This chapter covers online-only features: Google account saves, invitations, visits and weekly rankings. Each person runs a separate shop. See the complete local / online comparison.
Enable backups or continue on another device
Open Shops & friends, choose Smooth Play Mode and sign in only when you want backups. You can back up your current local shop. If a cloud backup already exists, review its name and day before choosing it. On another device, sign in to the same account and explicitly take over cloud saving. Check “Backed up” on the previous device first.
Invite and visit friends
In Shops & friends → Friends, copy your invitation link and send it yourself. New links stay valid until you disable invitations or replace the link. The recipient can play locally first, then enable cloud backup and send a friend request. Accept requests in Friends. Visits follow the shop’s private, friends-only or signed-in-public setting; they never reveal the full save.
Fair weekly rankings
Only Ranked shops submit trusted scores. Each correctly made order earns one point, including staff orders. Ranking visibility is optional. A week starts Monday at 00:00 UTC; the worldwide board updates about every three minutes. Smooth Play progress is excluded.
Keep your shop while trying cloud backup
A player can keep their local shop, enable Smooth Play Mode with a copy of that progress, and invite a friend. The friend sees the latest successfully synced shop summary. There is no direct message, gift, trade or shared control of the shop.
Choose what friends see
Use Shops & friends → Privacy to choose private, friends-only or public visits and whether to accept requests. Public visits still require sign-in. Ranked visibility is independent of visiting; Smooth Play shops cannot enable fair ranking visibility.
From an invitation to your first shop visit
- The inviter opens Shops & friends → Friends, copies an invitation link and sends it to the person they want to connect with.
- The recipient can try free local play first. To use friends, choose sign-in and enable Smooth Play.
- The recipient sends a friend request; the inviter reviews and accepts it. A pending request does not mean you are already friends.
- The shop owner checks privacy. A private shop is not open to friends; choose the intended access and return to Friends.
- The visitor sees the permitted shop information. Smooth Play may show the last successful backup.
Friends do not make a drink together, share money or edit each other’s shops. To continue your own shop on another device, use the device-transfer guide, not an invitation. Resolve expired invites or visits that will not open.