Terms of Use

1. Who we are, and the agreement

These terms apply to the Excalibur iPhone app and this website. “Excalibur”, “we” and “us” mean the person who provides them:

• Paweł Potempa, a sole trader in Poland (jednoosobowa działalność gospodarcza)
• NIP (tax ID): 6751820942
• Address: as listed in the Polish business register (CEIDG) under NIP 6751820942
• E-mail: support@theexcaliburapp.com

By downloading or using Excalibur, you agree to these terms. They are our terms of service for services provided electronically (regulamin świadczenia usług drogą elektroniczną). You can read, save and print them here at any time, free of charge.

Your licence to use the app is Apple’s Standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement (the “EULA”). These terms add rules that are specific to Excalibur. If they conflict with the EULA, the EULA wins. Nothing in these terms limits the rights you have by law as a consumer.

2. What Excalibur does, and its limits

We provide these services:

• the app, which locks the apps, categories and websites you pick, using Apple’s Screen Time API, and opens them with a pull;
• guardians: a QR key, an NFC tag, or a buddy who has to agree to each pull, with a chat between you and your buddy;
• Premium (Solo, Duo and Lifetime) and gift codes;
• this website, with help and answers, and support by email.

You choose how many pulls you get a day and how long each one lasts. Emergency unlock opens your apps after a 5-minute wait, and it is always available.

Excalibur depends on iOS, the Screen Time permission, your iPhone’s clock and Apple’s services. Locks, pulls and notifications can be late or stop working, for example if the permission is turned off or iOS changes. Excalibur is a tool for your own habits. It isn’t a parental control, a medical treatment or a safety system, and you shouldn’t rely on it as one.

Don’t lock apps you may need in an emergency or for your health, safety, work or travel. Rule changes start the next day, so check your rules before you save them.

3. What you need

• an iPhone with iOS 18 or later, and the Screen Time permission for Excalibur;
• for buddies and gift codes: an internet connection, and being signed in to iCloud;
• for a QR key: the iPhone’s camera; for an NFC tag: a plain NFC sticker or tag (phones and payment cards don’t work);
• for notifications: your permission to send them;
• for this website: an up-to-date web browser.

Using the internet carries risks, such as malware or someone reading unencrypted data. Keep iOS up to date, and see the privacy policy for buddy chats.

4. Guardians, keys and buddies

You’re responsible for your QR key and NFC tag. Anyone who has a copy of your QR key, or your paired tag, can agree to a pull for you. If you lose them, Emergency unlock still works, and you can change your guardian (the change starts the next day).

A buddy agrees to pulls as a favour. Neither we nor your buddy are responsible if they don’t answer, agree when you’d rather they hadn’t, or unpair.

5. Buddy chat rules

When you use buddies, don’t:

• send anything illegal, or anything you don’t have the right to share;
• harass, threaten, bully or abuse anyone, or send hateful, sexual or violent content;
• impersonate someone, spam, or try to get money or personal data from people;
• try to read other people’s data, get around Premium or gift codes, or interfere with Excalibur or Apple’s services.

Excalibur checks names and messages on your iPhone and won’t send ones with words from a list of insults and explicit words. Use Report and block in the chat (under the … button) if someone breaks these rules: the chat ends for both of you, and we read the reported chat.

6. Reporting illegal content, and how we moderate

Anyone can tell us about illegal content in Excalibur, even without the app. Email support@theexcaliburapp.com with: why you think it’s illegal, where it is (the buddy name, invite code or the message), your name and email address (you can leave these out if it’s about child sexual abuse), and a statement that you believe your report is accurate and complete. We confirm we got it, decide carefully and without undue delay, and tell you what we decided.

A person reviews every report. If content breaks the law or these terms, we can delete it, end the buddy pair, or stop someone from using buddies or gift codes, for a time or for good. We act in proportion to what happened, and we stop someone for good only after repeated or serious breaches. When we act, we tell the person affected why, with the facts and the rule it broke, whenever we have a way to reach them (Excalibur has no accounts, so often we don’t). If you disagree with a decision, reply to it or email us, and a person will look at it again. You can also go to court.

If we learn of anything that suggests a threat to someone’s life or safety, we tell the police. This email address is also our single point of contact for users and for authorities under the EU Digital Services Act. You can write to us in English or Polish.

7. Premium, subscriptions and payment

The free version locks one app, with every feature. Premium locks all the apps, categories and websites you pick. Premium comes as:

• Solo, a subscription that renews every year ($9.99 a year in the US);
• Duo, a subscription that renews every year and includes a gift of Premium for a friend ($14.99 a year in the US);
• Lifetime, a one-time purchase that includes a gift of Premium for a friend ($24.99 in the US).

Prices in other countries are shown in the App Store before you buy, and may include taxes.

• Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase.
• Solo and Duo renew automatically every year, at the same price unless Apple tells you about a change first, unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current year. Your Apple Account is charged for the renewal within the 24 hours before the year ends.
• You manage and cancel subscriptions in your Apple Account settings: in the Settings app, tap your name, then Subscriptions. Deleting Excalibur doesn’t cancel a subscription. When you cancel, Premium lasts until the end of the year you’ve paid for.
• Apple sells Premium and handles payment, refunds and, in the EU, your right to withdraw from the purchase, under its own terms. You can ask for a refund atreportaproblem.apple.com.
• Restore purchases (on the Premium screen) brings Premium back on a new iPhone with the same Apple Account.
• When Premium ends, Excalibur goes back to the free version, which locks one app.

8. Gift codes

Duo and Lifetime come with one gift code that gives one friend Premium. A code works once. It has no cash value, and it isn’t for sale. A Lifetime gift lasts for good. A Duo gift lasts as long as the buyer keeps Duo, and ends shortly after the buyer’s paid year ends if they cancel. Both people need to be signed in to iCloud. We can cancel codes that were made or used by getting around these rules.

9. Changes to Excalibur

We keep improving Excalibur, so features and the world can change, at no extra cost to you. We won’t take away what you’ve paid for in a paid period without a good reason, such as a change in iOS or the law, and if we do, we’ll tell you in the app beforehand. If a change makes Premium clearly worse for you, you can end the agreement, and ask Apple for a refund.

10. Ownership

Excalibur, its world, art, sounds and name belong to us. The EULA gives you the right to use the app. If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without owing you anything.

11. Other services

Excalibur works with Apple’s services (the App Store, Screen Time, iCloud and CloudKit, and push notifications) and RevenueCat. Their own terms apply to them, and we aren’t responsible for their outages.

12. Complaints

If Excalibur doesn’t work as it should, or you want to complain about anything else, email support@theexcaliburapp.com. Tell us what happened, when, and what you’d like us to do, with your iPhone model and iOS version if it’s about the app. We reply within 14 days. If the complaint is about a payment or a refund, Apple handles it as the seller.

If you’re a consumer and Excalibur doesn’t match what we promised, you have the rights the law gives you for digital content and services, whatever these terms say.

13. Warranty and liability

To the extent the law allows, we aren’t liable for indirect losses, or for anything caused by an app being locked or not locked, and our total liability is limited to what you paid for Excalibur in the 12 months before the claim. None of this limits liability that can’t be limited by law, such as for harm we cause on purpose or by gross negligence, or your rights as a consumer.

14. Starting and ending

The agreement for the free services starts when you first open Excalibur, and buddies start when you send or accept an invite. You can end it at any time: unpair, cancel any subscription, then delete the app (while your apps are open). Ending it doesn’t cost anything.

We can stop your use of buddies or gift codes if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, as described in section 6. If we ever stop offering Excalibur or a paid feature, we’ll tell you in the app well in advance.

15. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms for good reasons, such as a new feature, a change in the law or in Apple’s rules. We’ll update them here and change the date at the top. If a change matters, we’ll tell you in the app at least 14 days before it applies. If you don’t agree, you can stop using Excalibur and cancel any subscription before then.

16. Law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of Poland. If you’re a consumer, you also keep the protection of the mandatory laws of the country where you live, and you can bring a claim in your local courts.

If we can’t agree on a complaint, you can use out-of-court ways to settle it. In Poland, a local consumer ombudsman (miejski or powiatowy rzecznik konsumentów) or the Trade Inspection (Inspekcja Handlowa) can help for free. If we turn down your complaint, we’ll tell you whether we agree to settle it out of court. Elsewhere in the EU, the European Consumer Centre in your country can help.