Terms of Service

These Terms govern your access to and use of the Lifer mobile application, the Lifer website at getlifer.app, and all related services. By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms.

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Lifer. In EEA member states where the minimum age is 16, you must be at least 16 or have verifiable parental consent. By creating an account, you confirm you meet the applicable age requirement.

We reserve the right to terminate accounts found to belong to users below the applicable minimum age.

2. Your account

You are responsible for keeping your credentials secure and for all activity under your account. Contact privacy@getlifer.app immediately if you suspect unauthorised access.

• Do not create more than one account without our explicit permission.
• Do not transfer your account to another person.
• Do not use another user's account without their permission.

3. Acceptable use

You agree to use Lifer only for lawful purposes and in a way that does not harm other users or the integrity of the Service.

You must not:

• Submit catches or records you know to be false or fabricated with intent to deceive.
• Upload content (photos, audio, text) that is unlawful, abusive, harassing, threatening, sexually explicit, hateful, or that you do not have the right to share.
• Impersonate another person or misrepresent your identity.
• Use bots or automated tools to interact with the Service without our written permission.
• Attempt to reverse-engineer the on-device audio model, Lifer AI prompts, service limits, or proprietary scoring logic.
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure.
• Exploit bugs or scoring edge cases to manipulate leaderboards or rarity outcomes.
• Abuse Camera Catch, Cloud Vault, alerts, social features, or rate limits in a way that harms the Service or other users.
• Use the Service to harvest other users' data or contact information.

Violations may result in content removal, account suspension, or permanent termination.

4. Bird catches and the detection system

Detection results, Lifer AI responses, rarity tier assignments, and point values are algorithmic approximations — not guarantees of ornithological accuracy.

Audio Catch

Audio Catch uses an on-device model and can work offline after the required model setup. Audio detection results are still approximate and should be treated as suggestions.

Camera Catch

Camera Catch is an online Pro feature. It sends the captured in-app camera photo to Lifer's backend and OpenAI so Lifer AI can suggest a bird species and photo quality score. You must review the result before adding the catch to your collection. Camera Catch availability, upload limits, and provider behaviour may change over time.

Manual catches

You may log sightings manually. Manual catches are marked as such, excluded from public leaderboards, and cannot be submitted for public-visibility review.

Catch visibility and appeals

Catches are private by default. Rare and legendary catches that meet quality thresholds may become eligible for public leaderboards and profiles. You may submit a catch visibility appeal for catches not automatically approved. Appeals are reviewed by Lifer staff.

Rarity tiers and points

Rarity tiers and point values are determined algorithmically and may vary by supported region. We reserve the right to update species rarities, the scoring algorithm, regional species packs, or point values at any time. Changes may affect the displayed rarity or points of existing catches.

5. User-generated content

Your licence to us

You retain ownership of content you upload. By submitting content to Lifer, you grant us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to store, display, reproduce, and distribute that content solely for the purpose of operating and improving the Service. This licence ends when you delete the content or your account, except where we are required to retain it for legal or abuse-prevention purposes.

Your warranties

By uploading content, you confirm that you own it or have all necessary rights to share it, and that it does not infringe any third party's copyright, privacy, or other rights.

Custom Aviary card photos

Custom species card photos submitted for public display are subject to automated moderation by OpenAI before approval. Photos containing inappropriate content, or that are not bird-relevant, will be rejected or held for manual review. Photos submitted for private Aviary use only are not sent to OpenAI.

You may report another user's publicly visible Aviary card photo if you believe it violates these Terms (for example, copyright infringement or inappropriate content).

Catch photos, audio clips, and Cloud Vault

Private catch audio, private catch photos, and private species/card photos may be backed up through Cloud Vault if you use that feature. New private Cloud Vault media is encrypted before storage. Public or social-shared catch photos are separate public/shared copies and are not treated as private Cloud Vault media.

Comments and social content

Comments, reactions, milestone posts, social feed activity, and Discover activity must comply with Section 3. You may report comments you believe are abusive, harassing, or otherwise in violation of these Terms. Reported content is reviewed by Lifer staff.

6. Pro subscription

What Pro includes

A Lifer Pro subscription currently unlocks:

• Camera Catch with Lifer AI species ID and photo quality scoring.
• UK and Europe species guide support, including regional image packs where available.
• Cloud Vault backup for private catch audio, private catch photos, and private species/card photos.
• Additional Bird Alerts.
• Offline Bird Walk tools.
• Custom card photos.
• Premium card finishes.
• Expanded profile showcase features.
• Full rankings and competitive features.
• Ad-free social feed where applicable.
• Pro map tools.
• Year in Birds archive access.

The specific features, quotas, and limits included in Pro may change over time. We will not remove core Pro features without notice.

Billing and renewal

Pro is available as a monthly or annual subscription. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. Payment is charged to your Apple or Google account at purchase confirmation and at the start of each renewal period.

Cancellation

Cancel at any time through your Apple App Store or Google Play subscription settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current paid period. Cancellation does not entitle you to a pro-rata refund for unused time.

Refunds

Refund requests are handled by Apple or Google under their respective policies. We do not process refunds directly.

Grace period

If a renewal payment fails, you may enter a short grace period during which Pro access is retained while payment is retried. Access is revoked if payment cannot be collected.

7. Imports from external services

You can import sighting records from eBird, Birda, BirdTrack, and iNaturalist. By importing records, you confirm you have the right to use that data in Lifer. We are not affiliated with any of these services. Imported records are archive catches and do not carry detection-based quality scores.

8. Content moderation and enforcement

We reserve the right to remove content that violates these Terms without prior notice. We reserve the right to suspend or permanently terminate accounts that:

• Repeatedly violate these Terms.
• Engage in fraud or manipulation of the scoring or leaderboard systems.
• Belong to users below the minimum age requirement.
• Are used for harassment or other conduct harmful to the community.

We will generally provide a warning for first-time, non-severe violations, but are not obligated to do so.

9. Intellectual property

The Lifer name, logo, app design, card artwork, Lifer AI prompts, scoring algorithms, and other proprietary elements of the Service are owned by or licensed to us. The on-device audio detection model and certain supporting components are third-party technologies used under their respective licences; Lifer does not claim ownership of those third-party models. These Terms do not grant you any rights to use Lifer's proprietary elements beyond what is necessary to use the Service for its intended purpose.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, that detection results will be accurate, or that your content will not be lost due to technical failure.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Lifer's total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim.

We are not liable for loss of catches or content due to technical failure, inaccurate detection results, losses from account suspension in accordance with these Terms, or any indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages.

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

12. Changes to the Service

We may update, modify, or discontinue features at any time. We will give reasonable notice of material changes that negatively affect existing functionality, where practicable.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will update the effective date at the top and provide notice through the app or by email for material changes. Continued use of the Service after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

14. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Disputes that cannot be resolved informally are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales, unless mandatory consumer protection laws in your country of residence give you the right to bring proceedings elsewhere.

If you are a consumer in the EEA, you may also use the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

15. Contact

For questions about these Terms, enforcement actions, or appeals:

privacy@getlifer.app

We aim to acknowledge all enquiries within 5 business days.