# Phlip Licence Phlip comes in two parts, under two different licences: - **The hosting backend** — the server code that runs on a Host's phone and holds and serves a group's data — is **open source under the Apache License 2.0**. - **The Phlip app and client** — the mobile app, its user interface, documentation, branding, artwork and cosmetics — remain **proprietary**. This page explains both. ## Hosting backend — Apache License 2.0 The Phlip hosting backend is published as open source under the **Apache License 2.0**: **[Source repository →](REPLACE_WITH_GITHUB_URL)** Under Apache 2.0 you are free to use, copy, modify, and redistribute the backend source — including for commercial purposes — subject to that licence's terms (keep the copyright and licence notices, state significant changes you make, and observe its patent and trademark provisions). The authoritative terms are the `LICENSE` file in the repository and <https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0>; this summary does not replace them. The Apache 2.0 grant covers the backend source **only**. It does **not** grant any right to the Phlip **name, logo, or branding** (see Restrictions below), nor to the proprietary app and client described next. ## Phlip app & client — proprietary **Copyright © 2026 the Phlip authors. All rights reserved.** The Phlip app and client (the compiled application, its user interface, documentation, trademarks, artwork, and cosmetics) are **proprietary software**, separate from the open-source backend. ### Grant of licence (end users) If you obtained the Phlip app through an authorised distribution channel (for example Google Play or another store or download we designate), we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to install and use the compiled App on devices you control, solely in accordance with: - the in-app [[Terms|Terms of Service / End User Licence Agreement]]; - our [[Notices/Privacy|Privacy Policy]]; and - the applicable store terms. This licence does **not** grant you rights to the app's source code, to create derivative works of the app, or to redistribute the app except as those Terms allow (for example normal use of the hosted client UI served by a Host to their Members). Rights to the **backend** source are instead governed by the Apache 2.0 licence above. ### Restrictions (app & branding) Except to the extent that applicable law prohibits these restrictions, the Apache 2.0 licence expressly permits them for the backend, or we give you prior written permission, you may not: 1. Copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, sell, rent, lease, or lend the proprietary **app/client** or any substantial part of it. 2. Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the App, except where mandatory law expressly permits it despite this restriction. 3. Remove or obscure proprietary notices, copyright marks, or licence legends. 4. Use Phlip's name, logos, or branding in a way that suggests endorsement without permission — this applies to redistributions of the open-source backend too. 5. Use Phlip for any unlawful purpose. ## Hosting and self-hosted use Running Phlip as a **Host**, and Members connecting to that Host, is permitted under the end-user Terms. Separately, because the backend is open source under Apache 2.0, you may also build and run the backend from source on that licence's terms. Neither route grants a licence to redistribute or rebrand the **proprietary app**, or to use the Phlip name and branding beyond what Apache 2.0 and these terms allow. ## Third-party components Phlip may include or depend on third-party libraries and services (for example AndroidX, NanoHTTPD, Gson, Google Play Billing, Cloudflare Tunnel). Those components remain under **their own** licences (which may include Apache License 2.0 or other open-source terms). Nothing here changes the licences of those third-party works. See the in-app **Third-party notices**, or the [[Notices/Dependencies|Dependencies & licences]] page, for the full list and what each licence requires. ## No warranty / liability Phlip is provided subject to the warranty disclaimers and liability limits in the [[Notices/Terms]], and — for the backend source — the "as is" disclaimer in the Apache License 2.0 itself. To the maximum extent permitted by law, no additional warranties are granted by this licence document. ## Termination Your licence to the **proprietary app** ends automatically if you breach these terms or the End User Licence Agreement. On termination you must stop using the app and uninstall copies you control, except for data that lawfully remains on a Host's device under the Terms. Your rights to the **open-source backend** are governed by the Apache License 2.0 and continue on its own terms regardless of this document. ## Contact For permissions beyond this document that concern the **proprietary app** (including commercial redistribution or app source access), use the Contact & Bug Report options published with the App or the support address on the store listing / website. The **backend** source and its licence are available directly from the [repository](REPLACE_WITH_GITHUB_URL). ## Changes We may update this licence in future App releases. Continued use after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised licence where permitted by law. Changes here do not retroactively alter the Apache 2.0 terms under which any given release of the backend source was published. --- **Quicklinks:** [[Why Phlip|Home]] · [[Features]] · [[FAQs]] · [[Roadmap]] · [[Notices/Legal]]