Heliocast · Legal
These Terms of Use are the agreement between you and Ingenio Productions for the Heliocast app. Please read them, by downloading or using Heliocast, you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use the app. The two clauses most worth your attention are forecasts are predictions, not promises and how the Pro subscription renews.
These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Heliocast mobile application, the Heliocast API and this website (together, the "App"), provided by Ingenio Productions ("we," "us," or "our"). By downloading, installing or using the App, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated here by reference. If you are using the App on behalf of an organization, you represent that you are authorized to accept these Terms on its behalf.
You must be at least 13 years old (or the minimum age required in your jurisdiction) to use the App. By using it, you represent that you meet that requirement and that any information you provide is accurate and yours to give.
Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to download and use the App on devices you own or control, for your own personal, non-commercial use. This license is provided under the terms applicable to apps distributed through the Apple App Store (including the Apple Licensed Application End User License Agreement) and Google Play.
Heliocast presents space-weather and weather data from public scientific sources and combines it into visibility scores, verdicts and rankings. Space weather is inherently uncertain: the aurora may fail to appear when conditions look excellent, and may appear spectacularly when they don't. Upstream feeds can be delayed, incomplete, revised or temporarily offline, and our own processing may contain errors.
Nothing in the App is a guarantee that you will see the aurora, that a storm will or won't occur, or that any forecast, alert or score is accurate. You are responsible for your own decisions, including travel, spending, driving at night, and exposure to cold or remote conditions.
Heliocast is a consumer information app. It is not an official warning service and must not be relied upon for aviation, marine or land navigation, HF communications planning, satellite or spacecraft operations, power-grid or pipeline operations, emergency response, or any other safety-critical or operational purpose. For those, use the official products of NOAA SWPC or your national space-weather authority.
Heliocast is free to download and use, with no account required. The free tier includes the dashboards, the 3D aurora globe and all of its Earth textures, live solar imagery and charts, the forecasts, the live webcams, the education section and the sightings journal, plus a short trip-planner window and one Kp alert rule, delivered as a server-driven push that is darkness- and cloud-aware.
Heliocast Pro is an optional subscription that unlocks the full 14-night trip planner, unlimited precision alert rules on advanced metrics (Bz, solar-wind speed and your local visibility), quiet hours, the weather-radar layer on the globe, and archives and history. We may add, change or remove features over time; if we materially reduce what Pro includes, we'll say so.
Heliocast Pro is an auto-renewing annual subscription sold through the Apple App Store or Google Play. There is no monthly plan, no lifetime purchase and no free trial, the free tier is permanent instead.
All purchases are processed by Apple or Google, and refunds are handled by them under their standard policies. We do not process payments and generally cannot issue refunds directly. If you were charged in error, contact Apple or Google support, and feel free to reach out to us so we can help.
You agree not to:
We may rate-limit, suspend or terminate access that breaches these rules or that threatens the availability of the service.
Sightings you log, notes, ratings and photos, are stored on your device and are yours. We do not receive, host or claim any rights in them. Because they live only on your device, deleting the App deletes them; keeping a copy is up to you and your device's backup settings.
The App, including its design, graphics, text, visibility scoring, and software, is owned by Ingenio Productions or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark and other laws. "Heliocast" and our logos are our trademarks. Except for the limited license granted above, these Terms do not transfer any ownership or rights in the App to you.
Scientific data and imagery are sourced from public feeds provided by NOAA SWPC, NASA (SDO, DONKI), NASA/ESA SOHO, GOES, DSCOVR, the Kyoto WDC, USGS, MET Norway and OpenWeatherMap, and remain subject to their respective terms. Cloud data is from MET Norway, licensed under NLOD 2.0 and CC BY 4.0. Globe textures are from NASA Visible Earth (public domain) and Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0). Heliocast is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NOAA, NASA, ESA, USGS or any other agency or data provider.
We aim to keep Heliocast running continuously and accurately, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free service. Alerts depend on third-party systems we do not control - Apple's and Google's push infrastructure, mobile carriers, Twilio, upstream data feeds, and your device's own settings, battery and connectivity. An alert may be delayed, duplicated, suppressed or not delivered at all. Do not rely on an alert as your only means of learning about a storm.
The App relies on third-party services, including the Apple App Store, Google Play, RevenueCat, Google Firebase, Google Cloud, Cloudflare, MET Norway and OpenWeatherMap, each of which has its own terms and policies. Your use of those services through the App is also subject to their terms. We are not responsible for third-party services we do not control.
THE APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE APP WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE OR SECURE, THAT ANY FORECAST, SCORE OR ALERT WILL BE ACCURATE OR TIMELY, OR THAT ANY ALERT WILL BE DELIVERED. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, INGENIO PRODUCTIONS AND ITS AFFILIATES WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, WASTED TRAVEL OR ACCOMMODATION EXPENSE, OR MISSED OBSERVING OPPORTUNITY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE APP, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE APP WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, OR USD $50. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Ingenio Productions and its affiliates from any claims, damages, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your misuse of the App, or your violation of these Terms or applicable law.
You may stop using the App at any time and uninstall it; remember to cancel an active subscription through your app store, since uninstalling does not cancel billing. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms or if necessary to protect the App or other users. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination, including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability and indemnification, will survive.
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above, and for material changes we will give more prominent notice in the App or by other appropriate means. Continuing to use the App after an update means you accept the revised Terms.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the United States and the State in which Ingenio Productions is established, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Nothing here limits any mandatory consumer-protection rights you may have under the laws of your country of residence.
These Terms are between you and Ingenio Productions only, not with Apple or Google. Apple and Google are not responsible for the App or its content, and are not responsible for providing maintenance or support for it. To the extent of any conflict between these Terms and the Apple Licensed Application EULA regarding your use of the App on Apple devices, the Apple EULA governs that conflict. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.
Questions about these Terms? Get in touch:
