A MERIDIAN JOURNAL
Terms of use
Effective date: 2026-09-10
1. Scope and operator
These Terms govern use of Atlas and its related services (the “Service”), provided by Tatsuya Sadohara under the brand Meridian (the “Operator”).
A contract for use of the Service is formed when you review and agree to these Terms. If you are a minor or otherwise require a legal representative’s consent, obtain that consent.
The Apple license agreement applicable to the app governs the license for apps obtained from the App Store. These Terms supplement it and do not restrict the terms set by Apple or other providers, or your statutory rights.
2. The Service
Atlas lets you record places visited, dates, photos and notes, review them on maps and travel lists. Some features do not require an Atlas account; purchases and sharing may require an Apple Account and other conditions.
Place names, boundaries, search results, dates and locations extracted from photos, and statistics may contain errors or omissions. Exploration percentages are estimates under the Service’s counting rules, not measurements of actual land area explored, official proof of visits, or statements on borders or territorial claims. Independently check important dates and places. The Service is not intended for navigation, emergencies or personal safety.
3. Free features and Atlas Pro
The free version allows new records until 30 records are stored. Atlas Pro is a one-time purchase that unlocks the paid features shown on the purchase screen. It is not an automatically renewing subscription.
Pro removes the limit on adding records and hides ads, and provides shared-map creation, the map time machine, and filtering by year or country. Shared maps support up to 10 members including the creator; invited free users may join. An account may create or join a total of 3 groups. The time machine lets you select a month to review places and photos up to that point. Available features, price, currency and the total payment including taxes are shown on the purchase screen and App Store confirmation screen. Purchases follow App Store payment procedures.
A one-time purchase means no recurring charge; it does not guarantee all future separate products or features, or indefinite provision of external services. However, purchased rights will not be revoked without reason or unilaterally changed to your disadvantage solely by changing these Terms.
Restoration is available when App Store conditions, including the Apple Account used for purchase, are met. If purchase status cannot be verified, check your connection and Apple Account and try restoring purchases. Refund requests follow Apple’s procedures. Eligibility depends on applicable law and Apple’s conditions. These Terms do not limit statutory refunds or other remedies.
If Pro becomes unavailable, existing records will not be deleted solely because the storage limit is exceeded. New additions are subject to the free limit, but viewing, editing, restoring and supported synchronization of existing records remain available.
4. Devices and permissions
You provide compatible devices, operating systems, storage and connectivity and bear connection costs. Features may differ by device, OS, region, permissions and external-service availability.
Features using photos or location operate according to your actions and required device permissions. Photos may contain capture dates and locations. Permissions can be changed in device settings. Without permission, features requiring that information may be unavailable.
5. Storage, synchronization and backups
Personal records are stored on your device. For shared maps, records you select are stored on Atlas’s sharing server and shared with group members. Signing in with Apple alone does not upload all personal records.
Synchronization does not guarantee an independent backup. Use available backup features to protect records against device loss or failure, app deletion, accidental actions or restoration. If restoration replaces device records, check the notice before proceeding.
Deleting the app alone does not delete data on the sharing server or backups you created. Data saved by recipients do not automatically reflect changes or deletions in the Service.
6. Your records and rights
Rights in your photos and writing remain with you or the original rights holder. The Operator handles these data only as needed for storage, display, synchronization, restoration. These Terms do not grant the Operator rights to use your records as advertising material or sell them to third parties.
You must hold the necessary rights to recorded and shared content and respect others’ copyright, image rights and privacy. Sharing may disclose photos, places and dates to recipients. Check both content and recipients before sharing.
7. Maps and other external services
The Service uses external services including Apple, map and geographic-data providers, payment processors and advertising providers. Their terms apply, and outages or changes to their conditions may make parts of the Service unavailable.
Do not remove required map or data attribution, copyright notices, logos or other license notices displayed in the app. Using the Service does not grant rights beyond the original licenses for third-party maps or images.
8. Advertising and information handling
The free version may display ads. Advertisers provide the linked destinations, products and services; display is not an endorsement or quality guarantee by the Operator.
Personal, device, purchase and advertising information is handled according to separately presented privacy disclosures and necessary consent screens. Agreement to these Terms does not replace separately required permissions, such as device tracking permission.
9. Prohibited conduct
Do not:
- Violate laws or others’ rights or privacy. - Use the Service to track others without permission or to harass them. - Gain unauthorized access, falsify purchase status, make improper requests to external services or impair the security or operation of the Service or third parties. - Copy or redistribute the app without authorization or improperly circumvent safeguards, except as permitted by law.
10. Changes, interruptions and termination
The Operator may change or interrupt the Service as needed for maintenance, safety, legal compliance or external-service failures. Planned material changes or termination will be announced in advance in the app or by another appropriate method. Where advance notice is impracticable in an emergency, notice will be given as soon as possible.
If the Operator decides to discontinue the Service, reasonable advance notice and, where technically possible, an opportunity to retain records will be provided. Material effects on purchased features will be handled according to applicable law and purchase conditions.
11. Liability
The Operator provides the Service with reasonable care but does not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation, identical behavior across devices or external services, or recovery of lost records.
The Operator is liable under applicable law for harm attributable to the Operator. These Terms do not exclude or limit liability for intentional misconduct or gross negligence, or liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited. Free use alone does not result in a blanket exclusion of liability for damages.
12. Ending use
You may stop using the Service at any time. Deleting the app does not cancel a purchase or request a refund. See Article 5 for record retention and deletion. Accrued rights and obligations concerning payments, refunds and damages, and provisions intended by their nature to survive, remain effective after use ends.
13. Changes to these Terms
The Operator may amend these Terms in accordance with law where the change benefits users generally, or is consistent with the purpose of the contract and reasonable in light of its necessity and appropriateness. The changes and effective date will be specified and announced before taking effect in the app or by another appropriate method.
Changes requiring individual consent under applicable law apply only after that consent is obtained. Continued use alone is not treated as the necessary individual consent.
14. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by Japanese law, without depriving you of mandatory consumer-protection rights applicable in your place of residence. Disputes shall be resolved by courts with jurisdiction under applicable law.
If any provision is held invalid, the remaining provisions remain effective to the extent permitted by law.
15. Contact
Service inquiries: meridian.apps.support@gmail.com
Effective date: 2026-09-10