Set up your circles
How circles decide what each person sees, and how to build a set that fits how you actually know people.
What this is
A circle is not a folder. It is a permission.
Putting someone in Family does not file them away — it decides what they can see about you. That is the whole mechanism, and once it clicks, the rest of Tether makes sense.
Before you start
Nothing. Tether creates Family, Friends, Community, Professional and Holiday Cards for you, and suggests who belongs in each. Most people never need to create a circle at all.
Steps
- Open Circles. The starter set is already there.
- Work through the suggestions. Approve the ones that look right; ignore the rest.
- Open a circle and set what it can see about you — address for Family, work line for Professional, whatever fits.
- Add a circle of your own only if a real group of people needs a different answer to “what can they see”.
What to expect afterward
Everyone you connect with sees a floor: your name, photo, handle, mobile, and nickname. You build up from there, circle by circle.
Circles only ever grant. Someone in two circles sees the union of both — so adding a circle can reveal more, never less. If you want someone to see less, remove them from the circle that grants it.
Two things sit outside this system on purpose:
- Health details — allergies and dietary needs — are behind a second, separate consent step, not an ordinary circle grant.
- Availability is shared per circle too, and only ever as busy blocks. See Find a time everyone is free.
Troubleshooting
Someone can see something I did not expect. They are in more than one circle. Check each one — the answer is the union.
I want a person in a group but sharing nothing extra. Add them to a circle that grants only the floor. Membership and visibility are the same control, so a circle that grants nothing extra is the way to say “in the group, nothing more”.
How many circles can I make? Fifteen custom circles on the free plan, unlimited on Tether+.