Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of SideBySide ("SideBySide," "we," "our," or "us"), including the SideBySide mobile application, our website, and any related features, tools, or services we operate (collectively, the "Service").

Please read these Terms carefully. Our practices regarding the collection and use of personal information are described separately in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of your agreement with us.

1. Introduction and Acceptance

By downloading, installing, accessing, or using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Service.

Eligibility

You may use the Service only if you are legally capable of entering into a binding agreement under the laws of your jurisdiction and meet the minimum age required by applicable law. If you use the Service on behalf of another person or entity, you represent that you are authorized to accept these Terms on their behalf.

Agreement to Comply

You agree to use the Service only in accordance with these Terms and all laws, rules, and regulations that apply to you, including copyright and intellectual property laws.

2. Description of the Service

SideBySide provides synchronized watch experiences. It allows users to create or join private watch rooms and keeps video playback synchronized between participants, so that people in different locations can watch together in real time, with features such as emoji reactions.

SideBySide is a synchronization and communication tool. It is not:

• a streaming platform or content provider;
• a media hosting, storage, or distribution service;
• a source of movies, TV shows, music, or any other copyrighted media;
• a marketplace or library of content of any kind.

All content watched through the Service is selected and supplied by users themselves. Whenever technically possible, media is transmitted directly between participants' devices using WebRTC peer-to-peer connections. Backend infrastructure (including Firebase) is used only for signaling, room coordination, authentication, and related supporting services. SideBySide does not permanently upload, store, maintain, distribute, or keep copies of users' media files.

3. User Accounts

Google Sign-In

You may sign in using your Google account. Authentication is handled by Google, and your use of Google Sign-In is also subject to Google's own terms and policies.

Anonymous Access

You may use parts of the Service anonymously. Anonymous sessions are identified by temporary identifiers and may offer a reduced feature set. Anonymous session data (such as room history) may not be recoverable if your session ends or your device data is cleared.

Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for:

• maintaining the security of your device and any account you use with the Service;
• all activity that occurs through your account or session;
• notifying us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised.

We are not liable for losses arising from unauthorized use of your account where that use results from your failure to keep your credentials or device secure.

4. User Responsibilities

By using the Service, you represent, warrant, and agree that you:

• own the content you play, stream, synchronize, transmit, or share through the Service, or hold all rights, licenses, and permissions necessary to do so;
• will comply with all applicable copyright and intellectual property laws;
• will comply with all laws and regulations that apply in your jurisdiction, including those governing content you access or share;
• will use the Service responsibly and respectfully toward other participants;
• are solely responsible for the content you choose to watch or share and for the consequences of sharing it.

5. User Content

You retain all ownership rights in the content you select, play, or share through the Service ("User Content"). SideBySide does not claim ownership of any User Content.

To operate the Service, you grant us only the limited technical permissions necessary to transmit, route, and synchronize your User Content between session participants in real time. This permission is limited to what is technically required to provide the Service, ends when the session ends, and does not grant us any right to publish, distribute, or commercially exploit your User Content.

6. Streaming and Synchronization Disclaimer

For clarity, and without limiting anything else in these Terms:

• SideBySide only synchronizes playback and facilitates real-time communication between participants;
• media is transmitted directly between users' devices via peer-to-peer connections whenever technically possible;
• SideBySide does not host, store, or retain users' media files;
• SideBySide does not maintain, curate, or offer any media library or catalog;
• SideBySide has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content users choose to watch or share.

7. Copyright and Intellectual Property of Content

You are solely responsible for ensuring that you possess all rights, licenses, permissions, or other legal authorization required to watch, stream, synchronize, transmit, or share any content through the Service.

SideBySide does not review, verify, endorse, or assume responsibility for the ownership or legality of content selected by users, and has no practical ability to do so, since it does not host or inspect users' media.

Nothing in the Service, and nothing in these Terms, grants you any copyright, reproduction, distribution, public performance, communication to the public, or other intellectual property rights that you do not otherwise hold. The Service provides synchronization technology and communication infrastructure only — it does not, and cannot, grant permissions or licenses in third-party content.

If you believe content shared through the Service infringes your rights, please contact us using the details in the Contact section below.

8. Acceptable Use

You must not use the Service to, or in a way that would:

• infringe copyright or other intellectual property rights, including streaming or sharing content you are not authorized to share;
• engage in illegal streaming, redistribution, or public performance of protected content;
• harass, threaten, abuse, or harm other users or third parties;
• transmit malware, viruses, or any other harmful code;
• send spam or unsolicited communications;
• reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to extract the source code of the Service, except where such restriction is prohibited by law;
• resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the Service without our prior written consent;
• interfere with, disrupt, overload, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, its infrastructure, or other users' sessions;
• circumvent or attempt to circumvent any security or technical measure of the Service.

9. Room Availability and Service Quality

• Watch rooms are temporary. Rooms end when the host ends them or when they expire, and associated room records are automatically deleted approximately 24 hours after a session ends.
• Synchronization quality depends on factors outside our control, including network conditions, device performance, and third-party infrastructure.
• The Service is provided without any guarantee of continuous, uninterrupted, or error-free availability. Features may be modified, limited, suspended, or discontinued at any time.

10. Third-Party Services

The Service relies on or interoperates with third-party services, which include (among others):

• Firebase (backend infrastructure, signaling, room coordination, and analytics);
• Google Authentication (sign-in);
• Google Play Billing, if and when paid subscriptions or purchases are introduced.

Third-party services are governed by their own terms of service and privacy policies. We are not responsible for the availability, content, or practices of third-party services, and your use of them is at your own discretion and risk.

11. SideBySide Intellectual Property

The Service itself — including the application, software, source code, design, user interface, graphics, logos, branding, trademarks, and all related intellectual property — is owned by or licensed to SideBySide and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws. All rights not expressly granted to you in these Terms are reserved.

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use the application on your device for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service, or use our branding or trademarks, without our prior written permission.

12. Future Premium Features

The Service is currently offered free of charge. We may in the future introduce optional paid features, subscriptions, or premium tiers. If we do, additional billing terms — including pricing, renewal, and cancellation terms — will be presented to you before you make a purchase, and payments will be processed through the applicable platform's billing system (such as Google Play Billing). Your continued use of free features will not require payment merely because paid features are introduced.

13. Beta Features

From time to time we may offer beta, preview, early-access, or experimental features ("Beta Features"). Beta Features are provided for evaluation purposes only, may be incomplete or unstable, may not work as intended, and may be modified, limited, or discontinued at any time without notice. Beta Features are provided without warranties of any kind, and we accept no liability arising from their use beyond what is required by applicable law.

14. Disclaimer of Warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that:

• the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free;
• synchronization will be exact or continuous under all network conditions;
• defects will be corrected, or that the Service is free of harmful components;
• any content watched or shared by users is lawful, accurate, or appropriate.

15. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, SideBySide and its developer shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, data, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with the Service, including liability arising from:

• content selected, watched, streamed, or shared by users;
• copyright or other intellectual property disputes relating to User Content;
• network failures, connectivity issues, or degraded synchronization;
• device failures or incompatibilities;
• loss of data, including room history or session information;
• interruptions, suspension, or discontinuation of the Service;
• acts or omissions of third-party services.

To the extent any liability cannot be excluded under applicable law, our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the Service shall be limited to the greater of the amount you paid us to use the Service in the twelve months before the claim arose, or the minimum amount required by applicable law. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

16. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless SideBySide, its developer, affiliates, licensors, and service providers from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to:

• your use of the Service;
• your User Content;
• your violation of these Terms;
• your infringement of any intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity;
• your violation of applicable laws.

We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defense of that claim.

17. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to the Service, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe that you have violated these Terms, that your use poses a risk to the Service or other users, or where required by law. Upon termination, your license to use the Service ends immediately.

You may stop using the Service at any time by uninstalling the application. If you wish to delete your account and associated data, please see the Account Deletion page. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, and governing law) will survive.

18. Force Majeure

We are not responsible for any delay, interruption, or failure in the Service resulting from causes beyond our reasonable control, including internet or network outages, cloud or hosting provider failures, power failures, natural disasters, epidemics, governmental actions, labor disputes, civil unrest, or failures of third-party services or infrastructure.

19. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes to the Service, legal requirements, or our practices. When we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you, such as posting the updated Terms within the application or on this page with a revised "Last updated" date.

Your continued use of the Service after updated Terms take effect constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service.

20. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Subject to any mandatory consumer protection rights available to you in your country of residence, the courts of competent jurisdiction in India shall have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service.

If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.

21. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional terms expressly incorporated by reference (including any billing terms presented if paid features are introduced), constitute the entire agreement between you and SideBySide regarding the Service, and supersede any prior agreements, communications, or understandings relating to the Service.

22. Contact

SideBySide is developed and operated by Akmosphere, an independent software developer based in India.

If you have questions about these Terms, want to report a violation, believe content shared through the Service infringes your rights, or need help with the Service, please reach out — we aim to respond to all inquiries within a reasonable time.