You’ve seen this.
They are Online
You send a message
…
…
No reply.
Still online.
👉 Now you’re thinking:
Are they busy? Ignoring you? Or is the system wrong?
So I turned this into a coding challenge.
And honestly… it exposed a real bug.
😂 The Problem
The logic looks simple:
- User opens app → set Online
- User leaves → set Offline
That’s it.
But real systems don’t behave that cleanly.
⚠️ What Goes Wrong?
In real-world apps:
• User closes the app suddenly
• Network disconnect is not detected
• “Offline” event is never sent
• System keeps showing user as Online
And suddenly:
👉 System says “Online”
👉 Reality says “Not even there” 😭
🧠 What I Observed
When I explored this:
- Basic implementations depend on events
- But events can fail or get lost
- No timeout means stale state
- No fallback means incorrect status
The code works.
But the experience?
👉 Completely misleading.
🔍 The Real Issue
This is not just about status.
It’s about:
• Real-time reliability
• State accuracy
• Handling unexpected disconnects
• System truth vs user perception
Because:
👉 “Online” should actually mean online
💡 What a Better System Needs
A proper presence system should:
- Use heartbeat (regular ping from client)
- Add timeout (auto mark offline)
- Detect sudden disconnects
- Sync state across devices
This ensures:
👉 Accurate status
👉 No confusion
👉 Better user trust
🔥 Try My Challenge
I created this as a fun (but real) system problem.
👉 Try it here:
https://vibecodearena.ai/duel/a2866d85-1697-46cd-96e8-84cb14739ae2
Can you:
- Fix fake online status?
- Handle disconnects properly?
- Build a reliable presence system?
🎯 Final Thought
Some systems show data.
Some systems show truth.
And this one…
👉 Sometimes shows lies 😭
So tell me 👇
Are they really online… or is the system just playing games with you?
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