Terms of Use
Effective 16 August 2026 · Applies to the Critterdex iOS app and critterdex.madpine.com
The spirit of it
Critterdex is a game about noticing the animals around you. Use it kindly: keep your distance from wildlife, follow local rules, and treat the AI's answers as a delighted guess, not a field guide.
1. Agreement
By downloading or using Critterdex (“the app”) or this website, you agree to these terms. If you got the app through the Apple App Store, Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies; where the two conflict, these terms govern your relationship with us and Apple's govern your relationship with Apple.
2. Your license to the app
We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use Critterdex on Apple devices you own or control, for your own enjoyment. Don't copy, resell, or redistribute the app, and don't try to disrupt or abuse the services it relies on (for example, by hammering the identification service with automated requests).
3. Your photos are yours
You keep all rights to the photos you capture. We claim no ownership. Photos stay on your device except for transient transmission for species identification. If you connect Apple, only collection metadata is synced; photos and precise locations are not. See the Privacy Policy. You're responsible for what you photograph — respect other people's privacy and property when you're out catching.
4. Identifications are AI-generated guesses
- Species identifications are produced by AI and can be wrong, sometimes confidently wrong.
- Never rely on an identification for any safety decision — whether an animal (or anything else) is safe to touch, approach, feed, or eat. When in doubt, keep your distance and enjoy the card instead.
- Critterdex is a game, not a scientific, medical or veterinary tool.
5. Be good to wildlife
The whole point is noticing animals, not bothering them. Don't chase, corner, bait, or handle wild animals to get a capture; don't trespass; and follow local wildlife-protection laws and park rules, including those that protect endangered species from disturbance.
6. Fair play
Critterdex is built around live captures of real animals. The app checks every capture and can refuse photos that appear to be of screens, prints, or toys — trying to trick it to farm cards spoils the game. We may remove or limit features for abuse of the identification service.
7. Free catches and Critterdex+
Your first catches are free. Critterdex+ is an optional auto-renewing subscription that unlocks a larger daily pool of catches. Prices, the billing period and any free trial are shown clearly in the app before you pay; payment is charged to your Apple Account and handled by the App Store under Apple’s terms. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period — manage or cancel any time in your Apple Account settings. Refunds are handled by Apple (see Support).
8. The service is provided “as is”
We work hard to keep Critterdex delightful and reliable, but it is provided as is and as available, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose or accuracy of identifications. Features may change, break, or be discontinued.
9. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages, or for any loss arising from reliance on an identification, from wildlife encounters, or from loss of on-device data. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited under the consumer-protection laws of your country of residence, and nothing restricts your statutory rights.
10. Termination
You can stop using Critterdex at any time. Deleting the app removes local data; if you connected Apple, delete the Critterdex account in Settings to remove its synced metadata as described in the Privacy Policy. Deleting a Critterdex account does not cancel an App Store subscription, which must be managed through Apple. We may suspend access to online identification for abuse of these terms.
11. Changes to these terms
If we make material changes, we'll update the effective date above and, for significant changes, say so in the app. Continuing to use Critterdex after changes take effect means you accept the updated terms.
12. Contact
Questions about these terms: critterdex@madpine.com.
13. Language
Translations are provided for convenience. If a translated version differs from the English version, the English version controls to the extent allowed by applicable law. Mandatory consumer rights in your country are not affected.