Acceptable use policy

Version 2026-10-28. Last updated October 28, 2026. Part of the Terms of Service and the Host Agreement.

PocketShare exists so developers can test their own apps on real phones that hosts lend to the Service. This policy says what that does and doesn’t include. It applies to renters (including scripts, CI and AI agents acting for them) and to hosts. “Phone” means a phone rented or hosted through PocketShare.

1. Allowed

Installing, running, debugging and testing apps you own or have the owner’s permission to test; automated tests (Appium, Espresso, Maestro and similar); reproducing bugs; measuring performance and battery behavior; testing your app’s network calls to your own or authorized test servers; checking how your app behaves on a specific model, Android version or language, including offline and airplane-mode behavior.

2. Not allowed on PocketShare

Using a host’s identity or connection

• Using a phone as a proxy, VPN exit, residential or mobile IP, or to resell or share its internet connection or address.
• Receiving or sending SMS or calls, verifying accounts by phone number, or anything that needs a SIM (hosted phones have none; don’t add one).
• Scanning, probing or connecting to devices on the network a phone is connected to, or trying to reach the host’s computer, router or other devices in any way.
• Connecting a phone to a different Wi-Fi network, VPN or tether, or changing its network settings, except to test your own app’s behavior (for example offline mode) where you undo the change before the rental ends.

Accounts and platforms

• Creating, warming up, farming or keeping accounts on other services; running several accounts on another service to evade its limits; ban evasion; fake engagement (likes, follows, reviews, installs, ad clicks, views or votes).
• Using third-party apps or services in breach of their terms, including automating someone else’s app that you don’t have permission to test.
• Signing in to accounts with real personal data, payment details or credentials that matter. Use test accounts and test data.

Harmful or illegal activity

• Anything illegal, including fraud, phishing, spam, harassment, stalking, or infringing intellectual property (for example running pirated apps).
• Creating, storing or sending child sexual abuse material or any content that sexualizes minors. We report it to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as the law requires.
• Distributing malware, testing malware against anyone but yourself, or attacking any system (denial of service, brute force, credential stuffing, exploitation) from a phone. Security testing is allowed only against apps and servers whose owner has authorized it.
• Cryptocurrency mining, password cracking or other general-purpose computing.
• Collecting personal data about other people.

The Service itself

• Trying to get root, unlock the bootloader, flash, or otherwise modify a phone’s system.
• Removing, disabling or interfering with the PocketShare device agent, the hub, the relay or cleanup; turning off USB or wireless debugging; changing settings to make a phone unreachable; trying to make anything survive past your rental or affect the next renter.
• Trying to get around billing, spending caps or limits, trust tiers, rental durations, suspensions or the sign-up credit limit, including by creating more accounts.
• Sharing your account, or giving others access to a rented phone or your API keys, except people in your own organization using your account under these rules.
• Reselling access to phones or the Service.
• Load testing, scanning or attacking PocketShare’s websites, API, relay or MCP server, or other renters’ or hosts’ connections. Report vulnerabilities to [email protected] instead.
• Phishing other users, including sending someone a device sign-in code or sign-in link you started.

Hosts

• Watching, recording or interfering with a rental, or trying to access a renter’s apps or data on a phone.
• Trying to identify renters.
• Connecting an emulator, a different phone than the one listed, or a phone with personal accounts, data or a SIM.
• Tampering with the hub, the device agent, health reports or cleanup.

3. What happens if this policy is broken

Depending on the seriousness, we may do any of the following, without notice where needed to stop harm:

• end the rental, pause the phone or hub, or remove a listing;
• suspend or close the account, and refuse new accounts for the same person or organization;
• keep credit up to the actual costs the misuse caused, such as compensation to affected hosts, investigation costs and chargeback fees;
• reverse host earnings connected with the misuse;
• report the activity to the authorities and cooperate with lawful requests, as described in our Privacy Notice.

4. Reporting misuse

Report misuse, including traffic you believe came from a phone on PocketShare, to [email protected] with what happened and when (time and time zone). Hosts can report a concern about a rental the same way. We don’t tell the person reported who made the report, unless the law requires us to.