Terms of Use

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and uStory ("uStory", "we", "us"). They apply to the uStory mobile app and the ustory.app website (together, the "Service"). By downloading the app, creating an account or using the Service, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

1. The Service

uStory is an interactive story platform. You can read stories whose course depends on your choices, and write your own stories for others to read. The Service includes free features, features supported by ads and paid features (see sections 7 and 8). We may add, change or remove features over time. If a change takes away a paid feature you bought, we will make a fair adjustment.

2. Eligibility and Accounts

• You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. If you are under 18, you need the permission of a parent or legal guardian, who accepts these Terms on your behalf.
• You can sign in with your email address, Apple or Google. Keep access to your sign-in method secure; you are responsible for what happens on your account.
• Give accurate information and do not create an account for someone else, impersonate anyone or use a username that misleads others or infringes someone's rights.
• You may have one personal account. Accounts are not transferable.
• You need an account to read stories. Your progress, purchases and uMoney are kept in your account.

3. AI-Generated Content

Stories on uStory continue with the help of artificial intelligence: when a reader picks a choice whose page has not been written yet, an AI model writes the next page and its choices, based on the story so far.

• AI-generated pages are fiction. They can be inaccurate, inconsistent or unexpected, and they do not represent our views. Do not rely on them as advice of any kind.
• We use filters and rules to keep generated content within our guidelines, but we cannot review every page before it is shown. Please report pages that break the rules.
• Generated pages become part of the story they were written for and may be shown to every reader who makes the same choices.
• Do not try to make the AI produce content that breaks these Terms, for example by writing instructions into a story's text.

4. Your Content

"Your Content" means the stories, pages, choices, covers, comments, profile information and anything else you submit to the Service.

• You keep ownership. We do not claim ownership of Your Content.
• License to us. You give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable and sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, adapt, translate, display, distribute and promote Your Content in and in connection with the Service, for as long as it remains on the Service and for a reasonable time after to remove it from backups and caches. This license lets us run the Service, for example to show your story to readers, send it to our AI providers so they can write new pages, show it on ustory.app and in search engines, and feature it in our own promotion.
• Story continuations. By publishing a story, you agree that AI-generated pages will extend it according to readers' choices. These pages are produced by the Service. You may use them as part of your story, and we may continue to show them within uStory, including after you remove the story.
• Your responsibility. You are responsible for Your Content. You confirm that you have the rights to everything you submit, including cover images, and that it does not infringe anyone's copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights.
• Visibility. Published stories, comments and your profile are public. Set a story's visibility before publishing it if you do not want it listed.

5. Community Rules

uStory is used by people of many ages, cultures and beliefs. To keep it safe, you may not post, write or prompt content that:

• sexualizes minors in any way (we report such content to the authorities);
• is sexually explicit or pornographic;
• promotes or glorifies terrorism, violent extremism, organized crime or hate groups;
• attacks or demeans people based on race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability or similar characteristics;
• harasses, threatens, bullies or insults other people, or shares their personal information;
• encourages self-harm, suicide or eating disorders;
• promotes illegal drugs, the sale of weapons, alcohol or tobacco to minors, or gambling;
• is spam, a scam or advertising;
• infringes someone's intellectual property or other rights, or is otherwise illegal.

Stories may explore dark themes such as crime, conflict or loss, as fiction does, as long as they do not cross these lines.

You also may not:

• use bots, scripts or scraping to access the Service or collect data from it;
• reverse engineer, modify or interfere with the app, our servers or the security of the Service;
• abuse ads, purchases, refunds, contests or the reporting system, for example with fake accounts or fake interactions;
• use the Service in a way that violates the law or these Terms.

6. Reporting, Moderation and Termination

• You can report stories, pages, comments and users in the app, and block other users. We review reports and act on them.
• We may remove or hide content, limit features, suspend or permanently close accounts that break these Terms or the law, or that put other users or the Service at risk. In serious cases we may do this without prior notice and prevent you from opening a new account.
• If you believe we removed your content or restricted your account by mistake, write to info@ustory.app and we will review the decision.
• If your copyright or other rights are infringed on uStory, send us the content's link, a description of your rights and your contact details. We will remove infringing content and may close the accounts of repeat infringers.
• You can delete your account at any time: Profile › Settings › Help › Delete Account. Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription bought through Apple or Google; cancel it in your store account.

7. Premium Subscriptions

• uStory Premium is offered as weekly, monthly or yearly subscriptions. The price, period and what is included are shown in the app before you buy.
• Payment is charged to your Apple ID or Google Play account. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each period unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends. You can manage and cancel them in your App Store or Google Play account settings.
• If a free trial is offered, your subscription starts and you are charged when the trial ends, unless you cancel before then.
• If the price changes, Apple or Google will notify you as their rules require, and you can cancel before the new price applies.
• Refunds are handled by Apple or Google under their policies. To get your subscription back on a new device, tap Restore on the Premium screen in the app.

8. uMoney

• uMoney is the in-app currency of uStory. You can buy it in the app, and some subscriptions include it. You can spend it on paid stories, paid choices and Time Travel (going back to an earlier choice).
• uMoney is a limited, personal license to use certain features. It has no cash value, cannot be exchanged for money, transferred, sold or used outside the Service, and is not a deposit or payment instrument.
• uMoney purchases are final once delivered to your account, except where the store's refund policy or mandatory law gives you a right to a refund. If a purchase is refunded, we may deduct the related uMoney.
• Writer earnings: when a reader spends uMoney on your paid story or on a paid choice in your story, you receive 50% of the price as uMoney, rounded down. Premium readers, who open paid content without spending uMoney, and purchases in your own stories do not earn uMoney. Earned uMoney follows the same rules as all other uMoney and cannot be cashed out. We may change the share with notice, and we may remove uMoney earned through fake accounts or other manipulation.
• Your uMoney balance is lost if you delete your account or if it is closed for breaking these Terms.
• We may change what features cost in uMoney. Spent uMoney is not returned if a story is later removed by its writer or for breaking the rules.

9. Ads

The Service shows ads, including rewarded ads that unlock some options when watched to the end. Ads are provided by third parties; we are not responsible for their products or websites. How ads use your data is explained in the Privacy Policy.

10. Contests and Badges

We may run writing or reading contests. The rules, dates, judging and any prizes of each contest are announced with it, and those rules apply alongside these Terms. We may disqualify entries that break the rules or manipulate results, and we may change or cancel a contest for good reason. Badges, scores and rankings have no monetary value.

11. Our Intellectual Property

The uStory name, logo, app, website, design, software and the content we create are owned by us or our licensors and protected by law. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable license to use the app for your own, non-commercial use under these Terms. You may not copy, distribute or create works based on the Service, or use our name and logo, without our written permission. Stories written by other users belong to their writers; do not copy them outside the Service without their permission.

12. Apple, Google and Third-Party Services

• If you downloaded the app from the App Store, these Terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple is not responsible for the app or its content, has no obligation to provide maintenance or support, and is not responsible for claims relating to the app (such as product liability, legal compliance or intellectual property claims). If the app fails to conform to an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, which may refund the purchase price, if any. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
• Your use of the App Store or Google Play is also subject to Apple's and Google's terms.
• The Service links to and works with third-party services, such as sign-in and payment providers. Their own terms apply, and we are not responsible for them.

13. Disclaimers

We work hard to keep uStory available and working well, but the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". To the extent the law allows, we do not guarantee that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, that content (including AI-generated content and content by other users) will be accurate or suitable, or that the Service will meet your expectations. We may suspend the Service for maintenance or for reasons beyond our control.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the extent the law allows, we are liable only for damage caused by our intent or gross negligence. We are not liable for indirect damage, loss of profit or data, or for content created by users or AI. Our total liability to you for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. These limits do not apply to death or personal injury caused by us, or to liability that cannot be limited by law. Nothing in these Terms limits your mandatory rights as a consumer, including under Turkish Consumer Protection Law No. 6502 or the consumer law of your country.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms when the Service or the law changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change materially affects your rights, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. If you continue to use the Service after a change takes effect, the updated Terms apply. If you do not agree, you can stop using the Service and delete your account.

16. Governing Law and Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Türkiye. Please contact us first; most issues can be solved quickly. If we cannot resolve a dispute, the Istanbul Anatolian Courts and Enforcement Offices have jurisdiction. If you are a consumer, you may also apply to the consumer arbitration committee or consumer court where you live, within the limits set by law. If you live in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you also keep the protection of the mandatory laws of your country and may bring proceedings there.

17. General

• If any provision of these Terms is found invalid, the rest remains in effect.
• If we do not enforce a provision, we do not waive our right to do so later.
• We may transfer these Terms to a successor of the Service; you may not transfer them without our consent.
• These Terms are available in English and Turkish. If the two versions conflict, the Turkish version prevails, unless the law of your country requires otherwise.

18. Contact

For questions about these Terms, write to info@ustory.app.