Legal

Terms of Service

The terms that apply when you use Photo Explorer AI.

Version 1.3 · Effective 18 October 2026

Photo Explorer AI helps you rediscover the best photos in your library and identify the ones you may want to remove. AI rates and categorizes eligible photos so the app can organize your library for you. These terms explain the rules for using the app.

We've written them in plain language. Please read them together with our Privacy Policy, which explains what happens to your photos and information.

Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies to your use of the app.

Contents

  1. The basics
  2. Who these terms cover and who we are
  3. Who can use the app
  4. How the app works
  5. AI analysis and your approval
  6. Deleting photos
  7. Your photos
  8. Subscriptions and purchases
  9. Your account and app data
  10. What you can't do
  11. Availability and changes to the app
  12. Warranty and liability
  13. Privacy
  14. Changes to these terms
  15. Ending your use of the app
  16. Your responsibility to us
  17. Governing law
  18. Resolving disputes
  19. Apple
  20. Contact
  21. Version history

1. The basics

  • You need to be 14 or older to use this app
  • The AI's ratings are suggestions. You always make the final call on what to delete
  • Deleted photos go to Recently Deleted for up to 30 days. You can recover or permanently delete them there
  • Subscriptions and purchases are handled by Apple through the App Store
  • Don't try to break the app or reverse engineer how it works
  • We can change these terms. We'll tell you when we do
  • AI is a judgment tool, not a guarantee. Always keep your own backups of photos that matter to you

2. Who these terms cover and who we are

These terms cover the Photo Explorer AI iPhone app and the backend services that support it.

Photo Explorer AI is developed and operated by Richard Hazell, as sole developer ("we", "us").

By installing or using Photo Explorer AI you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the app.

3. Who can use the app

You must be 14 years of age or older to use Photo Explorer AI. By using the app, you confirm you meet this age requirement.

You may only use the app with photos you have the right to use. Use is for your own personal photo library.

4. How the app works

Photo Explorer AI uses AI to help you sort your photo library. Eligible photos are rated and categorized. Lower rated photos are routed to OutTakes for you to review; higher rated photos are eligible for Best, where the app shows you your strongest shots.

Important: the AI's ratings are suggestions. You always have final control over what stays in your library and what gets deleted. The app does not delete anything without your explicit confirmation.

Videos and screenshots are not sent for AI analysis.

5. AI analysis and your approval

AI analysis is opt-in. Before any eligible photo is sent to an AI provider, the app tells you which provider will receive it and asks you to approve that use. You can decline and still explore the app using sample photos.

You can withdraw AI approval at any time using the AI Access control in Settings. After you withdraw approval, new photos will not be sent for AI analysis.

AI results are automated estimates. They may be inaccurate, and the way the AI rates and categorizes photos may change over time as the app improves. The AI provider may also change. Your approval covers the providers named in the approval screen and Privacy Policy on the terms described there. We will ask you to approve again before sending photos to a provider outside that group or making another material change described in the Privacy Policy. For a switch within that group on equivalent terms, we will update the provider shown in Settings and give you a notice in the app.

AI results should not be relied on for anything consequential. The AI is not a judge of a photo's sentimental, legal or evidentiary value.

6. Deleting photos

When you choose to delete photos, the app asks Apple to delete them and iOS shows its own confirmation. The photos then move to Apple's Recently Deleted album. You can recover them through the Photos app within 30 days or permanently delete them sooner. After 30 days, Apple permanently removes them. We don't control this window. It is managed by iOS.

You are responsible for reviewing photos before you confirm a deletion and for keeping your own backups of photos that matter to you.

7. Your photos

You own your photos. We claim no ownership of them.

So that the app can work, you allow us to read your photo library with your permission, to create small reduced copies of eligible photos, and to send those copies to our backend and to the approved AI provider solely to analyze and organize your photos for you. Our Privacy Policy describes exactly what is sent and for how long it is kept.

We do not sell your photos and we do not use them for advertising. We never modify your full size original photos.

8. Subscriptions and purchases

Photo Explorer AI may offer subscriptions with different photo sorting allowances. The plans available to you, their allowances, billing periods and prices are shown in the app and in Apple's purchase confirmation before you subscribe.

Library Sort is a separate one time purchase. It sorts the number of photos you choose and does not add to or change a monthly allowance. The work is queued for background processing when iOS allows it. Photo uploads for Library Sort require Wi-Fi, but charging is not required and no particular start or completion time is promised. Work that iOS interrupts can continue in a later background opportunity.

Subscriptions and purchases are handled by Apple through the App Store. We never see your payment information. No account is required to subscribe or make a purchase.

A subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period. You can cancel anytime in iOS Settings › Apple ID › Subscriptions. Cancellations take effect at the end of your current billing period, and you can keep using your plan until then.

Free trial periods, when offered, automatically convert to paid subscriptions unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the trial ends.

Refunds are handled by Apple under App Store rules. If you already subscribed and your plan isn't showing, use Restore Purchases in Manage Subscription. You won't be charged again.

9. Your account and app data

Photo Explorer AI does not require a traditional user account. The app creates an anonymous identity so our backend can keep your data separate from other users' data and recognize your purchases.

You can delete that identity and its associated app data at any time using Delete account and app data in Settings. Photos in your iPhone or iCloud photo library are not deleted. Deleting your account does not cancel your Apple subscription; manage your subscription to stop future charges.

10. What you can't do

Don't do any of the following:

  • Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the app
  • Use the app to violate anyone's privacy or break any laws
  • Use the app with photos you don't have the right to use, or with unlawful content
  • Attempt to access our servers or systems in unauthorized ways, or abuse the AI service behind the app
  • Resell access to the app
  • Impersonate anyone or misrepresent your identity

11. Availability and changes to the app

Sorting depends on iOS background opportunities, your network, and the services we and our providers operate. Library Sort photo uploads require Wi-Fi. We don't guarantee that the app or its backend will always be available or that a sort will finish at a particular time.

We may change, add or remove features, limits, prices and providers over time. Where a change affects your subscription, Apple's rules for subscription changes apply.

12. Warranty and liability

We work hard to make the app reliable and accurate, but AI is a judgment tool, not a guarantee. We can't guarantee it will always agree with you about which photos are worth keeping. The app is provided "as is".

To the fullest extent allowed by law, we're not liable for lost photos, missed best shots, or any other damages related to your use of the app. Always keep your own backups of photos that matter to you.

The app is provided as is and as available. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Richard Hazell is not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, including lost data or lost photos, and total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid in the twelve months before the claim arose. Some jurisdictions do not allow these limits, so they may not fully apply to you.

13. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains what information the app handles, where it goes, how long it is kept, and the choices you have. It forms part of these terms. On questions about how your data is handled, the Privacy Policy applies.

14. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we'll let you know through the app before the changes take effect. Continuing to use the app after the change means you accept the new terms.

15. Ending your use of the app

You may stop using the app at any time by deleting it. We may suspend or end your access if you breach these Terms or if we discontinue the app. If a Library Sort is interrupted, its remaining eligible photos stay queued for a later background opportunity, subject to iOS allowing the work and the app's normal eligibility checks. Sections that by their nature should survive, including limitation of liability and governing law, continue after termination.

16. Your responsibility to us

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend and hold harmless Richard Hazell from claims, losses and reasonable costs arising from your breach of these Terms, your misuse of the app, or content you submit that infringes the rights of another person.

17. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the federal laws of Canada applicable there, without regard to conflict of law rules. Nothing in these Terms removes any rights you have under the consumer protection laws of the place where you live.

18. Resolving disputes

If you have a concern, please contact us first at PhotoExplorerAI@gmail.com and we will try to resolve it informally. Any dispute that cannot be resolved that way will be brought in the courts of British Columbia, and you and we agree to the jurisdiction of those courts, except that you may bring a claim in the courts of the place where you live if the law there requires it.

19. Apple

These Terms are between you and Richard Hazell, not Apple. Apple has no obligation to provide support or warranty for the app. If the app fails to conform to a warranty you may notify Apple for a refund of the purchase price. Apple is a third party beneficiary entitled to enforce these Terms.

20. Contact

Questions about these terms can be sent to:

Support contact: PhotoExplorerAI@gmail.com

You can also contact us using the feedback option inside Photo Explorer AI.

21. Version history

Version 1.3 (18 October 2026): describes subscriptions without provisional plan names or allowances and removes temporary testing limits from these general terms.