Terms of service

Version 2026-10-29. Last updated October 29, 2026.

1. About these terms

These terms are an agreement between you and Parker Throneberry, an individual doing business as PocketShare (“PocketShare”, “we”), for renting phones through PocketShare’s websites, command-line tool, API and MCP server (together, the “Service”). By creating an account, signing in or renting a phone you accept these terms, the Acceptable Use Policy and the Privacy Notice. If you host phones, the Host Agreement applies as well.

If you use the Service for an organization, you accept these terms for that organization and confirm you are authorized to do so. You must be at least 18 years old. You may not use the Service if you are located in a country or region under comprehensive U.S. sanctions or are on a U.S. government list of restricted parties.

2. The beta

The Service is a beta. Features, prices, limits and supported phones will change, and parts of the Service may be unavailable. We may end the beta or the Service with at least 30 days’ notice by email, unless we must act sooner for legal or security reasons. Unused credit you bought by card is then refunded.

3. Your account

Anyone 18 or older can create an account with an email address or a Google account. You sign in with a link or code we email you, or with Google. Keep access to your email and Google account secure: anyone who can read your email can sign in as you.
You may create API keys, including keys for AI agents. You are responsible for everything done with your account and your keys, including by tools and AI agents acting for you. Revoke a key you no longer trust from your account settings.
One person or organization per account. Don’t create accounts to get around limits, suspensions or bans, or to collect promotional credit again.
New accounts may get promotional sign-up credit (currently $1, for at most three accounts per device). It is a courtesy, not a right.
Keep your account details accurate, including any business details you add for receipts.

4. What you rent

A rental gives you, for its duration, ADB and screen control of one specific Android phone hosted by an independent host:

the phone appears in adb devices and Android Studio through PocketShare’s relay and the host’s PocketShare hub, and in your browser’s live view;
you can install and debug apps, use the shell as Android’s unprivileged shell user, read Logcat, forward ports to the phone, take screenshots and transfer files;
you don’t get root, the phone’s SIM, phone number, texts or calls, or access to the host’s computer through ADB. A short list of actions is blocked or will end your rental, such as removing PocketShare’s tools or changing settings that break cleanup (see the Acceptable Use Policy).

Hosts are independent. PocketShare does not own the phones. Hosts are people and businesses who connect their own spare phones through our hub software. Phones are in hosts’ homes or offices, and a host can see a phone’s screen. Use test data and test accounts only. Never enter real personal data, payment details or credentials for accounts that matter on a rented phone.

Internet access during the beta. While the beta lasts, apps on a rented phone reach the internet through the host’s network connection, not through PocketShare. Traffic your apps send appears to come from the host’s internet connection. You must not use this to do anything the Acceptable Use Policy forbids. We plan to route this traffic through PocketShare’s own network later and will update these terms when we do.

5. Rentals

Starting. Before you rent you see the phone’s hourly rate, the bandwidth rate and the phone’s model and Android version. You set a spending cap for each rental. A rental can also be limited by your account’s spending limits, your balance and the longest rental your account allows.
Ending. A rental ends when you stop it, when it reaches its cap, your balance, a spending limit or its longest duration, when the phone or hub disconnects for too long, when the host pauses the phone, or when we end it (for example for safety, security or a breach of these terms). Access is cut within seconds of the end. Where we can, we warn you shortly before a rental ends because of a limit.
Your work. Save anything you need before a rental ends. After every rental the phone is wiped: apps, files, accounts and settings you added are removed and the phone is checked against its starting state. We don’t keep copies of what you did on the phone. Cleanup is designed for test use and is not forensic erasure, so don’t leave anything sensitive on a phone.
No guarantee of a particular phone. Hosts list phones, and phones can go offline, be paused or be withdrawn. We don’t guarantee that a model will be available or stay listed.

6. Prices and payment

Prepaid credit. You buy credit in advance by card through Stripe, in the amounts the Service offers. Taxes are added at checkout where they apply. Each purchase has a receipt in your account.
Phone time is charged per minute (a started minute counts as a whole minute) at the hourly rate shown when the rental started. A host changing the price doesn’t change a rental already running. Billing starts when the phone is connected and usable; failed starts and the cleanup after a rental are never billed.
Bandwidth is charged per GB, both directions, for ADB, screen and file traffic through PocketShare’s relay, at the published rate. During the beta it doesn’t include the phone’s own internet traffic (section 4).
Spending cap. A rental is never charged more than its spending cap.
Balance. Usage is deducted from your credit as it happens. Bandwidth carried before a rental ends can take your balance slightly below zero; you owe that amount and it is deducted from your next purchase.
Credit can be used only on the Service and can’t be transferred or exchanged for cash except as section 7 says. It doesn’t expire while your account is open. Promotional credit (sign-up credit, promo codes and goodwill credit from us) has no cash value and is never refunded.
Prices and rates on the Service can change. A change never affects a rental already running.

7. Credits and refunds

If a rental is ended by the host’s side (the phone or hub disconnects, or the host pauses the phone) or by us without fault on your part, the rental is credited back to your balance in full automatically.
For other problems with a rental, write to [email protected]. We may credit the rental to your balance.
Unused credit you bought by card can be refunded to the card it came from: ask us at [email protected], or close your account (section 12) and it is refunded automatically. If a refund to the card isn’t possible, we’ll arrange another way.

8. Payment disputes

If you dispute a card payment with your bank, the disputed credit is removed from your balance and your account is suspended while we review the dispute. If the dispute is resolved in our favor the credit is restored. Please contact us before disputing a charge; most problems can be solved with a credit or refund.

9. AI agents and automation

You may use the Service from scripts, CI and AI agents through API keys and the MCP server. Rentals made by an agent count toward a daily agent spending limit you can lower (and raise up to the platform maximum) in your account, and an agent’s rental ends after a few minutes without activity. These limits are a safety net, not a guarantee: you are responsible for what your agents do and spend.

10. Your apps and content

You keep all rights to the apps, files and data you put on a rented phone (“your content”). You give PocketShare and the host the permissions needed to carry your content to and from the phone and to run it there for the rental, and no other rights. You confirm you have the right to install and test the apps you use.

We don’t look at your content. Cleanup records which apps and settings differed from the phone’s starting state so it can remove them; that record can include the package names of your apps and is deleted after 30 days (or 12 months if cleanup failed and the phone needs review), as described in the Privacy Notice.

11. Acceptable use and enforcement

You must follow the Acceptable Use Policy. If you break it or these terms, or if your use puts hosts, other renters, third parties or PocketShare at risk, we may end rentals, suspend or close your account, and keep credit up to the actual costs your misuse caused (such as host compensation, investigation costs and chargeback fees). Where the law requires or allows, we report illegal activity to the authorities.

12. Suspension and closing your account

You can close your account at any time from account settings. Closing takes effect after a 14-day grace period during which you can cancel by signing in. Closing waits while you have an open rental, an unpaid negative balance or an open payment dispute. When it completes, unused credit you bought by card is refunded, your personal details are deleted, and the records we must keep (rentals, charges, payments and audit records) remain, linked only to a random identifier. See the Privacy Notice.

We may suspend or close your account under section 11, for a payment dispute (section 8), to protect the security of the Service, or if we end the Service. While suspended you can’t sign in or use API keys, and your open rentals end.

13. The Service is provided as is

The Service is a beta and depends on phones and internet connections we don’t control. To the extent the law allows, the Service is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, and without any promise that it will be uninterrupted, that a phone will behave like any other unit of the same model, or that test results will be accurate.

14. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, PocketShare and hosts are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data or business. PocketShare’s total liability for all claims relating to the Service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid PocketShare in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, or $100. These limits don’t apply to liability the law doesn’t allow us to limit, such as for fraud or willful misconduct.

15. Indemnity

You will defend and compensate PocketShare and hosts for third-party claims, and the related costs, arising from your content, your apps, or your use of the Service in breach of these terms or the law. If you use the Service as a consumer, this applies only as far as the law where you live allows.

16. Changes to these terms

We may change these terms. We’ll tell you about material changes by email or in the Service at least 30 days before they apply, unless a change is needed sooner for legal or security reasons. If you don’t agree, stop using the Service and close your account; unused card-bought credit will be refunded. Continuing to use the Service after a change takes effect means you accept it.

17. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Travis County, Texas, and you and PocketShare consent to their jurisdiction. Either of us may instead bring an individual claim in a small claims court where it qualifies. Please write to us first; most problems can be solved quickly. If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under the mandatory law of the place where you live.

18. General

These terms, with the policies they link to, are the whole agreement between you and PocketShare about the Service. If part of them can’t be enforced, the rest stays in effect. We may transfer these terms to a successor of our business, such as a company formed to run PocketShare, and will tell you by email when we do; you may not transfer them without our written consent. Not enforcing a part of these terms isn’t a waiver of it.

19. Contact

Parker Throneberry, doing business as PocketShare. Email [email protected] for support, abuse reports, privacy requests and legal notices.