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Terms of Use

The rules for using Once to give, swap, request, track, message, and clean up item photos.

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Once - Terms of Use

Last updated: 13 May 2026

The Short Version

  • Age: You must be 13+ to use Once.
  • Purpose: Once helps people give, swap, track, and request useful things with less waste.
  • No login by default: Your display name and stable Once ID are stored by the app so your local experience can work.
  • Your stuff: Your listings, inventory, Hint items, conversations, profile photo, item photos, and challenge progress remain yours.
  • iCloud sync: Optional. When enabled, Once backs up a snapshot to your private iCloud container using Apple CloudKit.
  • Magic Camera: If you use AI photo cleanup, the selected photo and prompt are sent to the configured AI endpoint or OpenAI.
  • Safety: Meet in safe public places, keep pickup details in chat, and do not list illegal, unsafe, recalled, or restricted items.
  • No guarantees: Once does not guarantee item condition, availability, pickup outcomes, message accuracy, or AI output accuracy.
  • Law: Australia.

1. What Once Is

Once is a reuse companion for giving away, swapping, tracking, and saving hints for physical items. It includes giveaway cards, a Things Wallet, Hint items, messages, challenges, optional iCloud sync, profile photos, and AI-assisted photo cleanup.

Once is not a payment processor, delivery service, escrow service, professional appraisal service, safety authority, legal adviser, recycling authority, or emergency service. You remain responsible for what you list, request, collect, give away, swap, photograph, and say to other people.

2. Accounts, Identity, and Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Once. This build is designed around a no-login local profile. Once stores a display name and a stable Once ID on your device so the app can keep your profile, listings, chats, and safety records consistent.

You are responsible for keeping your device secure and for using a display name that does not impersonate another person or mislead other users.

3. User Content and Item Listings

Your item photos, profile photo, listing copy, inventory records, Hint items, messages, notes, and other content remain yours. By creating or sharing content through Once, you confirm that you have the rights and permissions needed to use it and that it does not violate the law or another person's rights.

Do not list or request illegal, dangerous, stolen, counterfeit, recalled, age-restricted, regulated, unsafe, or otherwise unsuitable items. Do not misrepresent item condition, hide safety issues, use AI-edited photos to deceive people, or move pickup conversations into channels that make moderation or safety follow-up harder.

4. Pickup, Swaps, and Real-World Safety

Use judgement when meeting people, arranging pickups, or accepting swaps. Prefer public places, avoid sharing unnecessary personal details, and stop any interaction that feels unsafe. Once cannot verify every person, item, pickup location, message, or outcome.

You are responsible for complying with local laws, platform rules, building rules, recycling rules, and any safety standards that apply to the items you give, swap, request, or collect.

5. iCloud Sync and Local Storage

Once stores app data locally on your device and also keeps a local snapshot in UserDefaults for recovery. If you enable iCloud sync, Once may save a snapshot containing your profile, giveaway cards, archived listings, coarse listing suburb/postcode and filtering coordinates, inventory, Hint items, conversations, challenge progress, profile photo data, saved item-photo data, and activity totals to your private iCloud CloudKit container.

Apple provides the iCloud infrastructure. You control iCloud availability through your Apple ID, device settings, storage plan, network connection, and platform configuration. Disabling sync stops future sync attempts, but data already stored in iCloud may remain there until you manage it through Apple settings.

6. Magic Camera and AI Features

Magic Camera sends the selected item photo, item name, category, style choice, and prompt instructions to the configured AI image endpoint or OpenAI to recreate an honest product-style photo. AI outputs can be inaccurate, incomplete, delayed, unavailable, or visually inconsistent.

Use Magic Camera only for items you have the right to photograph. Do not use AI-edited photos to hide defects, invent accessories, add misleading brand cues, or make an item look materially different from what someone will receive.

7. Once Intellectual Property

Once and its licensors own the app, code, design system, logos, interface layouts, feature names, workflows, Magic Camera prompts, AI orchestration, visual style, copy, and related materials that make up Once. You receive a personal, limited, revocable licence to use Once as intended through the official app and supported system features.

You must not copy, scrape, reproduce, reverse engineer, decompile, resell, redistribute, train on, benchmark against, commercially exploit, or create derivative products from Once, its interface, workflows, prompts, outputs, screenshots, brand assets, or backend behaviour without written permission.

8. Third-Party Services

Once may interact with Apple services, iCloud, device camera services, App Store surfaces, sibling app links, and AI providers. Those providers have their own terms and privacy practices. Once cannot control third-party services, outages, policies, search results, model behaviour, or operating-system changes.

9. Changes and Availability

Once may change, pause, remove, or update features over time. If you keep using Once after changes, you accept the updated Terms of Use. Features may be unavailable because of device settings, iCloud status, network conditions, AI provider availability, App Store rules, or technical issues.

10. Contact

For support, permission requests, or legal questions, contact help@once.gives.