Terms of Use
These Terms of Use govern your use of the GoldenLight iOS app. By downloading, installing, or using GoldenLight you agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.
GoldenLight is provided as-is by one photographer. It is a paid app — a subscription or a one-time purchase, handled entirely by Apple. We do our best with the forecasts and data, but nature is bigger than any app — never rely solely on this app for safety decisions. Don't reverse engineer or copy the app. We're not responsible if you drive to the coast and the sunset is mediocre.
- The agreement
- License to use the app
- Accounts and content
- Purchases and subscriptions
- Acceptable use
- Third‑party data and services
- Forecasts and safety
- Intellectual property
- Disclaimer of warranties
- Limitation of liability
- Indemnification
- Termination
- Changes to these terms
- Governing law and disputes
- Apple-specific terms
- Contact
1. The agreement
These Terms of Use (the "Terms") form a binding agreement between you (the "user," "you") and Andrew Sambuceto Photography, a sole proprietorship based in Canby, Oregon, United States ("we," "our," "us") regarding your use of the GoldenLight iOS application and any associated services (the "app").
Your use of the app is also subject to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference.
2. License to use the app
Subject to your compliance with these Terms and to an active purchase or subscription, we grant you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to download and use the app on iOS devices that you own or control, for your personal, non-commercial use. The app is licensed, not sold, to you.
3. Accounts and content
GoldenLight does not require an account. The pins, plans, profile, and preferences you create exist locally on your device. You retain ownership of any content you create. You are responsible for backing up your own data; we do not store it on a server.
The app does send the coordinates you ask about to weather, astronomy and mapping services so they can return data for that place. What is sent, to whom, and how long anything is kept is set out in our Privacy Policy.
4. Purchases and subscriptions
GoldenLight is a paid app. Full access requires an active subscription or the one-time purchase, and there is no free tier. A first launch shows the purchase options before the app can be used.
What is offered
- GoldenLight Yearly — $24.99 per year. Eligible new subscribers receive a one month free trial on this tier. The trial is Apple's introductory offer, not a timer we run; eligibility is determined by Apple and is generally once per Apple Account.
- GoldenLight Monthly — $4.99 per month. No trial.
- GoldenLight Complete — $79.99 once. A one-time purchase, not a subscription. It does not renew and does not expire.
Prices shown are United States prices. Prices in other storefronts are set by Apple's pricing tiers, may include local tax, and will differ.
How billing works
Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current price unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your Apple Account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the period. You can manage or cancel a subscription at any time in iOS Settings → your name → Subscriptions; cancelling stops the next renewal and does not refund the current period. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when a subscription is purchased.
Apple handles the transaction
Apple processes every App Store purchase. We never see or receive your name, email, payment card, or billing address — only an anonymous confirmation that the device is entitled to the paid features. Refunds, and any statutory right of withdrawal you may have as a consumer, are handled by Apple through your Apple Account; we cannot issue refunds directly.
Restoring a purchase
Your entitlement follows your Apple Account, so reinstalling the app or moving to a new device restores access. If it does not restore automatically, Restore Purchases is at the bottom of the purchase screen.
Price changes
We may change prices for future purchases and renewals. Where a change affects an existing subscription, Apple will notify you and, where required, obtain your consent before the new price applies. Existing subscribers otherwise keep the price they signed up at.
5. Acceptable use
When using the app, you agree not to:
- Reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to derive the source code of the app, except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law
- Modify, adapt, translate, or create derivative works of the app
- Rent, lease, sell, sublicense, or otherwise transfer the app to a third party
- Share, resell, or circumvent a subscription or purchase, or use the app without a valid entitlement
- Use the app to violate any law, regulation, or third party's rights
- Interfere with the operation of the app or any data provider it relies on
- Use the app or its data to build a competing product or service
- Remove or alter any copyright, trademark, or attribution notice
- Scrape, harvest, or systematically extract data from the app's backend
- Use automation, bots, or scripts to interact with the app
6. Third‑party data and services
The app fetches data from public scientific, government and mapping providers, including Open-Meteo, the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, NOAA CO-OPS, NOAA CoastWatch, the U.S. Naval Observatory, NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, Open Topo Data, NIFC/WFIGS, the Bureau of Land Management, iNaturalist, OpenStreetMap, and Apple Maps.
Some forecast data is served from a server we operate ourselves rather than from a commercial API. Requests to it carry the coordinates you asked about and nothing else identifying you; this is described in the Privacy Policy.
We are not responsible for the accuracy, availability, timeliness, completeness, or legality of any third-party data. Use of the app constitutes your acceptance of the relevant third parties' terms and licenses, including:
- OpenStreetMap data is © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under the Open Database License (ODbL)
- iNaturalist observations are licensed under their respective Creative Commons licenses
- NASA, NOAA, USGS, and USNO data are generally in the public domain or available under U.S. government open data terms
- Map, place search and place-name data comes from Apple Maps and is subject to Apple's terms
7. Forecasts and safety
GoldenLight provides forecasts, predictions, and modeled estimates. Weather, tides, surf, terrain conditions, road conditions, fire activity, and astronomical visibility are all subject to real-world variability and forecasting error. Never rely on GoldenLight for safety-critical decisions. Always check official sources, local conditions, and your own judgment before traveling to, photographing in, or making decisions about exposure to remote, coastal, alpine, desert, or wilderness environments.
You acknowledge that:
- Color predictions are statistical estimates calibrated against past observations and will sometimes be wrong
- Tide and water level predictions may differ from actual conditions; never turn your back on the ocean
- Fire and smoke data may lag real-time conditions by hours
- Aurora and Milky Way forecasts depend on space weather, which is inherently uncertain
- Terrain elevations and horizon profiles derive from SRTM data (~30m resolution) and are not a substitute for ground-truth observation
- Driving directions, road status, and accessibility are not provided by the app
You are solely responsible for your safety, the safety of those with you, and the legal and ethical conduct of any photographic activity you undertake.
8. Intellectual property
The app, including its design, source code, copy, illustrations, sound, and the Lumen Score calibration model, are owned by Andrew Sambuceto Photography and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. "GoldenLight" and the GoldenLight wordmark are unregistered trademarks of Andrew Sambuceto Photography.
Photographs displayed in marketing materials, the App Store listing, and in-app illustrations are © Andrew Sambuceto Photography unless otherwise noted, and may not be reproduced without permission.
9. Disclaimer of warranties
THE APP IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR QUIET ENJOYMENT. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THAT THE APP WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE; THAT FORECASTS OR DATA WILL BE ACCURATE; OR THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED.
10. Limitation of liability
TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL ANDREW SAMBUCETO PHOTOGRAPHY 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 YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE APP, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT WE WERE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
OUR TOTAL CUMULATIVE LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THE APP OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THE APP IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM OR (B) FIVE U.S. DOLLARS.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of liability for certain damages. In those jurisdictions, the above limitations apply only to the maximum extent permitted by law.
11. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Andrew Sambuceto Photography from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to or use of the app; (b) your violation of these Terms; or (c) your violation of any rights of any third party.
12. Termination
You may stop using the app at any time by deleting it from your device. We may suspend or terminate your access to the app, in whole or in part, at any time and without notice, for any reason or no reason, including if you violate these Terms.
Cancelling a subscription is done through your Apple Account, as described in Section 4.
The following sections survive termination: 4 (Purchases and Subscriptions, as to amounts already due), 8 (Intellectual Property), 9 (Disclaimer), 10 (Limitation of Liability), 11 (Indemnification), 14 (Governing Law), and 16 (Contact).
13. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be reflected in an in-app notice. Continued use of the app after the update constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
14. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the app will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Clackamas County, Oregon, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.
If you are a consumer residing in the European Union, United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction whose laws grant you mandatory consumer protections that cannot be overridden by contract, nothing in this section is intended to limit those protections.
15. Apple-specific terms
If you obtained the app from the Apple App Store, the following additional terms apply:
- These Terms are between you and Andrew Sambuceto Photography only, not with Apple. Apple is not responsible for the app or its content.
- The license granted in Section 2 is limited to use on an Apple-branded product running iOS, as permitted by the Usage Rules in Apple's App Store Terms of Service.
- Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app.
- In the event of any failure of the app to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price of the app to you (if any); to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the app.
- Andrew Sambuceto Photography, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claims relating to the app, including product liability, legal compliance, and intellectual property infringement claims.
- Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.
16. Contact
Questions about these Terms:
Andrew Sambuceto Photography
Canby, Oregon, United States
andrew@andrewsambucetophotography.com