Acceptance and eligibility
These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Farrell Bros LLC ("Unplug," "we," "us"), the company that makes the Unplug app. By creating an account, starting a challenge, or otherwise using the app, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use Unplug.
You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract to use Unplug. The app involves putting your own money on the line, so it is not intended for anyone under 18.
Unplug is offered only where it is legal to do so. Some places restrict paid commitment or contest features. You are responsible for whether your use is legal where you live. Where local rules do not allow the forfeit feature, it is simply not available to you, and you can still use Unplug with no money on the line.
What Unplug is
Unplug is a self-accountability tool. You set a screen-time goal for yourself, and you can back that goal with a forfeit: an amount of your own money that you agree to pay only if you fall short of the goal you chose. It is a commitment contract: you set the goal and the stake in advance and hold yourself to it.
Unplug is not gambling, betting, a wager, a lottery, or a game of chance. You compete only against your own goal. The outcome is decided entirely by your own behavior, not by chance. A challenge has no prize and no pot: you never win another player's money, and the only money at stake is the forfeit you set for yourself, which you pay only if you fall short.
You can also use Unplug without any money on the line, as a plain screen-time tool.
Your account
To use most features you create an account using email, Google, or Apple sign-in (every account also verifies a phone number). You are responsible for keeping your login secure and for everything that happens under your account. Tell us right away at services@unplugmobile.app if you think your account has been used without your permission.
You agree to give accurate information and to keep it current. We may suspend or close accounts that break these Terms, that we reasonably believe are being used to cheat or defraud, or where we are required to by law.
You can delete your account at any time, from the app (Account settings, then Delete account) or by request at services@unplugmobile.app. Deleting your account removes you from every challenge you are in, personal and group. We do not charge a forfeit for those challenges. We keep limited records afterward, as described in our Privacy Policy.
How challenges and forfeits work
A challenge is a goal you set: a screen-time limit, the apps or categories it covers, and how long it runs. When you start a challenge you can attach a forfeit, an amount you choose, and you link a payment method to back it.
- Stay under your limit and you pay nothing. Hitting your goal is the whole point.
- Fall short and the forfeit you agreed to applies. You are charged the exact amount you chose, never more.
- It is a one-time charge per challenge. A forfeit is not a recurring charge and it is not a subscription.
- You only ever risk your own money. Forfeited amounts are retained by Unplug. Within a challenge, you never win or receive another player's forfeited money.
A group challenge works the same way for each person. Friends take on a shared set of terms together, but each of you is accountable only for your own goal and your own forfeit. In the challenge itself, no one wins or loses anyone else's money. Unplug may pay the host of a group challenge a reward based on how many people join. We fund those host rewards ourselves; they never come from anyone's forfeit.
Referral rewards. If you invite someone who joins Unplug, we may pay you a referral reward based on the overall revenue we earn from the people you invite. A referral reward is a marketing payment that we fund ourselves. It does not change what you or anyone else pays. The reward rate, who qualifies, and how long it lasts are set by us and may change at any time; a change applies only to invites you make after it. We may pause, change, or end the referral program, and we may withhold or reverse rewards we believe were earned through fraud, abuse, or fake or self-referred accounts.
Once you join a challenge, you are committed to finishing it. You cannot quit after joining, and that is the point: locking yourself in is what gets you to follow through.
The forfeit is a price, not a penalty
The forfeit is the agreed price of the accountability service you chose to use, for the event you defined when you started the challenge. It is not a fine, a punishment, or damages for breaking a promise. You decide the amount in advance, you decide what counts as falling short, and you agree to pay that price if the event happens. By starting a challenge with a forfeit, you agree that the amount is fair and reasonable for the service.
Payment authorization
When you start a challenge with a forfeit, you authorize Unplug and our payment processor, Stripe, to charge your linked payment method up to the forfeit amount you chose, and only if you fall short of your goal. Your card details are handled and stored by Stripe. Unplug never sees or stores your full card number.
No charge is made up front. A charge happens only after a challenge ends, only if your result is a shortfall, and only after the dispute window in Section 8 has closed.
Verifying your result, and anti-cheat
Your screen-time result is measured on your device. To make the forfeit real and fair, you agree that for the length of a challenge you will keep Unplug installed, keep the required Screen Time or usage permission granted, and not disable, remove, or work around the monitoring or blocking.
At the end of a challenge you must let the app confirm your final result, which usually just means opening the app so it can report your standing.
If we cannot confirm your result, because you force-quit and do not return, uninstall the app, or disable the permission, we treat that challenge as a shortfall and your forfeit applies. The simplest way to avoid a charge is always the same: stay under your limit and open the app at the end so we can confirm it.
We may require additional verification and may audit any participation. Each of the following is a violation that counts as falling short: disabling or revoking monitoring during a challenge, dismissing or bypassing the block, using an exempted app to get around your limit, or any attempt to manipulate your result. We may disqualify a participant we reasonably believe is cheating.
Disputes, the review window, and corrections
If a challenge ends in a shortfall but you think that is wrong, you can dispute it. Open the challenge in the app, go to the challenge details, and tap Dispute. You have up to 24 hours after a challenge ends to submit, and nothing is charged until that window closes.
A disputed charge stays on hold until the dispute is decided. If a charge turns out to be wrong, for example because tracking did not reflect what really happened on that challenge, or a situation outside your control that we accept, we will not charge you, or we will refund a charge that already went through. Because disputes are decided before charging, please raise any concern as early as you can.
You agree to use this dispute process before asking your bank to reverse a charge. Starting a chargeback for a forfeit you properly authorized, instead of contacting us first, is a breach of these Terms.
Refunds
Once you join a challenge, you commit to finishing it. You cannot quit a challenge after joining, so there is no cancellation refund. The one exception is deleting your account, which removes you from every challenge you are in (see Section 3).
Forfeits that are properly charged after the dispute window are non-refundable, except where we decide in good faith that a charge was made in error. Premium subscription fees are handled by the app stores and are covered in Section 11.
Unclaimed funds
If we ever owe you money, for example a refund that is due to you, and we are unable to return it because your account is inactive or we cannot reach you, we will try to contact you first using the details on file. If the funds stay unclaimed, we will report and remit them to your state's unclaimed-property fund as required by law.
Acceptable use
When you use Unplug, you agree not to:
- break the law, or use the app for anything illegal;
- cheat, tamper with, reverse engineer, or try to manipulate screen-time tracking, challenges, or charges;
- use another person's payment method or account without permission;
- interfere with, overload, or try to gain unauthorized access to the app or our systems; or
- copy, resell, or misuse any part of the service.
Screen-time data and permissions
Unplug needs screen-time permissions to do its job. On iOS it uses Apple's Screen Time and Device Activity features, and on Android it uses Usage Access and an Accessibility Service. Your usage is measured on your device, and your daily usage summaries sync to your account to run your challenges, confirm results, and resolve disputes. How we handle your information is described in our Privacy Policy, which is part of these Terms.
To improve the app and fix problems, Unplug also collects product-usage analytics, crash diagnostics, and masked session replays (playbacks of your in-app screens, with your personal and screen-time data hidden), which you can turn off at any time under Account (basic crash reporting stays on). This is covered in our Privacy Policy.
Health and wellness
Unplug is a habit and accountability tool. It is not medical, psychological, or professional advice, and it is not a treatment for any condition. If you are concerned about your relationship with your phone or your wellbeing, please talk to a qualified professional.
Disclaimers and limitation of liability
Unplug is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, to the fullest extent allowed by law. We do not promise that screen-time tracking is perfectly accurate at all times, or that the app will always be available or error-free. If you ever think a charge is wrong, the dispute process in Section 8 is how we review it and make it right.
To the fullest extent allowed by law, Unplug will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for lost profits or data. Our total liability for any claim relating to the app is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the three months before the claim, or one hundred US dollars (US$100). You agree to indemnify and hold Unplug harmless from claims arising out of your misuse of the app or your breach of these Terms.
Some states do not allow certain limits on warranties or liability, so some of the above may not apply to you.
App Store and Google Play terms
If you download Unplug from the Apple App Store, you also agree to Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement. Apple and Google are not parties to these Terms and are not responsible for the app or its content. Apple, Google, and their subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you. You confirm you are not located in a country subject to a US Government embargo and are not on any US Government restricted-parties list.
Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change, we will give notice in the app or by email, and where it matters we will ask you to accept the updated Terms before you continue. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when the current version took effect. Continuing to use Unplug after an update means you accept the new Terms.
Governing law and dispute resolution
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Washington, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.
If you have a problem, please contact us first. We will try in good faith to resolve any dispute informally. If we cannot, you and Unplug agree that any dispute will be resolved by binding individual arbitration, rather than in court, except that either of us may bring an individual claim in small-claims court where eligible.
You and Unplug agree to bring claims only on an individual basis, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class or representative action. If the forfeit part of these Terms is found unenforceable where you live, the rest of these Terms still applies, and your challenges can still run as a goal with no money attached.
Contact
Questions about these Terms? Email services@unplugmobile.app, or write to us at:
Farrell Bros LLC
Seattle, WA, United States