Hikari Terms of Use

Last updated: 27 October 2026 (page revision 2.0.4; terms version 2026-11-v4)

1. Who we are. Hikari is run by Paolo Farinella ("we", "us"). Contact: hello@hikaricritique.com.

2. Using Hikari. You must be 18 or over. Hikari gives AI-generated feedback on photographs you choose to upload. Hikari is in beta. Features, limits and availability may change.

2a. Plans and payments.

• Plans. Hikari has two plans. Free includes 6 critiques and 2 Scouts a month. Plus includes 30 critiques a month, full Progress over time, Compare (10 a month) and 15 Scouts a month. Plus costs £5.99 a month or £49.99 a year. There is no free trial. Prices in other currencies are shown in the app before you buy. Monthly allowances reset on the first day of each calendar month (UTC).
• Auto-renewal and payment. Plus is bought through the App Store and paid for with your Apple ID. It renews automatically at the end of each period unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends. Your Apple ID is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends.
• Cancellation. You can manage or cancel Plus at any time in Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions on your iPhone, or from Manage subscription in Hikari. If you cancel, you keep Plus until the end of the period you have paid for. Deleting your Hikari account does not cancel your subscription: cancel it first.
• Refunds. Apple handles refunds for purchases made through the App Store. You can request one at reportaproblem.apple.com. [solicitor to confirm: UK consumers: if you buy digital content, you may lose your right to cancel once the content starts, as explained at purchase. Your statutory rights are not affected.]
• Price changes. If we change the price of Plus, we will tell you in advance. Where Apple requires your consent, your subscription will not continue at the new price until you agree.
• Apple's terms. Apple's standard Licensed Application End User Licence Agreement applies to your use of Hikari, together with these Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/.
• Billing support. For help with a payment, email hello@hikaricritique.com. Apple handles billing and refunds directly.

2b. Compare and fair use. Compare (Plus) looks at two photos and tells you which is stronger for the genre and use you choose. Nothing from Compare is saved, apart from a record that you used it. Each Compare uses one of your 10 a month, separate from your critiques. Your photos are processed to make the pick and then deleted. To keep Hikari fair and stable, we also apply daily and per-minute limits to critiques, Compare and Scout. If you reach one, you can try again later. Your monthly allowance is not used up by a request that fails.

2c. Scout. Scout looks at one to three quick photos of a scene and suggests how you might shoot it: what is worth photographing, how to frame it, the light, and how you might edit it. Each Scout uses one of your Scouts for the month, however many photos it has, separate from your critiques; a Scout that fails, is declined or is cancelled before the plan is ready is not counted. "I've shot it" starts a normal critique of your new photo, which uses one of your critiques. A plan is suggestions only. It is not a guarantee that a place is safe, open to the public or lawful to enter or photograph. You are responsible for your own safety and for respecting private property, local rules and other people's privacy when you follow a plan. [solicitor to confirm: wording of this paragraph]

3. AI feedback is opinion. Critiques and Scout plans are generated by AI and may be inaccurate, incomplete or unsuitable for your purposes. They are not professional, legal or commercial advice. You decide what to do with them.

4. Your content. You keep all rights in the photos and text you submit ("Your Content"). You grant us a limited, non-exclusive licence to process Your Content only to provide Hikari to you: to analyse it, to generate and show you critiques and Scout plans, and, if you turn on "Keep history", to store a small thumbnail and the critique for you. If you also keep "Track my progress" on, which needs history on, we use your earlier critiques to tailor new ones and to write a short progress note once you have at least 5 saved critiques. If you turn on "Help improve Hikari", you also allow us to use your critiques, feedback and replies (without your name or email) to improve the service. You can change these settings, or delete your account, at any time.

4a. Turning history off. If you turn off "Keep history", we erase your saved thumbnails, critiques, Scouts and progress notes from our systems. This cannot be undone, and if you turn history back on, progress starts again from zero. Turning off "Track my progress" stops new progress notes.

5. Your responsibility. You are responsible for Your Content and how you use Hikari. You confirm you have the right to submit it and that doing so does not infringe anyone's rights or break the law. We do not review Your Content in advance and are not responsible for it, but we use automated checks and may act as described below.

6. Acceptable use. Do not submit or request content that is unlawful; sexually explicit; sexual content involving minors; graphically violent; hateful, harassing or threatening; intended to expose or target a private individual; or that infringes others' rights. Do not try to misuse, overload, reverse-engineer or bypass limits of the service, or use it for anything other than getting feedback on photographs. Do not repeatedly upload photos that our AI provider declines to process.

7. Flags, pauses and deletion. - Content flagged by our automated checks as breaking section 6 leads to a notice (in the app and by email) and your account being paused for 3 days. We may also send a warning or record a strike. Hikari shows you each notice in the app. - A second flag within 12 months places your account on hold for human review. If the flag is confirmed, we close your account and bar your email address from signing up again. We keep only a one-way hash of the address for that purpose. A closed account stays visible to you only so you can read why, manage a subscription and delete your account and content yourself. - If a flag is wrong, tell us at hello@hikaricritique.com and we will review it. If we find no breach, your account is restored. - Content that appears to be illegal is not stored, and we may report it to the authorities. - Flagged content (other than illegal content) may be kept privately for up to 30 days so it can be reviewed. - If our AI provider declines to process three or more of your uploads within 24 hours, we pause your account for 24 hours and tell you in the app. If this happens again within 30 days, we place your account on hold for human review. - While your account is on hold for review, you cannot delete it until the review ends. If we find no breach, your account is restored.

8. Our service and rights. Hikari, its design and code belong to us or our licensors. We give you a personal, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the app for its intended purpose. You may not copy or resell it.

9. Availability and changes. We may change, suspend or end Hikari or any feature, and update these terms. We will notify you of material changes in the app and ask you to accept them again.

10. Liability. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited (including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or fraud). Subject to that, Hikari is provided "as is" during the beta, and we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit or data, or for what you do with the feedback. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the greater of £100 and what you paid us for Plus in the 12 months before the claim. If you are a consumer, your statutory rights are not affected.

11. Ending your account. You can delete your account in Settings at any time. We may suspend or end your account for breaching these terms.

12. Law. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction, without affecting any mandatory rights you have in your country of residence.