Terms of Use

👋 Introduction

Welcome to Cloud Point ("the App"), developed and operated by Laurence Wayne ("we", "us", "our"). By downloading, accessing, or using the App, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the App.

These Terms should be read alongside our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle your data.

👤 Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years of age to use the App. By using the App, you confirm that you meet this requirement. If you are under 18, you confirm that you have the consent of a parent or legal guardian.

🔑 Account and Access

You are responsible for maintaining the security of any account credentials associated with your use of the App. You must not share your account with others or allow unauthorised access, and you are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.

Your chosen username and any profile photo you upload are publicly visible on community pages whenever you share a post. You are responsible for ensuring these do not infringe on the rights of others or contain inappropriate content.

💳 Subscriptions and Payments

Cloud Point offers a free tier that allows a capped number of cloud uploads. Unlimited uploads and supporter features are available via a paid monthly or yearly subscription.

• Subscriptions are billed through Apple's App Store and are subject to Apple's payment terms.
• Subscription renewals, cancellations, and refund requests are managed through your Apple ID settings.
• We reserve the right to change subscription pricing at any time. Any price changes will take effect at the start of your next billing period.
• If your account is suspended or terminated for a breach of these Terms, you are not entitled to a refund for any remaining subscription period.

✅ Acceptable Use

You agree not to:

• Use the App in any way that is unlawful, harmful, or fraudulent.
• Upload images that are not of clouds or the sky, or that contain personally identifying information such as faces, licence plates, or other private details.
• Upload, post, or share content that is offensive, obscene, defamatory, harassing, or infringes on the rights of others.
• Attempt to interfere with, disrupt, or place an undue burden on the App's servers, networks, or infrastructure.
• Use automated scripts, bots, or other tools to interact with the App, including the identification, upload, leaderboard, or community features, in a manner not intended by its design.
• Exploit the App's features in a manner that is abusive, excessive, or intended to incur disproportionate costs on our infrastructure (such as artificially inflating identification requests or upload counts).
• Attempt to reverse-engineer, decompile, or extract the source code of the App.
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
• Circumvent, disable, or otherwise interfere with any security or access-control features of the App, including upload limits or subscription gating.

📄 User Content

"User Content" refers to any photos, location coordinates, usernames, profile photos, or other material you upload, submit, or share through the App, including through any community, map, or sharing features.

• You retain ownership of your User Content.
• By submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, display, reproduce, and distribute your User Content for the purposes of operating, improving, and promoting the App, including on the community gallery and map.
• You are solely responsible for your User Content and must ensure it does not violate any applicable law or the rights of any third party.
• We reserve the right to remove any User Content at our sole discretion, without notice, for any reason.

🌐 Community and Sharing Features

Cloud Point includes community features such as a public gallery, an interactive map of cloud sightings, and a leaderboard. You choose, on a per-capture basis, whether each upload is shared publicly or kept private.

• Captures you mark as public will be visible to other users via the community gallery and, where you have opted in, on the locations map.
• Location data attached to public captures is rounded to an approximate coordinate before display.
• Your username and profile photo are associated with any post you share publicly.
• You can keep captures private at any time, and you may delete your uploads through the App.

🔬 Climate Science Contribution

Cloud Point is designed in part to support climate and atmospheric science. Photos that you choose to upload publicly, along with any approximate location and timestamp you have agreed to share, may be aggregated into a ground-based cloud-observation dataset used to study cloud cover, atmospheric patterns, and changes over time.

• Contribution to this dataset is tied to publicly shared uploads only; private uploads are not included.
• Aggregated and anonymised observations may be used for research, educational, or scientific purposes.
• You can stop contributing at any time by keeping uploads private or by deleting captures from your account.

🤖 AI-Generated Content

The App uses artificial intelligence, including Google's Gemini API, to identify cloud types and provide associated explanations and weather context. You acknowledge that:

• AI-generated identifications and information are provided for educational and recreational purposes only and should not be relied upon as professional meteorological, aviation, or safety advice.
• AI outputs may contain inaccuracies. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any AI-generated content.
• You should not make safety-critical decisions (for example, regarding flying, sailing, or severe weather) based solely on AI-generated output from the App.

📢 Advertising

Free users may see advertisements within the App, served through Google AdMob. We do not control the specific ads shown, and your interactions with ads are subject to AdMob's own terms and privacy practices. Subscribing to a paid plan reduces or removes in-app advertising as described on the subscription screen.

🔗 Third-Party Services

The App integrates with third-party services including Apple App Store, RevenueCat, Google Firebase, Google AdMob, and the Google Gemini API. Your use of these services is subject to their respective terms and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the practices or availability of any third-party service.

©️ Intellectual Property

All content, design, code, graphics, and branding associated with the App (excluding User Content) are the property of Laurence Wayne and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You may not copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from any part of the App without our prior written consent.

Certain images and assets used within the App may be sourced from third parties under open licences such as Creative Commons. Attribution for these assets is provided within the App under the Licences or Acknowledgements section.

🚫 Account Suspension and Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account and access to the App at our sole discretion, without prior notice, for any reason, including but not limited to:

• Violation of these Terms.
• Conduct that we reasonably believe is harmful to the App, its infrastructure, or other users.
• Abuse of the App's features or resources, including upload, identification, or community features.

Upon termination, your right to use the App ceases immediately. We may delete any User Content associated with your account. No refund will be issued for any remaining subscription period following a termination for breach of these Terms.

⚠️ Disclaimer of Warranties

The App is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, whether express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components, or that any content (including AI-generated content) will be accurate or reliable.

⚖️ Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Laurence Wayne shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, profits, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with your use of the App.

Our total liability for any claim arising from your use of the App shall not exceed the amount you have paid to us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim.

🛡️ Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Laurence Wayne from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including legal fees) arising out of or in connection with your use of the App, your User Content, or your breach of these Terms.

📝 Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Your continued use of the App after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

🏛️ Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the App shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.