Sparkle Detective Terms of Use
These terms are an agreement between you and Corban Productions ("we", "us") for using the Sparkle Detective iOS app and its online service. Sparkle Detective is a story-driven walking, running and biking app: you pick a mystery, drop a start pin and paint an area on a map, and our server places the story's locations at real spots inside it. Story beats unlock when you arrive during a walk tracked by your phone, or when you import a workout from Apple Health. By using the app you agree to these terms and to our Privacy Policy.
Eligibility
You must be at least 13 years old to use Sparkle Detective. If you are under the age of majority where you live, a parent or guardian must agree to these terms for you.
Your safety comes first
Sparkle Detective sends you to real places on foot or by bike. We choose those places automatically from public map data, and we cannot check whether a spot is safe, open, accessible or appropriate at the moment you go there. You are responsible for your own safety. In particular:
- Pay attention to your surroundings, traffic and the weather.
- Obey traffic laws and local rules, including on paths and in parks.
- Respect private property. Never enter private land, closed areas or anywhere you are not allowed, even if a story location appears to be there. Use "Change this location" instead.
- Do not use your phone while riding a bike. Stop somewhere safe first.
- Only go out if you are fit to do so, and choose distances that suit you.
Notifications and story reveals can wait. Nothing in the app is worth taking a risk for.
Acceptable use
You agree not to:
- break the law or infringe anyone's rights while using the app;
- use the app to harass, follow or locate other people;
- interfere with the service, overload it, probe it for weaknesses, or access it other than through the app;
- copy, resell or redistribute the stories or the app;
- fake locations or workouts to cheat the service in ways that harm it or other users.
Stories are fiction
Sparkle Detective's stories are fictional. To make them feel local, they use the real names of streets, parks and other places near you, but the events, characters and descriptions are made up. Any resemblance to real people, living or dead, or to real events is coincidental. A place appearing in a story says nothing about that place or the people connected to it.
Stories you publish
You can write your own stories in Sparkle Detective and submit them to the library. When you submit a story, you confirm that:
- it is your own work: you wrote the story yourself and did the main creative work, not an AI tool. Having an AI proofread it is fine, and so are the supporting lines (pin names, titles, arrival lines and the like) that Sparkle Detective or another AI tool drafted for you;
- its rating and content warnings honestly describe what is in it;
- it contains no sexual content.
If you delete a story you published, or your account, anyone who has its link can still play it, without your name on it.
Subscriptions
Some content may require a subscription. Subscriptions are monthly or annual, auto-renewing, and purchased through Apple. The price is shown in the app before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple account. A subscription renews automatically unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the current period ends. You can manage or cancel it in iOS Settings under your Apple account. Refunds are handled by Apple under its policies; we cannot issue them ourselves.
Intellectual property
The app, its stories, artwork and software belong to Corban Productions or its licensors. We give you a personal, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app on Apple devices you own or control, for your own non-commercial use, in line with Apple's App Store terms. Map data is © OpenStreetMap contributors, and map tiles are provided by OpenFreeMap.
No warranties
We provide Sparkle Detective "as is". We work to keep it running and accurate, but we do not promise that it will always be available, free of errors, or that story locations, distances and map data will be correct or current. GPS and Health data can be wrong, so arrivals may be missed or credited late. To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, including fitness for a particular purpose.
Limits on our liability
To the extent the law allows, Corban Productions is not liable for injury, loss or damage that comes from going to places the app suggests, from your physical activity, or from the app being unavailable or wrong. Our total liability for any claim about the app is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or US$50 if that is more. Some places do not allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you.
Ending your use
You can stop using Sparkle Detective at any time and delete your account by emailing us, or from the Account screen in the app once it is available. We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms or misuse the service. Sections that by their nature should survive, such as intellectual property, disclaimers and limits on liability, continue after your access ends.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. We will post the new version on this page with a new effective date, and tell you in the app if a change is significant. If you keep using Sparkle Detective after a change takes effect, you accept the updated terms.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Utah, United States, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any dispute will be handled in the state or federal courts located in Utah, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring it elsewhere.
Contact
Corban Productions
[email protected]