Sadly, after nearly three years of hard work, we have made the difficult decision to shut down the Orbital product. This will take place on 9th January 2023.
We've given our all to finding ground with the product, but we’ve been unable to get the traction and engagement required maintain the product at scale. We know how much Orbital was loved by those of you reading this email, and we are incredibly thankful that you've come on this journey with us.
The product will no longer work past 9th January. Please keep this in mind if you’ve scheduled meetings or events past that date. Please also back up any files, graphics, etc. that are stored in the your galaxies, as you will not be able to access them past that date.
A: Hello! Yes, we are similar, in that the product utilises distance-based audio and you can navigate around a virtual space.
To answer your question about audio zones, those on the outside cannot year you. We will soon be releasing the ability to lock a zone, so that people cannot enter. So, for now, think of it like an unlocked door. :)
A: Very cool idea! We don't currently have any plans for remote control of another person's machine, but I will definitely pass this on to the team and we'll get it on the voteable public roadmap. :)
Q: Simple question:
I already have a community (Wordpress/Buddyboss) and would like to use Orbital as an extension/new Feature.
Orbital would not fullfill all I need (Forum/LMS/Chat-App/Shop/...), so I would like to have this features as an extension but not "instead" of my recent community.
So is there a way to create a single-sign-on, so my members can just click somehwere on my page and get to Orbital already logged in?
A: Great question! We don't offer single sign on functionality, but you can share the open invitation link instead. After they have created their Orbital login once, they will stay logged in and can access the galaxy directly through the same link again. We do have SSO on the roadmap as well, would it be Wordpress SSO that you'd want to use?
To be honest: If I ask for a SSO do you really think the answer "But they can register" is a valid alternative? Sure they can register, your whole Software would not make any sense if users would not be able to register. But I don´t want them to be in the need to register two times. I want to make sure they use the same username in Galaxy. STuff like that.
So yes, it´s the WP-SSO that I would need. Once it is ready, will it be part of the Appsumo-Deal?
You're absolutely right, workarounds definitely don't solve what you're asking for today. AppSumo users will always have our highest tier, so yes, when we do release SSO you'll get the full feature included! :)
Q: One more CNAME Question :)
I am trying to decide if I need to buy multiple Tier 1's or go for the Tier4.
Can we add as many CNAMEs as we want, or is it one per acct? I am hoping we can many as the usage is already liited by seats. I think it is better for you (to get MRR revenue) to allow multiple CNAME per account, because then Sumo-lings will need to add more seats directly through MRR. But as my use case is to use Orbital via CNAME on several domains, I would like to know which way I should structure my buy... fingers crossed one Tier 4 buy will do the trick for 5 to 7 CNAMEs. Thanks for your quick reply as the deal leaves in 2 days!
Q: I purchased a T4 account and have the following suggestions:
1.
please support CNAME 2. please remove Appsumo name from the badge / card 3. For guest users, please consider the following login flow: a. Click invite link b. Choose Profile picture AND enter name (now after go in the galaxy, cannot change profile pix; also guest enter with the name guest by default). It is best guest enter galaxy with proper profile pix and name c. Enter Galaxy
A: Thanks so much for this thorough suggestion! In the next few days we will be releasing a change that will hide the AppSumo tag from everyone except the galaxy owner. I like this flow idea for guests, I'll discuss it with the team as we work on our upcoming permissions improvements, too. 🌟
A: AppSumo users will always retain our highest plan, so CNAME will be provided with your existing tiers (and at no additional cost) when we release the feature.
We can't confirm any specific timelines, but I can say that it is high on our list, following some improvements that are more frequently requested. Feel free to follow along with our public roadmap at https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap to see it move up the list.
Q: Also, guest shouldnt be able to delete post it note.
In fact, I think only Admin should be able to remove it.
A: Thanks so much for this suggestion and request, we will be making some privacy improvements soon, and will absolutely bring this into the conversation.
We are currently working on FERPA and COPPA compliance. Here is more info as for your question: https://orbital.chat/how-to/terms-privacy-security-gdpr/
Let me us know if you have any questions. We are here to help.
Q: Is there a way where we can have 1000 or 2000 users added to a galaxy but still only let's say 250 concurrent users may be able to join.
I'm just thinking about using it for a site for our students to collaborate together and join in at any time of the day but when we have more than 250 students, then we'd like any of them to be able to join in... But of course still to respect this service, the max that should be allowed to join are 250 but potentially more than 250 users should have the ability to join in at various times of the day.. Is there such a workaround?
A: Great suggestion! This has been a popular request, and is something we're looking into for the future. If we do deliver this, then we would allow you to invite unlimited people, and put the limit on simultaneous access instead. We don't have an estimated timeline, but you can follow along with our public roadmap at https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap/
Can we have microsoft sign in as well? 2. Is there a kind of autologin and autoplacement? I would like to see members starting their notebooks in the morning are automatically logged into the space and are placed in their virutall office and nobody forgets to enterthe space. This can be done with a desktop app. Is there something planned?
A: Desktop app is definitely something we look forward to delivering as soon as possible. This is fairly high on our public roadmap, which you can follow along with here: https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap/
We haven't yet been asked for Microsoft SSO before, so I have added it to the list so that everyone has the option to vote on it. Feel free to do so!
We're definitely not the only virtual space on the market, but we believe that our vision of creating hyper-customised spaces (instead of simply delivering a system that works one way, out of the box) is where we really stand out. Each release provides our users more control over their galaxy, and no two galaxies are alike. This combination of interactive features and customisation of the product are unique to Orbital.
You can see more of what's ahead on our public roadmap at https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap.
Q: Can you please consider to raise the member limits for plans?
I emphathise with your costs, but I also researched some very advanced competition with more impressive features and less than 10$ a month subscription. Also, I tried to create a link to share my Galaxy and when I tried to access from another computer, the link kept saying "galaxy lost". Tried several times.
A: Hi, thanks for this comment. We can't change the tiers at this time, but we'd love to learn more about how you intend to use Orbital, so we can understand how to structure future deals in a way that suits you best. Feel free to share!
If you are still having difficulty with your galaxy, could you please contact us via the live chat on our website, and we are happy to help diagnose the issue.
A: Hi, thanks for this comment. We can't change the tiers at this time, but we'd love to learn more about how you intend to use Orbital, so we can understand how to structure future deals in a way that suits you best. Feel free to share!
You need to watch out what you ask for Lilac. From what I know of back-end streaming costs, if they were to give those extra participants away for free they would likely be losing money.
That wouldn't be good if you want the company to stay in business for the long-term!
Q: Interactivity is very interesting, but is it useful for making a presentation in which I want all the guests to see it?
A: Hello! Yes, you can put your galaxy into Presentation Mode. This will make your audio the same volume for everyone, and everyone can see your screen share. https://orbital.chat/how-to/presentation-mode/
One potential issue I can see is that the radius of each speaker is sometimes smaller than the area of the rooms.
E.g. if I select a large theater, there are some seats where the speaker won't be heard (as the speaker's radius, when they are on stage, does not cover all the seats).
Is that correct? And is there any way to resolve it so everyone within a particular space can hear others in that space?
A: This is great feedback, thanks for sharing it. We are working on improvements to how the audio works, to create intelligent pockets of conversation. For now, we recommend using Presentation Mode in situations where you need to be able to speak to a larger room. You can see more about it here: https://orbital.chat/how-to/presentation-mode/
If you use a "separate audio zone" does that make all audio the same volume for everyone in that space? That's how I understood it, but could be wrong.
Yep, thats exactly right. The main galaxy uses distance based audio, but if you create an audio zone then that's like a "pocket" where everyone is the same volume. This allows you to gather around a table or seating area, for example, and hear everyone equally. No one can hear you from the outside, and vice-versa.
Q: I like the look of this but the limits are so low that I think I must be misunderstanding something...
Are Guests and Team Members essentially the same thing?
If so then, taking Tier 1 as the example, a maximum of 20 people can take part in a meeting/galaxy?
If this is the case then what are the criteria around this? Is it 20 people in the place at a time? If someone leaves can another come in automatically? Or do I have to manually manage this somehow?
A: Full members and guests collectively count against the number of available seats in a galaxy. An example: Tier 1 allows 20 people, so you could have a team of 15 members, leaving 5 available slots for guests.
Guests are different from team members in that they have limited functionality, to prevent security and privacy issues, and to give them a streamlined first experience. A full list of what guests can do can be seen here: https://orbital.chat/how-to/member-types-admins/
We are actively working on addressing user requests around guests, so we'd love to learn more about how you would like to use the Guests feature, if you'd like to share.
Hi, That definition of Members and Guests is pretty much as I thought. You didn't answer the 2nd part of my question though - how are they counted? Is it 20 people total? 20 at a time? If there are 20 people in the space and 1 leaves, can a replacement come in?
I was looking at this for a community with regular presentations between which people could treat it as a clubhouse. It would mean members or guests able to come in at will and stay for a few hours, but the numbers are just way too low.
I've just posted an update with a better explanation which might help, here: https://appsumo.com/products/orbital/#q803337
Anyone who holds a seat has access to the galaxy 24/7, and you can remove / re-allocate seats anytime you want.
Could I ask how many people are in your community? This is definitely a use case we want to help support, and I understand why we might need to adapt the product a bit to be effective there. We'd love to learn from you!
Q: This looks like a great way to do audio-only webinars.
It looks like it's built to have members who can access the site 24/7. I'd love to be able to have guests be able to access only during the time of a presentation, much like people can do in a Zoom room. Is that possible?
A: This is a popular request! Per user feedback, our next release will allow you to invite multiple guests with a single invite link (instead of individually) and guest accounts will auto-remove themselves after 2 hours. So it will be perfect for webinars!
In this case we recommend inviting them as members, however this is a new feature so we definitely want feedback! Can I ask what length of time would be most useful for you?
Makes sense! I've added this to our public roadmap and will discuss with the team. We will be working on galaxy customisation soon, and this could be a perfect fit. Stay tuned! 📺
Q: Hi there, Sumo-lings!
We’ve received a lot of questions about how member seats work, so here’s an deeper explanation…
Your tier will come with a certain number of member seats. Full members and guests both count toward your galaxy’s seats, cumulatively.
For the purpose of these examples, we’ll talk about Tier 1, which has 20 member seats. Let’s say... - I invite 15 full members. This leaves me 5 empty seats. - I invite 1 guest. I now have 4 empty seats. - That guest’s time expires in the galaxy. I have 5 empty seats again. - I remove two of my full members. I now have 7 empty seats.
Anyone with a seat has 24/7 access to your galaxy. You can invite, remove, and re-invite anyone you please, at any time.
We hope this helps explain a bit more. Thanks for all the amazing feedback so far! 🪐
Q: Will Appsumo refund this short life time deal?
Email from founder below:
"Dear friends,
Sadly, after nearly three years of hard work, we have made the difficult decision to shut down the Orbital product. This will take place on 9th January 2023.
We've given our all to finding ground with the product, but we’ve been unable to get the traction and engagement required maintain the product at scale. We know how much Orbital was loved by those of you reading this email, and we are incredibly thankful that you've come on this journey with us.
The product will no longer work past 9th January. Please keep this in mind if you’ve scheduled meetings or events past that date. Please also back up any files, graphics, etc. that are stored in the your galaxies, as you will not be able to access them past that date.
Thank you for your support,
Ashley Porciuncula
CEO and Co-founder, Orbital"
Share Orbital
Verified purchaser
As were we, but we thank you for your support along the way. 🙏
Q: Hello is this product similar to Virbela" virtual world?
I use Virbela for eXp world for training my real estate agents.
Are the audio zones conversations private to only those inside the zone?
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Hello! Yes, we are similar, in that the product utilises distance-based audio and you can navigate around a virtual space.
To answer your question about audio zones, those on the outside cannot year you. We will soon be releasing the ability to lock a zone, so that people cannot enter. So, for now, think of it like an unlocked door. :)
Share Orbital
Q: neat program!
when I share my screen, can I let someone else control it?
weird use case, but this is what I need
thanks!
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Very cool idea! We don't currently have any plans for remote control of another person's machine, but I will definitely pass this on to the team and we'll get it on the voteable public roadmap. :)
Share Orbital
thanks!
Q: Simple question: I already have a community (Wordpress/Buddyboss) and would like to use Orbital as an extension/new Feature.
Orbital would not fullfill all I need (Forum/LMS/Chat-App/Shop/...), so I would like to have this features as an extension but not "instead" of my recent community.
So is there a way to create a single-sign-on, so my members can just click somehwere on my page and get to Orbital already logged in?
All the best, Julian!
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Great question! We don't offer single sign on functionality, but you can share the open invitation link instead. After they have created their Orbital login once, they will stay logged in and can access the galaxy directly through the same link again. We do have SSO on the roadmap as well, would it be Wordpress SSO that you'd want to use?
Share Orbital
To be honest: If I ask for a SSO do you really think the answer "But they can register" is a valid alternative? Sure they can register, your whole Software would not make any sense if users would not be able to register. But I don´t want them to be in the need to register two times. I want to make sure they use the same username in Galaxy. STuff like that.
So yes, it´s the WP-SSO that I would need. Once it is ready, will it be part of the Appsumo-Deal?
All the best, Julian!
Verified purchaser
You're absolutely right, workarounds definitely don't solve what you're asking for today. AppSumo users will always have our highest tier, so yes, when we do release SSO you'll get the full feature included! :)
Q: One more CNAME Question :) I am trying to decide if I need to buy multiple Tier 1's or go for the Tier4.
Can we add as many CNAMEs as we want, or is it one per acct? I am hoping we can many as the usage is already liited by seats. I think it is better for you (to get MRR revenue) to allow multiple CNAME per account, because then Sumo-lings will need to add more seats directly through MRR. But as my use case is to use Orbital via CNAME on several domains, I would like to know which way I should structure my buy... fingers crossed one Tier 4 buy will do the trick for 5 to 7 CNAMEs. Thanks for your quick reply as the deal leaves in 2 days!
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Great question! At the moment the thought is that it will be one CNAME per galaxy, but we're definitely open to feedback on that!
Share Orbital
Q: Hello, can you share with us which new features or improvements you have released since starting the deal on AppSumo?
Your What's New page at https://orbital.chat/release-notes/ does not show anything since Feb 7....
Share Orbital
Q: I purchased a T4 account and have the following suggestions: 1.
please support CNAME
2. please remove Appsumo name from the badge / card
3. For guest users, please consider the following login flow:
a. Click invite link
b. Choose Profile picture AND enter name (now after go in the galaxy, cannot change profile pix; also guest enter with the name guest by default). It is best guest enter galaxy with proper profile pix and name
c. Enter Galaxy
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Thanks so much for this thorough suggestion! In the next few days we will be releasing a change that will hide the AppSumo tag from everyone except the galaxy owner. I like this flow idea for guests, I'll discuss it with the team as we work on our upcoming permissions improvements, too. 🌟
Share Orbital
Thanks!
Q: Will custom domains (CNAME) be grandfathered into all plans when it is released?
Or do we have to purchase a specifier tier to have this available in future updates?
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: AppSumo users will always retain our highest plan, so CNAME will be provided with your existing tiers (and at no additional cost) when we release the feature.
Share Orbital
When will Cname be available. I just purchased a T4 account, but cannot see it.
Verified purchaser
We can't confirm any specific timelines, but I can say that it is high on our list, following some improvements that are more frequently requested. Feel free to follow along with our public roadmap at https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap to see it move up the list.
Q: Also, guest shouldnt be able to delete post it note.
In fact, I think only Admin should be able to remove it.
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Thanks so much for this suggestion and request, we will be making some privacy improvements soon, and will absolutely bring this into the conversation.
Share Orbital
Q: Is Orbital HIPAA complaint?
Share Orbital
Hi Pickle,
Thank you for your question :)
We are currently working on FERPA and COPPA compliance. Here is more info as for your question: https://orbital.chat/how-to/terms-privacy-security-gdpr/
Let me us know if you have any questions. We are here to help.
Q: Is there a way where we can have 1000 or 2000 users added to a galaxy but still only let's say 250 concurrent users may be able to join.
I'm just thinking about using it for a site for our students to collaborate together and join in at any time of the day but when we have more than 250 students, then we'd like any of them to be able to join in... But of course still to respect this service, the max that should be allowed to join are 250 but potentially more than 250 users should have the ability to join in at various times of the day..
Is there such a workaround?
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Great suggestion! This has been a popular request, and is something we're looking into for the future. If we do deliver this, then we would allow you to invite unlimited people, and put the limit on simultaneous access instead. We don't have an estimated timeline, but you can follow along with our public roadmap at https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap/
Share Orbital
This would be great!
Q: Dear team, 1.
Can we have microsoft sign in as well?
2. Is there a kind of autologin and autoplacement? I would like to see members starting their notebooks in the morning are automatically logged into the space and are placed in their virutall office and nobody forgets to enterthe space. This can be done with a desktop app. Is there something planned?
Thank you
Flo
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Desktop app is definitely something we look forward to delivering as soon as possible. This is fairly high on our public roadmap, which you can follow along with here: https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap/
We haven't yet been asked for Microsoft SSO before, so I have added it to the list so that everyone has the option to vote on it. Feel free to do so!
Share Orbital
Q: I am trying to see what is unique about your tool from others, but I can't find it.
Please tell me what is your special approach or unique features that others don't have.
How you are going to survive...
Share Orbital
Hi Melo!
Thank you for your question :)
We're definitely not the only virtual space on the market, but we believe that our vision of creating hyper-customised spaces (instead of simply delivering a system that works one way, out of the box) is where we really stand out. Each release provides our users more control over their galaxy, and no two galaxies are alike. This combination of interactive features and customisation of the product are unique to Orbital.
You can see more of what's ahead on our public roadmap at https://orbital.chat/public-roadmap.
Q: Can you please consider to raise the member limits for plans?
I emphathise with your costs, but I also researched some very advanced competition with more impressive features and less than 10$ a month subscription. Also, I tried to create a link to share my Galaxy and when I tried to access from another computer, the link kept saying "galaxy lost". Tried several times.
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Hi, thanks for this comment. We can't change the tiers at this time, but we'd love to learn more about how you intend to use Orbital, so we can understand how to structure future deals in a way that suits you best. Feel free to share!
If you are still having difficulty with your galaxy, could you please contact us via the live chat on our website, and we are happy to help diagnose the issue.
Share Orbital
Q: Dear Orbital, is it possible to change a bit the limits?
Maybe starting with 50 users, and ending with 500 (tier 4). Thanks.
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Hi, thanks for this comment. We can't change the tiers at this time, but we'd love to learn more about how you intend to use Orbital, so we can understand how to structure future deals in a way that suits you best. Feel free to share!
Share Orbital
You need to watch out what you ask for Lilac. From what I know of back-end streaming costs, if they were to give those extra participants away for free they would likely be losing money.
That wouldn't be good if you want the company to stay in business for the long-term!
Q: Interactivity is very interesting, but is it useful for making a presentation in which I want all the guests to see it?
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Hello! Yes, you can put your galaxy into Presentation Mode. This will make your audio the same volume for everyone, and everyone can see your screen share. https://orbital.chat/how-to/presentation-mode/
Share Orbital
Q: So, I love this product so far.
One potential issue I can see is that the radius of each speaker is sometimes smaller than the area of the rooms.
E.g. if I select a large theater, there are some seats where the speaker won't be heard (as the speaker's radius, when they are on stage, does not cover all the seats).
Is that correct? And is there any way to resolve it so everyone within a particular space can hear others in that space?
Or is it just down to the radius?
Thanks -- Adrian
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: This is great feedback, thanks for sharing it. We are working on improvements to how the audio works, to create intelligent pockets of conversation. For now, we recommend using Presentation Mode in situations where you need to be able to speak to a larger room. You can see more about it here: https://orbital.chat/how-to/presentation-mode/
Share Orbital
Verified purchaser
If you use a "separate audio zone" does that make all audio the same volume for everyone in that space? That's how I understood it, but could be wrong.
Verified purchaser
Yep, thats exactly right. The main galaxy uses distance based audio, but if you create an audio zone then that's like a "pocket" where everyone is the same volume. This allows you to gather around a table or seating area, for example, and hear everyone equally. No one can hear you from the outside, and vice-versa.
Q: I like the look of this but the limits are so low that I think I must be misunderstanding something...
Are Guests and Team Members essentially the same thing?
If so then, taking Tier 1 as the example, a maximum of 20 people can take part in a meeting/galaxy?
If this is the case then what are the criteria around this? Is it 20 people in the place at a time? If someone leaves can another come in automatically? Or do I have to manually manage this somehow?
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: Full members and guests collectively count against the number of available seats in a galaxy. An example: Tier 1 allows 20 people, so you could have a team of 15 members, leaving 5 available slots for guests.
Guests are different from team members in that they have limited functionality, to prevent security and privacy issues, and to give them a streamlined first experience. A full list of what guests can do can be seen here: https://orbital.chat/how-to/member-types-admins/
We are actively working on addressing user requests around guests, so we'd love to learn more about how you would like to use the Guests feature, if you'd like to share.
Share Orbital
Hi,
That definition of Members and Guests is pretty much as I thought. You didn't answer the 2nd part of my question though - how are they counted? Is it 20 people total? 20 at a time? If there are 20 people in the space and 1 leaves, can a replacement come in?
I was looking at this for a community with regular presentations between which people could treat it as a clubhouse. It would mean members or guests able to come in at will and stay for a few hours, but the numbers are just way too low.
Verified purchaser
I've just posted an update with a better explanation which might help, here: https://appsumo.com/products/orbital/#q803337
Anyone who holds a seat has access to the galaxy 24/7, and you can remove / re-allocate seats anytime you want.
Could I ask how many people are in your community? This is definitely a use case we want to help support, and I understand why we might need to adapt the product a bit to be effective there. We'd love to learn from you!
Q: This looks like a great way to do audio-only webinars.
It looks like it's built to have members who can access the site 24/7. I'd love to be able to have guests be able to access only during the time of a presentation, much like people can do in a Zoom room. Is that possible?
Ashley_at_Orbital
May 14, 2024A: This is a popular request! Per user feedback, our next release will allow you to invite multiple guests with a single invite link (instead of individually) and guest accounts will auto-remove themselves after 2 hours. So it will be perfect for webinars!
Share Orbital
What if our presentation is say 5 hours? Would the guest accounts auto-remove before our presentation is over? 🤷♀️
Verified purchaser
In this case we recommend inviting them as members, however this is a new feature so we definitely want feedback! Can I ask what length of time would be most useful for you?
It would vary depending on the plans for that day… 4 hrs, 6 hrs, 8 hrs 🤷♀️
So the ability to customize the times as we like is preferred 👍🏽
Verified purchaser
Makes sense! I've added this to our public roadmap and will discuss with the team. We will be working on galaxy customisation soon, and this could be a perfect fit. Stay tuned! 📺
Q: Hi there, Sumo-lings!
We’ve received a lot of questions about how member seats work, so here’s an deeper explanation…
Your tier will come with a certain number of member seats. Full members and guests both count toward your galaxy’s seats, cumulatively.
For the purpose of these examples, we’ll talk about Tier 1, which has 20 member seats. Let’s say...
- I invite 15 full members. This leaves me 5 empty seats.
- I invite 1 guest. I now have 4 empty seats.
- That guest’s time expires in the galaxy. I have 5 empty seats again.
- I remove two of my full members. I now have 7 empty seats.
Anyone with a seat has 24/7 access to your galaxy. You can invite, remove, and re-invite anyone you please, at any time.
We hope this helps explain a bit more. Thanks for all the amazing feedback so far! 🪐
Share Orbital