Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) are the agreement between you and us for our Android app “Shimeji: Screen Buddies” (shown on your device as “Shimeji”, Google Play ID com.digitalcosmos.shimeji), called the “app” in these Terms, including its Magic AI features and the characters you can download in it, and for the website shimeji.app. By downloading or using the app or the website you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use them. Nothing in these Terms takes away the rights you have as a consumer under the law of the country where you live.

1. Who we are
2. Who can use the app
3. Your licence to use the app
4. Using the app
5. Our characters and content
6. Characters you create or import
7. Magic: AI creations
8. Magic Credits and rewards
9. Premium and other purchases
10. Your rights as a consumer
11. Ads
12. Privacy
13. Changes to the app and to these Terms
14. Ending these Terms
15. Responsibility for loss
16. Governing law and courts
17. General
18. Contact

1. Who we are

The app and the website are provided by Arnold Gabriel Balasescu, a sole trader established in Spain, trading as Digital Cosmos (“we”, “us”, “our”). We offer the app as a business (a “trader” under consumer law). Our postal address is shown in the developer information on the app’s Google Play page. You can write to us at [email protected] about these Terms, purchases, complaints and legal matters, and at [email protected] for help with the app.

2. Who can use the app

The app is meant for people aged 13 and over. If you are under the age of majority where you live (18 in most countries), you may use the app only with the permission of a parent or guardian, who accepts these Terms for you. Purchases are paid with the payment method of the Google account on the device and must be made with the account holder’s permission. Parents can require approval or authentication for purchases with Google Play’s parental controls.

3. Your licence to use the app

We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to install and use the app on Android devices you own or control, for your own non-commercial use, in line with these Terms and the Google Play Terms of Service. The app is licensed to you, not sold. Except where the law expressly allows it, you may not:

• copy, sell, rent, lend, sublicense or distribute the app or any part of it;
• decompile, reverse engineer, modify or tamper with the app, or use cheats, bots or modified versions of it;
• access our Magic server or the character catalogue other than through the app, for example with scripts, bots, bulk requests or scraping (visiting the website in a web browser is of course fine);
• get around queues, limits, ads or payments, for example by creating extra installations to collect free credits or rewards;
• interfere with the security or operation of the app, the website or our servers;
• use the app or the website in a way that breaks the law or these Terms.

Screenshots and videos of your screen buddies, including on social media, in streams and in monetised videos, are welcome, as long as you do not suggest that we endorse you or your content. This is an exception to section 5 for our own characters; it gives no permission for characters, names or logos that belong to someone else (section 7.4).

4. Using the app

• The app shows animated characters on top of other apps. To do this it needs Android’s “Display over other apps” permission and shows a notification while it is running, with buttons to hide your characters or make them ignore touches (Ghost Mode). You can remove characters or stop the app at any time.
• Downloading characters and using Magic need an internet connection. Characters you have downloaded also work offline.
• Some features, such as the free Magic Credits, need a copy of the app installed from Google Play, a Google account on the device and Google Play’s integrity check. They may not work on devices without Google Play, with modified copies of the app or with copies from other sources.
• The app runs on Android devices that meet the requirements shown on its Google Play page. Some devices close apps in the background to save battery, which can stop your characters; we cannot control that.

5. Our characters and content

The app, the characters in its catalogue with their art and animations, the website, and the names and logos “Shimeji: Screen Buddies” and “Digital Cosmos” belong to us or our licensors and are protected by copyright and other laws. All rights not expressly given to you in these Terms are reserved.

You may use our characters for your personal, non-commercial enjoyment. You may copy a downloaded character in the app’s editor, change it if you like, and share your copy with other people for their personal use in the app, free of charge. A copy is still based on our character: its original art and animations remain ours, even though an exported file names “Local Creator” as its author, and you may not present the original character as your own creation. You may not sell or license our characters, their art or copies of them, or use them commercially (for example on merchandise, in other apps or games, or in advertising). We may add, update or remove characters in the catalogue.

6. Characters you create or import

• You can create characters with the editor or with Magic, import character files (.zip) from your device and export characters you made as a file. You can also export and import 3D pet skins (.png). The number of imports per day may be limited; the app tells you when you reach the limit, and you can reset it by watching a short ad when one is available.
• Your characters are saved on your device, and we do not keep a copy of them. The exceptions are Magic requests and their results, which stay on our servers for a limited time (section 7), and reports you send with the Report button, which include pictures and details of the character you report. Our Privacy Policy explains how long we keep them. If you delete the app or its data, or lose your device, your characters may be gone for good, so export the ones you want to keep.
• Import only files you have the right to use. Files from other websites or other people are not made, checked or endorsed by us; you import them at your own risk, and their own terms and licences apply.
• You keep any rights you have in what you create. You are responsible for what you create, import and share, including making sure it does not infringe anyone else’s rights.

7. Magic: AI creations

7.1 How Magic works

Magic creates characters and animations with artificial intelligence (AI) from a description you type and, if you choose, from a picture you select (“Use a picture”). To animate a character, the app also sends a picture of that character. Our AI may translate your description and add details to it. For a new character you can turn the added details off with Smart description, except when you use a picture: the character is then described from the picture. For an animation, our AI also looks at the picture of the character to describe the movement. Your request is sent to our generation server (ai.shimeji.app) and processed on graphics processors that we rent, where AI models create the result, which is then sent back to your device.

You give us permission to use the text and pictures you send, and the results, as needed to create your result, to keep Magic safe (for example to run our filters and handle reports) and to fix and improve Magic. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle any personal data in them and how long we keep them.

7.2 What to expect

Results are made by AI and are unpredictable. They may not match your description, may contain mistakes, and similar results may be created for other people. We do not promise any particular result.

7.3 Rules for requests and creations

You must not use Magic, or anything made with it, for any of the following:

• sexual or nude content, or anything that sexualises or exploits minors;
• images of a real person without their consent, or sexual or intimate images of a real person;
• impersonating someone, deepfakes or other content meant to deceive people about what a real person said or did, misleading the public, or interfering with elections;
• hate, discrimination, harassment, bullying, threats or defamation, or content that promotes violence, self-harm or crime;
• infringing someone else’s copyright, trademark, privacy, image, publicity or personality rights;
• spam, fake reviews or fake engagement, fraud, or presenting AI content as made by a person where that would mislead others;
• weapons or military purposes, or surveillance, including tracking, monitoring or profiling people without their knowledge or consent;
• anything else that is unlawful.

Upload only pictures you have the right to use. If a picture shows a person, that person (or, for a minor, a parent or guardian) must have agreed to it being used. You must not try to get around our content filters, limits or other safety measures, or remove any AI label, watermark or other provenance mark from a creation.

7.4 Your creations

We do not claim ownership of your creations, and you may use them in line with these Terms. This gives you no rights in our characters or other content that a creation started from (for example when you animate a copy of one of our characters): section 5 still applies to them. AI creations might not be protected by copyright, and a creation can look like existing characters or works. If a creation is based on a character, name or logo that belongs to someone else, it is your responsibility to make sure your use is lawful, and you must not use it commercially. When you share creations, say that they were made with AI where the law or the platform you share them on requires it. Pictures and animations made with Magic, including characters you export or save from the app, can carry machine-readable information, such as an entry in the file's metadata, that shows they were made with AI. It contains no information about you.

7.5 Filters, reports and enforcement

The text of every request, including the description our AI makes from a picture you choose, is checked by automated filters before anything is created. A request that the filters refuse costs nothing, and if our filters or a fault on our side stop a request after it has started, the Magic Credits it used are returned. Filters cannot catch everything, so the rules in section 7.3 apply even when a request gets through. If many requests from your app are refused in a short time, Magic pauses for a while automatically.

You can report any creation with the Report button in the app; we review reports and use them to improve our filters. If someone breaks these rules, we may refuse their requests, or limit, suspend or end their use of Magic, depending on how serious the breach is and whether it is repeated. If you think we got a decision wrong, write to [email protected], telling us roughly when it happened and what you asked for (the app has no accounts), and we will look at it again.

7.6 Availability

Magic depends on our servers and on graphics processors that we rent. Creations wait in a queue, which can take several minutes or longer at busy times. We may pause, limit or change Magic, for example during maintenance, at very busy times, to stop abuse, or when we change the AI models we use. We keep pauses as short as we can. If a creation fails on our side, the Magic Credits it used are returned automatically. If Magic is unavailable for so long that Premium no longer works as described, you have the rights described in section 10.1.

8. Magic Credits and rewards

• Magic Credits are used to create with Magic. You get free credits the first time you use Magic (if your device passes the checks in section 4) and can earn more by watching optional ads. The number of credits you get, what each creation costs and any daily limits are shown in the app and may change; a change applies from when it is shown in the app. If a change means that credits you bought get you less than before, you can ask us to refund the bought credits you have not used.
• Credits and other rewards (such as character levels, a temporary extra character slot, 3D pet hats, double XP or a reset of the daily import limit) have no monetary value. They cannot be sold, transferred to another person or exchanged for money. This does not affect any refund the law gives you for credits you bought (sections 9.7 and 10.2).
• Credits are linked to the app installation on your device. Because the app has no accounts, your credits are lost if you uninstall the app or clear its data, unless Android’s own backup or device transfer restores the app’s data.
• We will not remove credits you already have, except to correct a mistake, where the purchase they came from was refunded or reversed, or where they were obtained by breaking these Terms (for example through fraud or by manipulating ads). If we stop offering Magic altogether, we will tell you in advance where we can, so that you have time to use your credits, and we will refund bought credits you have not used if you ask us.
• Ads that give rewards are optional: you choose to watch them, and an offer that starts by itself after a short countdown can always be cancelled. A reward is normally given only when the ad network confirms that you watched the ad. Ads are not always available, and limits on how many rewards you can earn apply.

9. Premium and other purchases

9.1 What Premium includes

Premium is an optional subscription, billed monthly or yearly through Google Play. While it is active you get:

• Magic creations without spending credits and without a daily limit;
• the Premium Magic options (such as High Detail, Full Resolution, Long Duration and Reduce Motion Errors);
• priority over free creations in the Magic queue;
• every character and 3D pet level and animation, and every 3D pet hat and toy;
• up to 10 characters on screen at once (up to 5 of them can be 3D pets) and no daily import limit;
• no ads (the app may still suggest other apps of ours).

A subscription started in an older version of the app is Premium too. The app shows what Premium includes before you subscribe.

9.2 Fair use

Premium creations still run one at a time and wait in a queue, ahead of free creations, and Magic may be paused or limited for everyone as described in section 7.6. We may limit Premium use of Magic that is automated, abusive or breaks these Terms.

9.3 Buying, price, renewal and free trials

You buy Premium in Google Play’s purchase screen, which shows the plan, the price (including taxes where they apply), the billing period and any free trial. You can check your choice and go back before you confirm, and Google Play sends you a receipt by email. Prices can differ between countries.

Premium renews automatically at the end of each period, and Google Play charges the payment method of your Google account (up to 24 hours before the new period starts) until you cancel. If your purchase starts with a free trial, you are charged when the trial ends unless you cancel before then.

Prices for new subscriptions can change. If we raise the price of a subscription you already have, we do so only for objective reasons, such as changes in taxes, exchange rates, Google Play’s pricing rules or our running costs. The new price never applies to a period you have already paid for: Google Play tells you about it in advance, and you can cancel before it applies.

9.4 How to cancel

You can cancel at any time in the Google Play app (tap your profile picture, then Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions) or at play.google.com/store/account/subscriptions. Premium then stays active until the end of the period you have paid for and is not renewed. Uninstalling the app does not cancel Premium.

9.5 Restoring purchases

Purchases are linked to your Google account. If you reinstall the app, or use another device signed in to the same Google account, Premium and the one-time upgrades in section 9.6 are restored automatically. Magic Credits, including bought ones, are not restored this way: they stay with the app installation (section 8).

9.6 Earlier purchases

Older versions of the app sold one-time upgrades (such as extra character slots, all animations or the removal of ads) and packs of Magic Credits, and versions that have not been updated may still offer them. The current version does not sell them. If you bought an upgrade, it keeps working (the editor upgrade is no longer needed, because the editor is now free for everyone). Bought Magic Credits stay with the app installation like other credits (section 8).

9.7 Payments and refunds

Purchases are made and paid through Google Play under the Google Play Terms of Service, and we never see your payment details. In some countries, including those of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom, Google sells the purchase to you as merchant of record. You can ask for a refund through Google Play under Google Play’s refund policies, or write to us if a purchase does not work. Cancelling a subscription does not normally refund the current period, but this does not limit your legal rights described in section 10.

10. Your rights as a consumer

10.1 Legal guarantee

The app and the features you pay for must work as described. If they do not, you have legal rights, for example to have the problem fixed, or to a price reduction or a refund. For Premium, we are responsible for any problem that happens or shows up while your subscription is active; for one-time purchases, for problems that show up within the period set by the law of your country (in the European Union, at least two years). You can still make a claim after Premium ends, within the time limits of your country’s law. Nothing in these Terms limits these rights. Please contact us first so that we can fix the problem.

10.2 Right of withdrawal (EU, EEA and UK)

If you are a consumer in the European Union, the EEA or the United Kingdom, you can normally withdraw from a purchase within 14 days, without giving a reason:

• Premium: within 14 days of subscribing, also if your subscription started with a free trial. You get a full refund, unless you expressly asked for Premium to start during those 14 days; then you may have to pay for the part of the period you used before you withdrew.
• Magic Credits bought in an older version of the app: within 14 days of buying them, for the credits you have not used.
• Digital content supplied straight away (such as a one-time upgrade bought in an older version of the app): the right of withdrawal ends once the content has been supplied, but only if, before buying, you expressly agreed to it being supplied straight away, acknowledged that you would then lose the right, and received a confirmation of this. Otherwise you keep the right for 14 days.

To withdraw, send us a clear statement by email to [email protected], or use the withdrawal form in Google Play’s refund policies for the EEA and the UK (that page may say that the right does not apply to subscriptions; under these Terms you have it for Premium as described above). You may use the model form below, but you do not have to. To help us find your purchase quickly, please include your Google Play order number (it starts with GPA. and is in the receipt email from Google Play) or write from the email address of your Google account. If Google Play turned down a refund request you made within the 14 days, write to us and we will treat it as a withdrawal. We will make sure that you are refunded through Google Play without undue delay, and at the latest within 14 days of being told that you are withdrawing, using the same payment method.

10.3 Complaints

If you are not happy with the app, a purchase or one of our decisions, write to [email protected], or by post to the address shown on the app’s Google Play page. We will confirm that we received your complaint, give you a reference and reply as soon as we can, within 15 days at the latest. If we cannot solve the problem together, we will tell you in our reply which out-of-court dispute resolution body can deal with it and whether we will take part. You can also contact the consumer authority where you live; in the European Union, the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) gives free help with complaints about traders in another EU country.

11. Ads

The app shows ads from Google AdMob and its partners, including banners, full-screen ads and optional ads that give rewards. With Premium you see none of these ads. If you bought the removal of ads in an older version, banners and full-screen ads are removed, but you can still choose to watch optional ads that give rewards. Ads come from third parties, and we do not endorse what they advertise. Where the law requires it, the app asks for your consent to personalised ads, and you can change your choice in its settings. You can read more about ads in our Privacy Policy.

12. Privacy

How we handle information about you is described in our Privacy Policy.

13. Changes to the app and to these Terms

We keep working on the app. We may update, change or remove features and content for valid reasons, such as fixing problems, security, changes in the law or in Google Play or Android, changes made by our service providers, the end of or a change to the licence of an AI model or other technology we use, a large change in the number of users or in what it costs us to run Magic, or improving the app. You may need to install updates to keep using some features. We will keep the app and the features you pay for working as described, as the law requires.

If a change to Premium removes a main feature or otherwise makes it more than slightly worse for you, we will tell you reasonably in advance, in the app and on this page, saying what changes, when, and that you can end Premium as described here. If we cannot tell you in advance, for example because a security problem or the law needs an immediate change, or because an AI model we use stops being available to us without warning, we will tell you in the same way as soon as we can. You can then end Premium free of charge within 30 days of our notice or of the change, whichever is later: cancel it in Google Play and write to us, and we will refund the part of the period you paid for but will not use.

We may update these Terms for the same kind of reasons. We will publish the new version on this page with a new effective date and, for important changes, tell you in the app reasonably in advance. If you do not agree with a change, you can stop using the app. If you have Premium and an important change is to your disadvantage, you can end Premium free of charge within 30 days of our notice or of the change, whichever is later, in the same way as above, and we will refund the part of the period you paid for but will not use. Changes do not apply to anything that happened before they took effect.

14. Ending these Terms

You can stop using the app at any time by uninstalling it. Remember to cancel Premium in Google Play as well (section 9.4). We may suspend or end your use of the app or of Magic if you seriously or repeatedly break these Terms, or if the law requires us to. Where we can, we will tell you why, and you can contest the decision by writing to us. If we stop offering the app or Premium altogether, we will tell you in advance where we can, and you will get a refund for any part of a paid period that you can no longer use. Sections 5, 6, 7.3, 7.4, 15, 16 and 17 continue to apply after these Terms end.

15. Responsibility for loss

We make the app with care, but we cannot promise that it, Magic or the website will always be available, work without interruptions, or work on every device.

If we break these Terms or fail to use reasonable care and skill, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of that. We are not responsible for loss or damage that was not foreseeable, or for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control. We are also not responsible for losing characters that are stored only on your device, or free or rewarded credits that can no longer be reached, when you uninstall the app, clear its data, or lose or reset your device, unless the loss is caused by a fault in the app or on our side. If this happens to credits you bought, write to us with your Google Play order number and we will restore or refund the bought credits you have not used.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for damage we cause on purpose or through gross negligence. The same goes for any other liability that the law does not allow us to limit or exclude. Nothing in these Terms affects your legal rights as a consumer.

16. Governing law and courts

These Terms are governed by Spanish law. If you are a consumer, you also keep the protection of the mandatory provisions of the law of the country where you live, and you can bring proceedings in the courts of that country or of Spain. If we need to bring proceedings against you as a consumer, we will do so in the courts of the country where you live.

17. General

• These Terms are the agreement between you and us about the app and the website. Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal data. Google is not a party to these Terms; your purchases through Google Play are also covered by the Google Play Terms of Service.
• If any part of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. If we do not enforce a part of these Terms straight away, we can still enforce it later.
• You may not transfer your rights under these Terms to anyone else. We may transfer our rights and obligations to another business that takes over the app, provided this does not reduce your rights.
• These Terms are written in English. This page is the full text of the Terms; we do not keep a separate copy for each user, so you may want to save or print it. Earlier versions are available on request.

18. Contact

Arnold Gabriel Balasescu (Digital Cosmos), Spain
Terms, purchases, complaints and legal matters: [email protected]
Help with the app: [email protected]
Postal address: shown in the developer information on the app’s Google Play page.

Effective 6 November 2026.