Terms of Service

Kelpwise terms of service

Effective 12 October 2026. Last updated 12 October 2026.

These terms are the agreement between you and the provider of Kelpwise about using the Kelpwise app and its optional services. Please read them together with our privacy policy. By installing or using Kelpwise you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use it.

1. Who we are

Kelpwise is provided by the Kelpwise team. Email: support@kelpwise.com

2. What Kelpwise is, and is not

Kelpwise is an Android app that helps you take control of how much time you spend in distracting apps. You choose which apps to cover, and you get access back by doing the habits you set up, with a few ways to get in when you really need to.

  • It is a tool you use on yourself. It works because you set it up and you choose to keep it on. It cannot stop you removing it, and it is not a way to force someone else to do anything.
  • It is not medical care. Kelpwise is not a treatment for any condition, not therapy, and not a substitute for advice from a doctor or other professional. If your phone use is causing you real harm, please talk to someone qualified.
  • It does not block emergency access. Phone, messaging, contacts and emergency apps cannot be blocked, on purpose. Do not rely on Kelpwise, or on any app, for anything where failure would put someone at risk.
  • It may not work on every phone. Some Android makers stop background services. We try to detect and work around this, but we cannot promise blocking will always be on.
  • Features change. Kelpwise is in active development. We may add, change or remove features, and we will tell you in the app when a change affects what you pay for or how your data is used.

3. Using Kelpwise

  • You must be old enough to agree to these terms where you live, and at least 16 to use the account, partner and cloud backup features unless a parent or guardian agrees.
  • Do not install or use Kelpwise on someone else's phone to watch, restrict or control them without their knowledge and clear agreement. That is not what it is for, and it may be unlawful.
  • Do not use Kelpwise, or its partner feature, to harass, pressure or threaten anyone. The partner feature has no free text on purpose; do not try to get around that.
  • Do not attempt to break, reverse engineer or interfere with Kelpwise or our servers, to access other people's data, or to avoid limits we set (for example on how often something can be sent). Do not forge messages or invites.
  • You are responsible for your phone, its settings and any PIN you set. If you forget a PIN, there may be no way for us to remove it.

4. Your account

You need an account to use Kelpwise. You create one by signing in with Google, or with a one-time code we send to your email address. Blocking continues to work on your phone if you are offline or your sign-in has expired.

  • You are responsible for keeping access to your Google account and your email secure.
  • You can delete your account at any time in Settings > Account > Delete account. See the privacy policy for what that removes.
  • We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms or is used to cause harm. We will try to tell you why, unless the law stops us.

5. Kelpwise Plus

Blocking, habits, streaks, schedules, strict mode, emergency unlocks, trophies, stats and Health Connect habits are free and are not part of Plus. Kelpwise Plus is an optional paid subscription that adds encrypted cloud backup and the accountability partner. What is included is shown in the app before you subscribe. Kelpwise Plus is an optional paid subscription that adds encrypted cloud backup and the accountability partner. What is included is shown in the app before you subscribe.

  • Price and billing. The price for your country is shown in the app and in Google Play before you subscribe, including taxes where they apply. You pay through Google Play, and Google Play's terms apply to the payment. We do not see your card details.
  • Renewal. A subscription renews automatically at the end of each period (monthly or yearly) until you cancel it.
  • Free trial. If a trial is offered, it is shown with its length and what happens after it. The first time you subscribe you may get a trial; you are charged when it ends unless you cancel first in Google Play. We send a reminder shortly before a trial ends.
  • Cancelling. You can cancel at any time in Google Play (Payments and subscriptions). You keep Plus until the end of the period you paid for. Deleting the app or your Kelpwise account does not cancel a subscription: cancel it in Google Play.
  • Refunds. Refunds for purchases are handled by Google Play under its rules. This does not limit any rights you have by law, including any right to withdraw from a digital purchase where it applies to you.
  • Price changes. We may change the price for new subscribers at any time. We will not raise the price for you while your subscription continues without telling you first and giving you the choice to cancel, as Google Play requires.
  • Founding members. If you subscribe while Kelpwise Plus is new, you may be a founding member: you keep the price you first subscribed at for as long as your subscription continues without a break, and you get a founding member badge. If your subscription lapses and you subscribe again, the current price applies.
  • If Plus ends. Anything that only Plus provides pauses. Your data stays on your phone. Your last cloud backup is kept and you can still restore it. A partner pair pauses and resumes when you are both members again, and you can end it whenever you like.

6. The accountability partner

The partner feature lets two people who both choose to pair see a few numbers each of them has chosen to share, and send each other preset nudges.

  • Both of you need Plus. The person you invite gets one free week of the partner features, once per account. After that they need their own Plus, or the pair pauses.
  • You control what is shared. Everything is off until you switch it on, and you can switch it off at any time. Habit names, blocked apps and your PIN are never shared.
  • It is not monitoring. Do not use it to track, control or pressure someone who has not freely agreed to it. Either of you can end the pair at any time, instantly.
  • Invites. An invite works once and expires after 24 hours. Send it only to the person you mean to pair with. If someone else uses it first, end the pair and make a new one.
  • Nudges and numbers are not guaranteed to arrive. Notifications depend on your phone, its battery settings and your connection.

7. Cloud backup

Cloud backup is part of Plus and is encrypted so that only you, with the recovery code you wrote down, can read it.

  • Keep your recovery code safe. If you lose both the code and your phone, we cannot recover your backup and nobody can open it.
  • We back up automatically about twice a day when something changed, and you can back up on demand. We do not promise that a backup exists at any particular moment.

8. Your content and our rights

  • Your data is yours. We do not claim any rights over your habits, settings or anything you create in Kelpwise.
  • Our rights. Kelpwise, its name, its logo and its art belong to us or our licensors. You may use the app as these terms allow. You may not copy it, rent it, sell it or build on it.
  • Open source parts. Kelpwise uses open source software under its own licences, which are listed in the app.
  • Feedback. If you send us ideas or feedback, we may use them without owing you anything. We will not publish your name or email without asking.

9. Availability and changes to the service

We aim to keep Kelpwise and its servers running, but we do not promise they will always be available. We may pause the service for maintenance, and we may change or stop parts of it. If we stop an optional paid service for good, we will tell you in advance and refund the unused part of any period you paid for.

10. Our responsibility to you

Nothing in these terms limits any right you have as a consumer by law, or our liability where the law does not allow it to be limited (for example for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud).

Subject to that:

  • Kelpwise is provided as it is. We take care in making it, but we do not promise it will be free of errors or that it will always do what you hoped.
  • We are not responsible for losses that were not reasonably foreseeable, for loss of data you chose not to back up, or for anything that happens because an app you meant to block was not blocked or an app you needed was.
  • Our total responsibility to you for anything connected to Kelpwise is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the event.

11. Ending these terms

You can stop using Kelpwise at any time by uninstalling it, and delete your account in the app. We may end your access if you break these terms. When these terms end, the parts that by their nature continue (such as sections 8 and 10) continue.

12. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms, for example when we add features. We will change the date at the top and tell you in the app before a change that affects you takes effect. If you do not accept a change, you can stop using Kelpwise and, if you subscribed, cancel in Google Play.

13. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the law of the Netherlands, without taking away the mandatory consumer protection of the country where you live. If you live in the EU you may also bring a dispute in the courts of your country, and you can use the European Commission's online dispute resolution platform.

14. Contact

Questions about these terms: support@kelpwise.com.