Terms of Use

1. Agreement to these terms

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Stepaw (“Stepaw,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). By downloading, accessing, or using Stepaw, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use Stepaw.

If you download Stepaw through Apple’s App Store or Google Play, the applicable store terms also apply. For Apple users, these Terms supplement Apple’s Licensed Application End User License Agreement. Mandatory consumer rights in your country are not limited by these Terms.

2. Eligibility and anonymous accounts

You must be at least 13 years old to use Stepaw. If local law requires a higher age for you to agree to online services or health-data processing, you must meet that age or have authorization from a parent or legal guardian.

Stepaw initially creates an anonymous account. You are responsible for access to your device and account session. Do not attempt to sell, transfer, or share an account. Because an anonymous account may not be recoverable after its local session is lost, you should use any account connection or recovery option we may provide if you want additional continuity.

3. Health access and activity accuracy

Stepaw requires your permission to read step count, walking and running distance, and active energy from Apple HealthKit or Android Health Connect. You may refuse or revoke permission, but features that depend on activity data may stop working.

Activity totals can differ between devices, wearables, operating systems, and other fitness apps. Delays, duplicate sources, device settings, missing permissions, or technical limitations may affect the totals shown by Stepaw. Stepaw may apply reasonable validation, anti-fraud limits, corrections, or exclusions to activity and reward calculations.

4. Paw Coins, rewarded ads, and step conversion

Eligible steps may be converted into Paw Coins after you voluntarily choose to view and complete a rewarded ad. Ad availability is not guaranteed. A conversion may be delayed, rejected, reversed, or limited where an ad reward cannot be verified, activity appears manipulated, or a technical or security issue occurs.

Paw Coins are virtual allocation points only. They:

• have no fixed cash or monetary value;
• are not cryptocurrency, stored value, or a financial instrument;
• cannot be purchased, sold, transferred, withdrawn, or exchanged;
• do not represent ownership of Stepaw funds; and
• do not create a debt or payment obligation owed to you.

Stepaw may set conversion rates, minimum eligible steps, daily or monthly limits, verification requirements, and promotional rewards. We may change these rules to protect the service, respond to advertising availability, or improve the donation model.

5. How shelter support works

Paw Coins help determine how Stepaw allocates a monthly donation pool among eligible shelters. Paw Coins do not have a fixed donation value, and a specific number of steps or Coins does not guarantee a specific amount of money will be donated.

Stepaw determines the size, timing, currency, recipients, minimum transfer thresholds, and allocation of each donation pool based on factors such as advertising or sponsorship revenue, operating costs, fraud adjustments, practical transfer requirements, and available funds. Stepaw may carry small allocations into a later period when reasonably necessary.

Using Stepaw does not mean that you personally donated money, and Paw Coins do not qualify you for a charitable tax deduction or donation receipt. Stepaw intends to publish donation reports or proof after applicable transfers are completed. Published reports are the authoritative record of completed Stepaw donations.

6. Shelters and third-party names

Shelter names, logos, and trademarks belong to their respective owners. Their appearance in Stepaw identifies organizations that Stepaw supports, intends to support, or makes available as potential recipients. It does not by itself mean a shelter sponsors, endorses, operates, or has a formal partnership with Stepaw unless we expressly say so.

Shelter information and external links are provided for convenience and may change. Stepaw may add, remove, replace, or temporarily suspend a shelter where necessary, including when donation details cannot be verified or a transfer cannot reasonably be completed.

7. Leaderboards, challenges, and usernames

Your chosen username and aggregate step total may be shown to other users on leaderboards. Challenge participants may see usernames and progress within the challenge. Do not use a username or challenge title that is unlawful, abusive, hateful, sexually explicit, misleading, impersonates another person or organization, or infringes third-party rights.

We may remove or rename content, restrict social features, or suspend accounts to address abuse, safety, legal, or platform-policy concerns. You may report concerns to hello@stepaw.app.

8. Acceptable use

You must not:

• fabricate, automate, replay, or manipulate steps or activity data;
• use bots, emulators, scripts, click farms, or automated ad interaction;
• interfere with rewarded ads or falsely claim an ad reward;
• exploit bugs, create abusive account farms, or evade service limits;
• probe, attack, overload, or bypass the security of Stepaw;
• reverse engineer Stepaw except where applicable law permits it;
• violate another person’s rights or any applicable law; or
• use Stepaw for commercial resale or unauthorized promotion.

9. Ads, app stores, and external services

Stepaw may display optional rewarded ads provided by Google AdMob. Advertising content and availability are controlled by third parties. Your use of ads and external services may also be governed by their terms and privacy policies.

Links to shelters, social networks, app stores, and other websites do not make Stepaw responsible for their content, security, availability, or practices. Review their terms before using them.

10. License and intellectual property

Subject to these Terms and applicable app-store rules, Stepaw grants you a limited, personal, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the app on devices you own or control for personal, non-commercial use.

Stepaw’s software, design, text, graphics, brand, and other content are owned by Stepaw or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. No rights are granted except those expressly stated in these Terms.

11. Service changes, suspension, and termination

We may update, change, pause, or discontinue features, conversion rules, shelters, rewards, or the service. We may suspend or terminate access when you breach these Terms, manipulate activity or ads, create risk for users or the service, or where required by law.

You may stop using Stepaw at any time and delete your account through Profile → Privacy & Data → Delete Account & Data. On termination or deletion, your license ends and unused Paw Coins cannot be paid out or transferred.

12. Fitness and medical disclaimer

Stepaw is a general walking and fitness tool. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or emergency services. Stepaw does not guarantee that a goal, calorie estimate, distance, or other activity metric is medically accurate or suitable for you.

Use reasonable care when walking, follow local laws, stay aware of your surroundings, and do not interact with the app when it would be unsafe. Consider professional medical advice before changing your activity level, particularly if you have a health condition. Stop and seek appropriate help if you experience pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, or other concerning symptoms.

13. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stepaw is provided “as is” and “as available.” We do not guarantee uninterrupted availability, error-free operation, ad availability, account recovery, exact activity totals, a particular Coin balance, a specific donation amount, or that every selected shelter will receive a transfer in every period.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stepaw and its developer will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, loss of data, loss of opportunity, or injury arising from misuse of the service. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot legally be excluded, including mandatory consumer rights.

14. Apple-specific terms

If you obtained Stepaw through Apple’s App Store, you acknowledge that these Terms are between you and Stepaw, not Apple. Apple is not responsible for Stepaw, its maintenance, support, warranties, product claims, legal compliance, or third-party intellectual-property claims. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce the Apple-specific provisions against you.

15. Governing rules and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws applicable to the Stepaw service provider, without overriding mandatory consumer protections that apply where you live. Before starting a formal claim, please contact us and allow a reasonable opportunity to resolve the issue informally.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms when the service, donation model, providers, or legal requirements change. We will post the updated Terms here and revise the “last updated” date. If a material change requires consent, we will request it as required by law.

17. Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to hello@stepaw.app.