Terms of Use

Last updated: 7 October 2026

Welcome to PHONI. These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are a legal agreement between you and Matvei Arefev, operating PHONI (“PHONI”, “we”, “us” or “our”). They apply to the PHONI app and the online services we run for it (together, the “Service”).

By creating an account, continuing as a guest or otherwise using PHONI, you agree to these Terms and confirm that you have read our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle your information. You can find both in the app under PROFILE > SETTINGS. If you do not agree, please do not use PHONI.

1. Who can use PHONI

• You must be at least 13 years old to use PHONI or create an account. We ask for your date of birth when you sign up and do not let anyone under 13 create an account.
• If you are under the age of majority where you live (18 in most places), you may use PHONI only with the permission of a parent or legal guardian, who must also agree to these Terms. Parents and guardians are responsible for their child’s use of PHONI, including purchases.
• You may not use PHONI if the laws that apply to you do not allow it, or if we have previously banned you.

If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 13, we will close it and delete its data.

2. Your account and guest play

• You can play as a guest or create an account with your email address, a password, a username and the other details requested at sign-up. Please give us accurate information and keep it up to date.
• Keep your password to yourself. You are responsible for everything that happens under your account. Tell us straight away at phoni.technology@gmail.com if you think someone else has used it.
• Your username must not impersonate anyone, mislead other players or break the community rules below. We may change or reclaim a username that does.
• Guest progress, including any πPHI, tickets and items, is stored on your device and, if iCloud is turned on, backed up to your own iCloud account. We cannot see or restore it, and it can be lost if you delete the app, reset your device or turn off iCloud.

3. Your licence to use PHONI

We give you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to download and use the PHONI app on Apple devices that you own or control, for your own non-commercial entertainment, in line with these Terms and the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions. We and our licensors keep all rights not expressly granted to you. If you got PHONI from the App Store, Apple’s standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies to this licence.

4. Community rules

PHONI is built for playing smart with other people. When you use it, you must not:

• harass, bully, threaten, stalk or intimidate anyone, or encourage others to do so;
• post or send hateful, discriminatory, sexually explicit or violent content, or any content that sexualises minors;
• share someone else’s personal information without their permission;
• impersonate another person or organisation, or lie about your age;
• spam, scam or advertise, or send unwanted messages, pokes, invites or challenges;
• cheat, use bots, scripts, modified apps or exploits, or manipulate scores, rewards, rankings or the in-game economy;
• buy, sell, trade or transfer accounts, πPHI or items outside PHONI;
• copy, reverse engineer or decompile the app, except where the law allows it;
• interfere with, overload or break the Service, or access it other than through the app;
• use PHONI for anything illegal or to infringe anyone’s rights.

We have zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive players. PHONI automatically filters common offensive words: they are masked in chat messages, and usernames, display names and Society names or descriptions that contain them are refused. You can block other players and report accounts in FRIENDS and SOCIETIES. We may review reports and the related content, and we may remove content, limit features, or suspend or close accounts that break these rules.

5. Your content

“Your content” means what you create or share in PHONI, such as your username, display name, society names and descriptions, messages, and what you type to our AI sidekicks.

You keep ownership of your content. You give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, copy, process, display and send your content, only as needed to run, protect and improve the Service (for example, to show your username to other players). This licence ends when your content is deleted, except for copies we must keep by law or that other players have already received.

You are responsible for your content and confirm that you have the right to share it. We do not have to host any content and may remove content at any time.

6. AI sidekicks and AI-generated questions

PHONI’s sidekicks, EVA and MAX, and some trivia questions (for example, custom categories) are generated by artificial intelligence provided by OpenAI through our servers. The app asks for your permission before sending anything you type to OpenAI.

• AI replies and questions are produced automatically. They can be wrong, out of date, biased or unexpected, and they do not represent our views.
• They are for entertainment only. Do not rely on them for medical, legal, financial, safety or other important advice.
• Do not share sensitive personal information, yours or anyone else’s, with the sidekicks.
• Do not use the AI features to create content that breaks the community rules.

7. The Indicator

The PHONI Indicator is a party-game feature. With your permission, it uses your device’s microphone to measure how loud your voice is in real time. The audio is processed on your device and is never recorded or sent to us.

The Indicator is not a lie detector or a scientific, medical or psychological tool. Accuracy figures mentioned in the app are part of the game and are not a guarantee of how it performs. Do not treat its results as evidence about anyone or use them to make decisions about people, and play it only with people who know they are playing.

8. πPHI, tickets and other virtual items

PHONI includes virtual currency (πPHI and tickets) and virtual items such as packages, power-ups, skins and themes (“Virtual Items”).

• Virtual Items are licensed to you, not sold. You get a limited, personal, non-transferable and revocable right to use them in PHONI. You do not own them.
• Virtual Items have no cash value. They cannot be exchanged for real money or anything of value outside the app, and cannot be sold, traded or transferred to another account or person, except where the app itself allows it.
• You can earn Virtual Items by playing, and buy some with real money through the App Store. Prices, rewards and availability can change.
• Except where the law or Apple’s refund policies require otherwise, purchases are final and Virtual Items are not refundable, including when your account is closed or deleted or when a feature ends.
• We may correct balances or items credited by mistake or obtained through cheating, bugs or abuse.
• Virtual Items are lost if you delete your account, if we close it for breaking these Terms, or, for guests, if the data on your device is lost.

9. Purchases through the App Store

Real-money purchases are made through Apple’s App Store and are processed by Apple under Apple’s terms. We never see your payment card details. Refund requests are handled by Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. When a purchase completes, we receive a record of the transaction from Apple so that we can credit it to your account.

If a purchase does not arrive, email phoni.technology@gmail.com with the date and the product you bought.

10. Our content and brand

PHONI, the PHONI logo, EVA, MAX, the Indicator, and the app’s artwork, questions, sounds and software belong to us or our licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms do not give you any rights to them other than the licence in section 3. If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without any obligation to you.

11. Third-party services

PHONI relies on third-party services, including Apple (App Store, in-app purchases and iCloud), Supabase (hosting, database and sign-in) and OpenAI (AI features). Apple’s services are subject to Apple’s own terms. We are not responsible for third-party services that we do not control.

12. Changes to PHONI

PHONI is a live game that is still growing. We may add, change or remove features, game modes, questions, rewards and Virtual Items, and we may suspend or stop the Service. Where a change materially affects you, we will try to tell you in advance.

13. Deleting your account and termination

You can stop using PHONI at any time. You can delete your account in the app at PROFILE > SETTINGS > ACCOUNT > DELETE ACCOUNT, or by emailing phoni.technology@gmail.com. Deleting your account is permanent: your profile, progress and Virtual Items are erased as described in our Privacy Policy and cannot be restored.

We may suspend or close your account, or limit your access, if you break these Terms, if the law requires it, or to protect players or the Service. Where appropriate, we will tell you why.

Sections 5, 8, 10 and 14 to 17 continue to apply after your account ends.

14. Disclaimers

PHONI is provided “as is” and “as available”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy (for example, of trivia answers or AI replies) and non-infringement, and we do not promise that PHONI will be uninterrupted, secure or error-free.

Some places do not allow certain disclaimers, so some of the above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits rights you have as a consumer that cannot be limited by contract.

15. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, data, goodwill or Virtual Items, arising from or related to your use of PHONI. Our total liability for any claim relating to PHONI is limited to the greater of the amount you paid for PHONI purchases in the 12 months before the claim, or US$50.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited by law, such as liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

16. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to compensate us for claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your content or from your breach of these Terms.

17. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Disputes will be decided by the state and federal courts located in Travis County, Texas, unless the law where you live gives you the right to bring proceedings in your local courts or to rely on its mandatory consumer protections. Before starting a claim, please email us so that we can try to resolve it informally.

18. Apple App Store terms

These Terms are between you and us, not Apple. In addition:

• Apple is not responsible for PHONI or its content and has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for it.
• If PHONI fails to conform to an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price of the app (if any). To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation for PHONI.
• We, not Apple, are responsible for any claims by you or a third party relating to PHONI, including product liability claims, claims that PHONI does not meet legal or regulatory requirements, consumer protection claims, and claims that PHONI infringes someone’s intellectual property rights.
• You confirm that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as a “terrorist supporting” country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• You must follow any third-party terms that apply when you use PHONI, such as your mobile carrier’s.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

19. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will change the “Last updated” date above and, for material changes, tell you in the app before they take effect. If you keep using PHONI after the changes take effect, you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, stop using PHONI and delete your account.

20. Contact us

PHONI (operated by Matvei Arefev)

Email: phoni.technology@gmail.com