← Terse

Terms of Use

Last updated: May 2026

1. Acceptance

These Terms of Use form a legally binding agreement between you and the operator of Terse. By downloading, installing, or using the Terse app ("the App"), you confirm that you have read and agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the App.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use Terse. If you are between 13 and 18 (or the applicable age of majority in your jurisdiction), you may only use the App with the consent of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf. By using the App, you confirm you meet these age requirements.

3. Your account

You can sign in using Apple Sign In or Google Sign In. You will choose a username during onboarding.

You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. Keep your credentials secure and do not share your account.

Your profile information must be accurate and must not impersonate any other person or entity.

Guest mode: You may browse the app without creating an account. Guest users cannot post reviews, follow other users, or access social features. Our Privacy Policy still applies to guest use.

If you believe your account has been accessed without your authorisation, contact us immediately at [email protected].

4. The one-word rule

Terse is a single-word review platform. Every review must consist of exactly one real, meaningful word. Reviews are validated automatically. You may not:

  • Submit multiple words, phrases, or sentences.
  • Use numbers, symbols, or other non-word characters (except apostrophes or hyphens that are part of a word's standard spelling).
  • Circumvent the word constraint through any technical means.

We reserve the right to remove reviews that violate this constraint.

5. Content standards

You retain ownership of the content you create on Terse (reviews, lists, bio, and profile). By posting, you confirm you have the right to do so. You must not post content that:

  • Is illegal in your jurisdiction or in Australia.
  • Is defamatory, harassing, or threatening toward any person.
  • Constitutes hate speech targeting any group on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or similar characteristics.
  • Infringes the intellectual property rights of any third party.
  • Contains another person's private information without their consent.
  • Is spam or automated content.

We reserve the right to remove content and suspend accounts that violate these standards.

6. Licence grant

By posting content on Terse, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, worldwide licence to display, reproduce, and distribute your content within the App and in promotional materials related to the App (for example, App Store screenshots featuring the word cloud). This licence ends when you delete the content or your account.

You retain all ownership rights to your content. We do not claim ownership of your reviews.

7. Social features

Terse includes following, liking, creating lists, and reporting content. You agree to use these features in good faith and in a way that respects other users. Misuse - including harassment, coordinated abuse, spam following, or abuse of the reporting system - may result in account suspension or termination.

Reports you submit are confidential. Filing false or malicious reports is prohibited.

8. Prohibited uses

You may not:

  • Use the App for any unlawful purpose.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorised access to any part of the App or its infrastructure.
  • Scrape, crawl, or extract data from the App in bulk without our written permission.
  • Reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the App.
  • Interfere with or disrupt the App's servers or networks.
  • Use the App in any way that could damage, disable, or impair the service.

9. Third-party content

Film, TV, music, book, and game information displayed in the app (titles, artwork, descriptions, genres) is sourced from third-party providers including The Movie Database (TMDB), TVmaze, MusicBrainz, Open Library, and IGDB. This data is provided for informational purposes only. We make no warranties about its accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose. Third-party providers' own terms and licences govern their data.

10. Supporter purchase

The Supporter upgrade is a one-time, non-recurring purchase that unlocks additional features: profile colour customisation, a custom reviewer title, and a personal stats dashboard.

Purchases are processed entirely by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) and are subject to their respective refund policies. We do not process or store your payment details. For refund questions, contact Apple or Google directly.

The Supporter upgrade is tied to your account and may not be transferred. We reserve the right to modify Supporter features in the future; if we remove a feature in a way that materially reduces its value, we will provide reasonable advance notice.

11. Intellectual property

The Terse name, logo, app design, and other original elements are owned by us. These Terms give you no rights in our intellectual property other than the limited right to use the App as described here.

12. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the App at any time if you violate these Terms or engage in conduct harmful to other users or to the App. Where reasonably practicable, we will give advance notice and an opportunity to correct the issue before termination, except in cases of serious violation.

You may delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete Account. Deletion permanently and irreversibly removes your profile, reviews, lists, and all associated content.

13. Disclaimers

The App is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted or error-free.

Where applicable law does not permit the exclusion of implied warranties, our liability is limited to the fullest extent permitted by law. Nothing in these Terms excludes rights you have under mandatory consumer protection laws in your jurisdiction.

14. Limitation of liability

We will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of the App or these Terms, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Terse and any related parties from any claims, losses, damages, or expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from (a) your use of the App, (b) your content, (c) your violation of these Terms, or (d) your violation of any rights of a third party.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia, without regard to conflict of law principles.

If you have a dispute with us, please contact us first at [email protected] so we can try to resolve it.

17. Severability and waiver

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so in the future.

18. Changes

We may update these Terms from time to time. The date at the top shows when they were last revised. We will notify you of material changes through the app. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the App.

19. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Contact us at [email protected].