Headcount — Terms of Service

Effective date: 11 August 2026

1. Who these terms are between

These terms are an agreement between you and Nathan Barth, an individual, who operates the Headcount mobile app ("Headcount", "the app", "the service"). "We" and "us" mean the operator. "You" means you.

By creating an account or using Headcount, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree to them, don't use the app.

Questions, complaints, and anything else: support@getheadcount.app. A person reads that address.

Our Privacy Policy explains what data we collect and who receives it. It's part of these terms.

2. Who can use Headcount

You must be at least 18 years old. Headcount isn't directed at children or teenagers, and we don't knowingly allow accounts for anyone under 18. If we learn an account belongs to someone younger, we'll delete it.

You also confirm that you're not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you're not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties. This is required by Apple for apps distributed through the App Store.

3. What Headcount does

Every group you belong to has one message, chosen when the group is created, and one button. Pressing the button sends everyone else in the group a notification containing that message. Members react with one of six emoji. Reacting is what counts as taking part, and taking part is what keeps a streak going.

Some specifics that are part of the deal, not incidental:

Groups hold up to 12 people.
A group's message is permanent. It's set when the group is created and cannot be edited afterward by anyone, including group admins. If you want a different message, create a different group. (We can replace a message in a takedown — see § 8.)
A group's name can be changed by an admin. Its message cannot.
Pressing the button opens a 24-hour window. The first press of a window owns it. Anyone can press during an open window; later presses send a notification and count as participation, but don't start a second window.
There's a one-minute cooldown per person, per group on pressing the button. It's spam control.
Invite codes are 8 characters, single-use, and expire after 48 hours. Anyone holding a code can join the group, so treat one like a key — don't post it publicly.
Streaks and streak freezes are decoration. They have no cash value, can't be bought, sold, or transferred, and may be reset or recalculated when we fix bugs or change how they work.

We may change, add, or remove features. If we're going to remove something you plainly rely on, we'll try to say so in the app first.

4. Your account

You're responsible for your account and for what happens under it. Use a password you don't use elsewhere, and don't share your account with anyone.

If you think someone else has access to your account, use Forgot password? on the sign-in screen. We'll email you a 6-digit code so you can set a new one — which needs access to your email, not just your phone — and setting it signs your other devices out. A device that's already signed in can take up to an hour to lose access.

If you need help, email support@getheadcount.app.

You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete account. It takes effect immediately. What deletion does and doesn't remove is set out in the Privacy Policy, and the short version is: your profile, reactions, memberships and login are erased; pings you sent stay in each group's history with your name detached; groups you created pass to another member; and moderation records survive.

5. Rules for using Headcount

You agree not to use Headcount to post, send, or display content that is:

Harassing, bullying, threatening, or intimidating
Hateful — attacking or demeaning people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, disease, age, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity
Sexually explicit, or sexual in any way involving a minor
Violent, gory, or glorifying self-harm, suicide, or violence against others
Illegal, or promoting illegal activity
Deceptive — impersonating another person or organisation, using a name or brand you don't have the right to use, or misrepresenting who you are
Someone else's private information, shared without their permission
Spam, or otherwise designed to flood or disrupt other people

You also agree not to:

Abuse, harass, or stalk other users, whether or not through content
Circumvent blocks, bans, or removals — including by creating a new account
Access the service other than through the app, or automate use of it
Probe, scrape, overload, or interfere with the service or its infrastructure
Try to access accounts, groups, or data that aren't yours
Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the app, except where law says you may despite this restriction

There is zero tolerance for objectionable content and abusive users. That's not a formality — see § 8 for what we actually do about it.

Remember that your group's message appears as a push notification title, which means it's readable on other members' lock screens by anyone standing near them. Write it accordingly.

6. Content you create

You keep ownership of what you create — your display name, your group's message. We don't claim it.

Headcount doesn't have profile photos. The picture beside your name is your initials, drawn from your display name. Today the only things you author here are short pieces of text: your display name and, if you create a group, that group's message.

To run the service, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, copy, display, and transmit that content, but only for the purpose of operating Headcount for you and the groups you belong to. In practice that means showing it to other members of your groups, and sending it through Expo's and Apple's push services so notifications can be delivered.

This license ends when you delete the content or your account, with two exceptions: content already delivered to other people's devices can't be recalled, and content preserved in a moderation record survives (§ 8, and the Privacy Policy).

You're responsible for what you post, and you confirm you have the right to post it.

If your content causes us a problem. If someone brings a claim against us because of something you posted — something you wrote about another person, a name that wasn't yours to use, anything covered by § 5 — you agree to cover our reasonable costs of dealing with it, including legal costs. We'll tell you promptly if it happens, we won't settle a claim in your name without asking you, and you can take over the defence yourself if you'd rather. This doesn't apply where the problem is our fault rather than yours.

7. Reporting and blocking

Report anything that breaks § 5 — group messages, profiles, and pings all have a report option in the app. Reporting captures a copy of the content as it stood at that moment, so nothing is lost if it's edited or deleted afterward.

Block anyone you don't want to interact with, from a group's member list. Blocking is immediate and doesn't need our approval: you and they stop seeing each other's pings and reactions, and neither of you sends notifications to the other, even inside a shared group. The person you block isn't told.

Leave any group at any time, without an admin's permission.

If you're a group admin, you can also remove a member from your group.

If you believe a display name or group message in the app uses a name or brand that's yours, email support@getheadcount.app and a person will look at it.

8. What we do about reports

We act on every report of objectionable content within 24 hours of receiving it, and we remove content or eject users who violate § 5.

Every report is emailed to us the moment it's filed, so nothing waits to be noticed. Where a report is credible we take the content down or restrict the account first and work out the details afterwards — acting before deciding is deliberate, and it's what makes 24 hours a commitment rather than an aspiration.

Depending on what we find, we may:

Replace a group's message, which then shows as "(message removed)" while the group otherwise keeps working
Flag a profile, which replaces the display name with "(name removed)" everywhere it appears in the app, and with "Someone" in notifications, without touching the account. This can be undone.
Suspend or permanently terminate an account
Preserve records and contact law enforcement, where something appears illegal

We may act on a violation whether or not anyone reported it. We'd rather take one thing down than lose a group.

If we remove your content or terminate your account, we'll tell you what we did and why, unless the law prevents it or telling you would risk someone's safety. If you think we got it wrong, reply to that message or email support@getheadcount.app and a person will look again.

We keep a record of every report and what we decided, including after the reporter deletes their account. This is described in the Privacy Policy under "Reported content is preserved."

9. Groups, admins, and ownership

A group belongs to its members, not to whoever created it.

Group admins can rename the group, choose whether all members or only admins can create invites, promote other members to admin, and remove members. Removing a member ends their access to that group.

If the last admin leaves or deletes their account, the longest-standing remaining member becomes admin automatically. If the last member leaves, the group and its history are deleted.

Being removed from a group doesn't erase what already happened: pings you sent stay in that group's history, and your reactions stay attached to pings you reacted to.

10. Notifications

Notifications are optional. If you allow them, we register a token for your device so we can deliver them, and we delete that token when you sign out or delete your account. Resetting your password deletes the tokens for your other devices, so a device it signs out stops receiving notifications too.

You can mute any group individually in that group's settings, or turn notifications off for Headcount entirely in your phone's settings. The app works either way — every ping appears in the in-app feed regardless, and the feed is the authoritative record of what happened in a group.

Notification content — the group's message and the sender's name — passes through Expo's push service and Apple's Push Notification service. See the Privacy Policy.

11. Headcount is not for emergencies

Do not rely on Headcount for anything urgent, safety-critical, or medical.

Push notifications are best effort. They can be delayed, silently dropped, or never delivered at all, for reasons entirely outside our control: your phone is off or in a low-power mode, a permission was revoked, the network is down, or Apple's or Expo's services are having a bad day. We don't guarantee that any notification arrives, or that it arrives on time.

If someone needs to know something urgently, call them.

12. Availability

We provide Headcount as is. We don't promise it will be available without interruption, error-free, or that data will never be lost. We may suspend the service for maintenance, and we may discontinue it — if we shut Headcount down entirely, we'll give notice in the app first where we reasonably can.

The service is currently free. There are no in-app purchases and no ads. If that ever changes, we'll say so before charging anyone anything, and nothing you've already used becomes retroactively billable.

13. Disclaimers

To the fullest extent the law allows, Headcount is provided without warranties of any kind, express or implied — including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We don't control what other users do or post. We don't pre-screen content, and we're not responsible for other users' conduct, either in the app or anywhere else. § 5 tells them what's expected; § 8 is what we do when they ignore it.

Some jurisdictions don't allow these exclusions. Where that's the case, they don't apply to you, and you keep whatever rights your local law gives you — see § 17.

14. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we won't be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost data, or missed communications, arising out of your use of Headcount.

Our total liability to you for any claim relating to Headcount is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the twelve months before the claim (which, for a free app, is nothing) or US $50.

This section doesn't limit liability that can't be limited by law — including, in many places, liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

15. About Apple

If you downloaded Headcount from the App Store, this section applies, and it's required by Apple:

These terms are between you and us only. Apple is not a party to them, and Apple is not responsible for Headcount or its content.
Your license to use Headcount is a non-transferable license to use it on any Apple-branded product you own or control, as permitted by the Usage Rules in the App Store Terms of Service.
Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for Headcount. If you need help, email support@getheadcount.app.
If Headcount fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price, if any. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation with respect to Headcount.
We, not Apple, are responsible for addressing any claim you or a third party makes relating to Headcount — including product liability claims, claims that it fails to conform to a legal or regulatory requirement, and claims arising under consumer protection or similar law.
We, not Apple, are responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of any third-party claim that Headcount infringes that party's intellectual property rights.
You confirm the representations in § 2 about embargoed countries and prohibited-party lists.
Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms, and may enforce them against you.

16. Termination

You can stop using Headcount at any time, and delete your account from Settings.

We may suspend or terminate your access if you break these terms, particularly § 5, or if we're required to by law. Where it's practical and appropriate, we'll warn you first — but serious violations get acted on immediately.

Sections 6 (including the indemnity, and the licence for content already shared), 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 19 survive termination.

17. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Massachusetts, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction.

If you're a consumer, this doesn't take away rights you have under the mandatory consumer law of the state you live in, and it doesn't stop you bringing proceedings in your local courts where your law gives you that right.

Headcount is currently offered in the United States only.

18. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If we do, we'll change the effective date at the top of this page. If the change is material — new restrictions on how you can use the app, changes to how we handle your content, or the introduction of fees — we'll tell you inside the app before it takes effect.

Continuing to use Headcount after a change means you accept the updated terms. If you don't accept them, delete your account.

19. Everything else

Whole agreement. These terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us about Headcount, replacing anything said earlier.

Severability. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest stays in force.

No waiver. If we don't enforce something straight away, we haven't given up the right to enforce it later.

Assignment. You can't transfer your rights under these terms. We may transfer ours to a successor if Headcount changes hands — in which case your data transfers too, as described in the Privacy Policy — and we'll say so in the app before it happens.

20. Contact

support@getheadcount.app

Nathan Barth, operator of Headcount.