Terms of Use

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you and Michael Curtis ("we", "us", "our") governing your use of the FinSteps iPhone app, its Home Screen widget, and this website (together, "FinSteps" or "the app").

By downloading, installing, or using FinSteps, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated here by reference. If you do not agree, do not use the app.

Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement ("Apple's Standard EULA") also applies to your use of FinSteps. Where these Terms and Apple's Standard EULA conflict, these Terms govern to the extent permitted.

2. Who may use FinSteps

You must be at least 13 years old to use FinSteps. If you are under the age of majority where you live, you may use the app only with the involvement of a parent or guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf.

You need a compatible iPhone running iOS 17 or later and an Apple Account in good standing. FinSteps is a general-audience app and is not directed at children under 13.

3. Your licence

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to install and use one copy of FinSteps on Apple-branded devices that you own or control, for your own non-commercial use, as permitted by the App Store Terms of Service.

You may not, and may not permit anyone else to: copy, modify, or create derivative works of the app; reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble it except to the extent that applicable law expressly permits; rent, lease, lend, sell, sublicense, or redistribute it; remove or obscure any proprietary notices; or use it in any way that breaks the law.

4. Purchases, billing, and cancellation

FinSteps is free to download. Its premium features are offered three ways — two auto-renewing subscriptions and one non-renewing purchase:

• Monthly — an auto-renewing subscription, renewing every month, and including a one-week free trial for new subscribers.
• Annual — an auto-renewing subscription, renewing every year, and including a one-week free trial for new subscribers.
• Lifetime — a one-time purchase. It is charged once, does not renew, and there is nothing to cancel. It does not include a free trial.

We do not publish prices in these Terms, because they vary by region and can change. The exact price, term, trial length, trial eligibility, and renewal date are shown to you in the App Store and again in the app before you confirm the purchase, and that disclosure controls. Prices in each region are set using Apple's pricing tiers.

• Billing. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase, or at the end of the free trial if you started one.
• Auto-renewal. The monthly and annual subscriptions renew automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the current period ends. The lifetime purchase does not auto-renew and is never charged a second time.
• Free trial. The one-week trial is available on either subscription term, once per Apple Account, and is subject to Apple's eligibility rules. When it ends you are charged the price of the term you chose — the monthly price every month, or the annual price every year — unless you cancel before it ends, in which case you are not charged at all. If you subscribe during a trial, any unused portion of it is forfeited when you purchase.
• Cancelling. Manage or cancel a subscription in iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Cancelling stops future renewals; it does not retroactively refund the current period. You keep paid access until the end of the period you have already paid for. The lifetime purchase has no subscription to cancel and does not lapse.
• Price changes. If we change a subscription price, Apple will notify you and ask for your consent before the new price takes effect, in line with App Store rules. You may cancel instead of accepting. A change to the lifetime price does not affect a lifetime purchase you have already made.
• What “lifetime” means. It means premium access for as long as you keep FinSteps and for as long as we continue to offer the app. It is not a promise that the app will be published, supported, or compatible with future versions of iOS indefinitely — see section 11 and section 16.

Your aquarium, fish, streak, and step history remain on your device whether or not you have premium access. Some features may become unavailable when a subscription lapses.

5. Refunds

All purchases are processed by Apple, and refunds are handled solely by Apple under the App Store's refund policy. We cannot issue, approve, or reverse a refund. To request one, use reportaproblem.apple.com. Statutory rights of withdrawal or cancellation that apply where you live are unaffected by this section.

6. Pearls, fish, and other game content

Pearls, fish, decorations, streaks, badges, and every other item inside FinSteps are game content licensed to you, not property you own. They exist only as data on your device.

• They have no monetary value, cannot be exchanged for money or anything of value, and cannot be sold, traded, gifted, or transferred to another person or device.
• Pearls are earned by playing. FinSteps does not sell pearls or any other in-game currency for real money.
• Game content can be lost through normal play. This is the point of the game: missing daily goals reduces tank cleanliness and fish health, and sustained neglect causes fish to die. A dead fish can be revived from the Memorial with pearls for a limited window, after which the loss is permanent. Losing game content this way is intended behaviour and is not a defect or a basis for a refund.
• Because your save lives only on your device, deleting the app, resetting your iPhone, or losing your device will permanently delete your aquarium. We cannot restore it — we have no copy.
• We may change how game content behaves — costs, unlock requirements, health rules, or reward amounts — as the game is balanced and updated.

7. Health and safety

FinSteps is a game, not a medical device. It is provided for entertainment and general wellness motivation only. It does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition, and nothing in the app is medical advice.

Do not use FinSteps to make medical decisions. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before starting or significantly changing any exercise routine, and especially if you are pregnant, have a heart condition, or have any other medical condition that physical activity could affect.

You are responsible for your own safety while walking. Pay attention to traffic and your surroundings, and never interact with your phone in a situation where doing so is unsafe. Do not increase your activity beyond what is safe for you in order to keep a streak, protect a fish, or earn an in-game reward. The game is designed to be recoverable precisely so that you never need to.

8. Step data accuracy

FinSteps displays step data that Apple Health reports from your iPhone or paired Apple Watch. We do not measure your steps ourselves, and we do not control the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of that data. Counts may be delayed, de-duplicated, revised, or missing for reasons outside our control — for example if you leave your phone behind, cross time zones, revoke Health permission, or your device is off.

Goal completion, streaks, and rewards are calculated from whatever Apple Health reports at the time. We are not liable for a missed goal, broken streak, or lost fish caused by unavailable or inaccurate step data.

9. Acceptable use

You agree not to tamper with the app or its stored data, use automated means or modified devices to falsify step counts, circumvent purchase or subscription checks, or otherwise interfere with the intended operation of FinSteps. Doing so may break your save, and we have no obligation to repair it.

10. Your data

FinSteps stores your aquarium, step history and settings locally on your device and transmits none of it to us. We have no servers of our own and no accounts. Your subscription status and the multiple-choice answers you gave during setup are held by our subscription provider, RevenueCat; nothing you typed is ever sent. What the app reads, stores, sends, and never sends is described in full in the Privacy Policy.

Because we hold no copy, backing up your device is the only way to protect your aquarium. We are not responsible for data lost when an app is deleted, a device is reset, or a backup is unavailable.

11. Changes to the app

We may update, change, suspend, or discontinue FinSteps or any of its features at any time, including changing game balance or removing features. We may stop distributing or supporting the app entirely. If we discontinue the app while you hold an active subscription or a lifetime purchase, Apple's refund policy governs any remaining paid period.

12. Intellectual property

FinSteps, including its source code, artwork, fish and character sprites, sounds, copy, name, and branding, is owned by us and protected by copyright and other laws. These Terms grant you a licence to use the app; they transfer no ownership. You may take and share screenshots and recordings of your own gameplay for personal, non-commercial purposes.

13. Disclaimer of warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, FinSteps is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the app will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or compatible with every device or future version of iOS.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

14. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, goodwill, or in-game content, arising out of or relating to your use of or inability to use FinSteps — whether based in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other theory, and even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to FinSteps will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you actually paid us or Apple for the app in the twelve months before the claim arose, or (b) US$50.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

15. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claims, damages, losses, and reasonable legal fees arising out of your misuse of FinSteps, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of any law or third-party right.

16. Termination

These Terms apply for as long as you use FinSteps. You may end them at any time by deleting the app. We may suspend or terminate your licence if you materially breach these Terms. Sections that by their nature should survive — including 6, 7, and 13 through 19 — survive termination.

17. Apple

These Terms are between you and us only, not with Apple. Apple is not responsible for FinSteps or its content. You acknowledge that:

• Apple has no obligation to furnish any maintenance or support for FinSteps.
• If FinSteps fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price if applicable; to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the app.
• Apple is not responsible for addressing any claim by you or a third party relating to FinSteps, including product liability claims, any claim that the app fails to conform to a legal or regulatory requirement, and claims arising under consumer protection or similar legislation.
• Apple is not responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement, or discharge of any third-party claim that FinSteps infringes that third party's intellectual property rights.
• You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and, upon your acceptance, have the right to enforce them against you.

18. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, and you and we agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located there. If you are a consumer resident in the EU, UK, or another jurisdiction whose mandatory local law grants you the protection of your home courts and consumer laws, nothing here removes that protection.

You and we agree to try to resolve any dispute informally first by emailing finsteps@proton.me before starting formal proceedings.

19. Changes to these terms

We may revise these Terms as FinSteps changes. When we do, we will update the date at the top of this page and, for material changes, note them in the app or its release notes. Continued use of FinSteps after a revision means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not accept them, stop using the app and cancel any subscription.

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Apple's Standard EULA, are the entire agreement between you and us about FinSteps.

20. Contact

Questions about these Terms: finsteps@proton.me.