These terms are the agreement between you and the developer of Scrollmates for the Scrollmates iOS app and the Scrollmates backend service. Using the app means you accept them. If you do not accept them, do not use the app.
The service
Scrollmates is a screen-time accountability app for pairs. It lets you set a daily contract, tracks how much of it you have spent using Apple's Screen Time frameworks, and — if you bond with a partner — shares those totals between the two of you and shields the apps you selected during restricted periods.
Solo mode works entirely on your device. Bonding is optional and requires an account.
Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old to use Scrollmates, and old enough where you live to agree to these terms on your own. Scrollmates is not directed at children under 13. If you are under the age of majority in your country, use the app only with a parent or guardian's consent.
Accounts
Solo mode does not create an account. If you choose to bond, you create one through Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google. Keep control of the provider account you sign in with — anyone who can sign in as you can see your bond.
You are responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us at support@scrollmates.app if you believe someone else has access to it.
Subscriptions and the free trial
A bond needs a subscription — one live subscription, held by either of you. It does not matter which of you holds it: the person sending the invite can subscribe up front, the person accepting it can subscribe when they accept, and a subscription one of you already has covers the bond with no second purchase to make. One is all a bond ever needs, and a subscription is never transferred between Apple Accounts.
The free trial is Apple's introductory offer on that subscription. We do not grant it and cannot extend it: Apple allows one introductory offer per Apple Account, ever, decides whether yours is still available, and sets how long it runs. The app tells you which applies to you before you buy, and for how long — an introductory period first and the charge after it, or the charge from the start. If the offer applies, your Apple Account is charged when that period ends unless you cancel before then. Whichever of you subscribes uses their own Apple Account's offer, so if yours is spent and your partner's is not, they can be the one who subscribes.
If a bond ends, pairing with the same person again within 30 days restores that bond rather than starting a new one — your shared history, your Journal and your settings come back, though the level and the streak start again from zero and only the best-streak record carries over. A restored bond still has to be covered by a live subscription, and it does not come with a new free trial. After those 30 days the bond is permanently deleted and cannot be restored: pairing with the same person then starts a new bond, from level one, and all that is kept is a summary of the old one — its final level and title, its best streak, and the total time you focused.
Breaking a bond on purpose is not immediate. Confirming a break starts a one-hour window and your partner is told at once. Only the person who confirmed it can cancel it during that hour — your partner cannot keep you in a bond you have chosen to leave. When the hour passes, the bond ends and you both return to solo.
Scrollmates offers auto-renewable subscriptions, billed monthly or annually through your Apple Account. Payment is charged on confirmation of purchase. Your subscription automatically renews for the same period unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the current period ends, and your Apple Account is charged for the renewal within 24 hours of that point.
You manage and cancel subscriptions in the App Store, under Settings → your name → Subscriptions on your iPhone — not inside Scrollmates. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription. Cancelling stops the next renewal; the subscription stays active until the end of the period you already paid for.
Prices are shown in the app before you buy and may change over time; a period you have already paid for is never repriced. All purchases, billing, and refunds are handled by Apple under the App Store's terms, so refund requests go to Apple rather than to us.
When a trial or subscription ends without renewing, the bond lapses and both partners return to solo mode. Pairing with the same person within 30 days brings that bond back with its history and settings, the level and the streak starting again; after that, bonding again starts a new bond, with a new subscription.
Acceptable use
Use Scrollmates for what it is: your own screen-time accountability, with a partner who agreed to it. You may not:
- • bond with, or pressure someone into bonding with, a person who has not freely agreed to share their usage with you;
- • use the app to monitor, stalk, or control another person against their will;
- • attempt to break, overload, or reverse-engineer the service, or reach another account's data;
- • use the app in a way that breaks the law where you are.
We may suspend or end access to the backend service for accounts that do these things.
The bond, and what your partner sees
This is the part worth reading twice. A bond makes your usage of the apps you selected visible to your partner by design. Once you pair, your partner can see your daily usage totals for those apps, how much of the shared pool you have spent, your bond events including broken contracts, and your profile. The rest of your phone is not part of this. That is the mechanism the app is built on.
Your partner cannot see which apps you selected or what you did in them; nobody can, including us. But the numbers are shared, and there is no way to be bonded and keep them private. If that is not what you want, stay solo.
Either partner can end the bond at any time. Ending it stops the sharing immediately, for both of you.
Screen Time and enforcement
Scrollmates asks for Screen Time (Family Controls) permission so it can shield the apps you chose during restricted periods. It can only do so while iOS grants and honors that permission. Screen Time is an Apple system service: iOS can delay, batch, or fail to deliver the events the app depends on, and a shield can be dismissed or worked around by anyone determined enough.
We do not promise that limits are unbreakable, that every minute is counted exactly, or that enforcement is instant. Scrollmates is an accountability tool, not a lock.
Disclaimers
Scrollmates is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent the law allows.
Scrollmates is not a medical device and not a treatment. It does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any condition, including compulsive technology use, and we promise no outcome for your attention, wellbeing, productivity, mood, or relationships. If you are struggling, please speak to a qualified professional.
We do not promise that the service will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that data will never be lost.
Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost data, lost profits, or lost opportunities arising out of your use of Scrollmates.
Where liability cannot be excluded, our total liability to you is limited to the greater of the amount you paid for Scrollmates in the twelve months before the claim, or ten US dollars.
Some places do not allow these limits. Where that is so, they apply only as far as the law permits, and nothing here limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited.
Ending it
You can leave at any time: break the bond, delete your account from Settings, or delete the app. Breaking a bond takes an hour to land and only the person who confirmed it can cancel it in that time; once it does, data collection stops immediately and your account is scheduled for deletion in 30 days, which pairing again cancels. The bond itself is kept for those same 30 days so it can be restored, and is permanently deleted afterwards apart from a summary. Delete Account removes your server-side data immediately and wipes local state — that one cannot be undone, and nothing about you is kept behind.
We may suspend or terminate access if you breach these terms, if the law requires it, or if we discontinue the service. If we discontinue Scrollmates, we will give reasonable notice in the app.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Nothing here removes the consumer-protection rights you hold where you live.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. When we do, we will move the "Last updated" date shown above and surface material changes in the app. Continuing to use Scrollmates after a change means you accept the updated terms.
Contact
Questions about these terms: support@scrollmates.app.