone's festival compass experience is smoother, faster, and more magical when you do, so we're not planning on stopping anytime soon!
Visit our Software Update Instructions page for full instructions, or if you've got the Totem Compass App you can easily use that to save your home Wi-Fi network to your gps tracker for easy future updates.
We've dedicated this entire Totem blog post to Version 4.0, talking about all the exciting improvements that are available NOW!
3 things we accomplished
1) Smart Groups! 🧠🪐
The flagship feature of Version 4.0 introduces a brand-new way to Bond and manage your groups.
For the first time, users can lock in Bond Colors that automatically match everyone’s Crystal Color—a top-requested feature from the Totem Tribe since launch.
One of the things that makes the Totem Compass so magical is that Bonds are not a hard-paired circle, meaning you can connect with anyone on the fly and find them again later.
But we realize that many of you WANT a hard-paired circle. So who are we to restrict you any longer?!
Introducing SMART GROUPS!
Using this feature is incredibly simple. We've outlined it in a video tutorial too:
- Power on all Totems in your group. You don't need to do anything with existing Bonds; they'll be replaced by your Smart Bonds once this process is complete!
- Press and hold the Touch Crystal on one of the Totems for 8 seconds. It will start flashing rainbow and become the "Host" Totem for group creation.
- Press and hold the Touch Crystal on all your other Totems to Bond them with the "Host" Totem. These will also flash rainbow.
- Once your entire group is flashing rainbow, press and hold the Touch Crystal on the "Host" Totem to finalize your Smart Group!
- Each Totem will receive a permanent new Crystal Color, and Bond Colors will always match everyone's Crystal Colors 🥳
Our goal with this feature is to give everyone more options and let you use your Totems the way you WANT to use them.
Group leaders, this one is for you. Now you can easily pass Totems out to new people and there will be much less confusion on who's who.
P.S. You can still Bond with new people if you're in a Smart Group! Just Bond with them like you usually do.
(You just won't be able to Crystal Check with them, yet. We'll be fixing that in an update soon!)
2) Limitless Range, Powered by the Cloud
Ever wished you could keep track of your friends even when they are outside of your Totem's offline range or Unity Mesh Network?
Well with Version 4.0, now you can, pretty much like magic. Introducing Cloud Communications! ☁️
When you and your friends connect your Totems to the Totem Compass App, your devices will automatically share hyper-light location data through Totem’s cloud, allowing your bonded peers to see you on the map and navigate to you from any distance.
You might be wondering: “Isn’t this just like Find My or another tracking app?”
Not quite. Cloud Communications isn’t meant to replace those. It’s designed to enhance the Totem experience in the background.
Each location packet we store is roughly one-tenth the size of a text message, meaning this feature can work even with just one bar of service in heavily congested environments. And as anyone who’s ever been to a festival knows, that can make ALL the difference!
Cloud Communications ensure you’ll still be able to locate your friends even if they’ve gone back to the hotel, campground, or AirBnB... or even on long hikes in remote areas!
Totems are and always will be fully functional offline, but the goal here is to make use the internet smartly when it will meaningfully improve the user experience.
Give it a try at your next event! Pair your Totem with the app when your friends go out of range. The best part is, it just works in the background, subtly making your Totem experience smoother, safer, and more reliable 😎
And of course, your privacy is always our priority. Our Privacy Policy explains exactly how Totem processes and protects your anonymous data.
3) The Best Unity Mesh Network EVER
Ever since the Totem Compass first launched, the Unity Mesh Network has been continually refined to deliver a smoother, more reliable experience at festivals.
Over the past year, we’ve rolled out multiple software updates that dramatically reduced the chance of anyone ever going out of range.
But with Version 4.0, we’re taking the biggest leap yet.
The Unity Mesh Network is now at least twice as effective. ⚡
A quick refresher on how connectionless communications work:
Totems are constantly transmitting encrypted location data and acting as relays for others nearby, passing messages invisibly through the crowd.
Think of it like a living, breathing web of Totems. Every person with a Totem helps strengthen the network for everyone else.
With Version 4.0, each Totem can now intercept and forward mesh messages twice as efficiently, effectively doubling your range and reliability across the event with other Totems nearby.
So every Totem around you is now twice as helpful in keeping you connected with your friends! 💫
And the best part? All you have to do is Update to Version 4.0 and your Totems will take care of the rest. Your experience will simply be better than ever before!
2 things to learn
⬇️
4) Enabling Bluetooth Auto Re-Connect
It's about time, right?!
Nearly every person who's used the Totem Compass App has suffered from this issue. We won't even sugar coat it, it was super annoying! 😖
Starting with Version 4.0, your Totem Compass will no longer constantly need to be paired with the App again and again throughout your time using it.
Hallelujah! 🥳
Even if your phone dies, once you power it back on, your Totem will re-connect as long as the App is open. It's like magic!
The only situation where your Totem may not re-connect is if you lock your phone while the App is out of focus and doesn't have background use enabled. This is something we're hoping to fix in the future, though.
As a quick reminder: there is still a known issue where using the Totem Compass App drains an excess amount of battery on your Totem Compass.
If you keep it connected, you'll get about 5 hours total, regardless of brightness level.
We recommend disconnecting from the Totem Compass App when not actively using it, to maintain advertised battery life!
This will be fixed ASAP, next on our priority list 💪
5) Social Networking Possibilities
Just last week, in our 100th Edition of Totem Tuesday, we talked all about the future of social networking and how Totem’s tech will allow for all-new ways to connect at live events and experiences.
Well… Version 4.0 is where that future starts, baby! 🚀
Thanks to Cloud Communications, we’re now laying the foundation for a whole new era of Totem features.
In the future, you’ll be able to:
- Bond REMOTELY and find friends in your phone’s contact list! 🤯
- Share live locations through the Totem Compass App (just like Snapchat, Instagram, or Find My, but built for events and usable with little-to-no internet needed)
- Publicly list your Totem location (if you want to!) to meet people with similar music tastes, hobbies, art interests and more.
- Organize your own meetups and see which friends are at each festival you attend
And the best part? Many of these features will work even when cell service fails us.
Why? Because of the powerful GNSS antennas and offline communication capabilities of the Totem Compass, your success will only depend on being able to share teeny tiny packages of location data to the cloud.
It’s not social networking as we know it... it’s real-world networking. And we're SO stoked to roll it out over the next year for Totem users worldwide.
Of course, this is still fairly early on in development. If you’ve got thoughts, ideas, or dream features, reply and let us know 🫶
