Orbits
This is how Orbits works, what we expect of each other, and what we are and are not responsible for. These Terms and Conditions are also our Terms of Use. Using Orbits means you agree to them. Please read the sections on meeting safely, on what happens at an orbit, and on our responsibility carefully, because they set real limits.
Orbits is made and operated by Aleph Labs LLC, a limited liability company registered in the United Arab Emirates. Our registered address is:
Aleph Labs LLC
Shams Business Center, Sharjah Media City Free Zone
Al Messaned, Sharjah
United Arab Emirates
In these terms, we and us mean Aleph Labs LLC, and you means the person using Orbits. You can reach us at support@orbitssocial.com, or in the app under Settings then Contact us.
Orbits is for adults 18 and over. You confirm your date of birth when you sign up. You may hold one account only, it must be yours, and you may not let anyone else use it. If we find that an account belongs to someone under 18, we close it and delete it.
Orbits is built around small groups of adults meeting for a real activity, such as a dinner, a coffee, or a walk. It is a group meetup service, not a matchmaking or dating service.
Full access is a paid membership, either Member or Orbits Star, billed by your app store. There is no free trial. Someone without a membership is a Guest. A Guest can look around, but cannot join a new orbit or buy a one time extra.
There are two memberships, Member and Orbits Star, each sold as an auto renewing subscription through the App Store or Google Play in the length you choose: monthly, quarterly, or yearly. The price is shown in your own currency on the membership screen in the app and again in your store before you confirm. What each membership includes is set out in section 6. Payment is charged to your App Store or Google Play account when you confirm the purchase. Apple or Google process the payment under their own terms, and they issue your receipt. We never see your card details.
Your subscription renews automatically for the same length unless you turn off automatic renewal at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for the renewal within 24 hours before the current period ends. You can manage your subscription and turn automatic renewal off at any time in your own account settings: on an iPhone or iPad, open the Settings app, tap your name, then tap Subscriptions; on Android, open the Google Play app, tap your profile picture, then tap Payments and subscriptions. It cannot be done inside Orbits. You cannot cancel a period you are already inside; your membership runs to the end of it.
If a renewal payment does not go through. Where your store gives you time to fix the payment, you keep your membership during that time. If that time runs out, your perks are off until the payment goes through.
Changing your plan. Moving up from Orbits Member to Orbits Star takes effect straight away. Moving down, or changing how often you pay, takes effect at your next renewal date. A membership is changed from a phone that uses the store that bills it.
One store account pays for one Orbits account. While an App Store or Google Play account is paying for an Orbits membership, that membership belongs to one Orbits account and cannot be moved to another.
Gifts of membership time. Our team sometimes gives a member time on Orbits Member or Orbits Star. A gift has an end date, which the app shows you. If you already pay your store for the same level, the gift's days are added to your membership, so your next payment comes later. Otherwise the gift's days are saved and start when your paid membership ends. A gift is given at our discretion, it is never money and cannot be exchanged for anything, and we can end one early.
Refunds. Purchases are sold and refunded by Apple or Google under their own refund policies, so a refund request goes to them. You can also write to us at support@orbitssocial.com about any purchase, and we will look at it. If Apple or Google refunds a membership, it ends at once. If they refund a one time extra you have not used yet, it can no longer be used. Nothing here takes away a right your own consumer law gives you.
We may change membership prices. If you already have an active membership, your current price stays until your next renewal. New prices apply only from that renewal, and your app store runs its own price change step. Every price you see in the app comes from your own app store, and the price your store shows you when you confirm is the one you pay.
Some features can be bought once, at the moment you use them. They are billed by your app store, they are single purchases, and none of them renews.
Extras are for members. A Guest cannot buy one. An Orbits Star already has Host another and priority requests included, so neither is sold to an Orbits Star.
An extra is used the moment you apply it, and once it is applied it stays used. A priority request stays used if the host declines you, if you cancel your own request, if the host cancels the orbit, or if your request is withdrawn because you joined a clashing orbit or your membership ended. It comes back to your account only if we are the ones who cancel the orbit while your request is still waiting. If your store has charged you but the extra could not be applied, it waits for you in the app, marked Already yours, until you use it. We do not run a wallet, a balance, or a currency.
A membership gives you access. It is not a promise of a set number of orbits. Whether an Official Orbits group forms depends on how many people opt in, places can be limited, and there may be times when you opt in and no group can be formed for you. The app tells you when that happens. A period in which no group could be formed for you, a quiet city, or a city where member created orbits are not open, is not on its own a reason for a refund. You can see the orbits in your city in the app before you subscribe.
What each membership includes.
In each list, the lines from “join Community Orbits” on are about member created orbits, which are switched on city by city, as described below. The current list is always shown on the membership screen in the app. Reporting, blocking and the safety tools are included for everyone.
How many orbits you can join in a day. An Orbits Member can join one orbit a day and an Orbits Star up to two. Orbits you host are not counted. Nobody can hold two orbits that overlap: a later orbit has to start at least an hour after the earlier one ends.
Member created orbits can be switched on or off city by city. Whether members can create and join their own orbits in a given city is our decision. It is our decision when member created orbits open in a city, and whether they open there at all; we make no promise about it and give no timeline. Switching it off does not cancel orbits that already exist in that city.
Repeating orbits. An Orbits Member can run one repeating orbit, weekly. An Orbits Star can run several at once. The Host another extra does not buy a second repeating orbit.
When an Orbits Star membership ends. Your Orbits Star perks turn off. Upcoming orbits you host that allow more than 7 people take nobody new beyond 7, but everyone already in keeps their place. One of your repeating orbits carries on if you are still an Orbits Member, and the others are canceled once the end of your membership is confirmed, never sooner than 48 hours after it. Everyone who joined a canceled orbit is told.
When any membership ends. Orbits you have already joined stay yours. If you opted into an Official Orbits signup whose groups have not been formed yet, you are not placed, and a request to join that is still waiting is withdrawn.
What we ask when you join an Official Orbit. We ask the spoken language you would like, the most you would like to spend, and, in some cities, which area you can get to. We use these answers to place you as well as we can, and we cannot promise every one of them will be matched. When we book, we go by the lowest budget in your group. If you pick a language other than English and not enough people choose it, you may be placed in an English-speaking group. We never ask what you can eat or about allergies, so if you have one, tell the venue yourself before you order.
Creating an orbit. When you create an orbit, everything you write about it is public: its title, description, place, time, language, cost, and notes. A price on an orbit is what the activity costs each person; it is never paid to Orbits, and how it is paid is arranged with the host (section 11). A host may change the orbit's name, cost and location in the first 30 minutes after creating it. After that, only a host who is an Orbits Star may change the location, until 72 hours before the orbit starts. Everyone who has joined is told about a change.
You can bring people you are connected with. Anyone who joins an orbit may invite up to two of their connections to it. A connection is somebody you have already met at an orbit, where you both tapped connect. An invite holds no place: if there is room when your friend opens it they can join. On an Official Orbit we try to put an invited pair in the same group, but we always keep apart people who have blocked each other or who our team has marked as not to be grouped again.
If you host an orbit, you cannot leave it. The only way out is to cancel it, which tells everyone who has joined.
We can cancel a member created orbit. A Community Orbit is created by a member, not by us, and it has to fit these Terms and Conditions. We may cancel one at any time, and without telling the host first, where we believe it does not. That includes an orbit that is against the law or involves anything illegal; one that promotes hate speech or is offensive; one organized to promote, recruit for or debate a political or religious cause; one organized around alcohol, drugs or smoking; one we consider out of keeping with the culture of the city or market it is in; one that strikes us as unsafe, suspicious, odd or simply off; one that appears to be a company or business using Orbits to run its events without our agreement; and any other reason where we reasonably believe it should not go ahead. The host and everyone who had joined are told in the app. A boost bought for that orbit is not returned. A priority request you paid for on it comes back to your account to use on another orbit.
We can cancel an Official Orbit. We can cancel a whole Official Orbits signup, or one group, for example where the date does not work, the venue falls through, or too many people drop out. Everyone affected is told. A group that has already started cannot be canceled.
Venues can change. We book independent businesses, and occasionally a venue changes at short notice. If that happens we tell everyone in the group. Three notices always reach you, whatever your notification switches say: that an orbit you are in was canceled, that its venue changed, and an Important Update from the Orbits team, which we send only when something real needs your attention. An Important Update is never an offer or a promotion.
There is no tolerance on Orbits for objectionable content or for abusive members. You agree to these terms when you create your account. If you post content that breaks them we remove it, and if you behave abusively towards another member we remove you from Orbits.
Treat people with respect, in the app and in person. The following are not welcome and will be acted on:
After an orbit, you rate the venue, the experience and each person, and you can flag that someone did not show, brought an unregistered person, or that something went wrong. Other members never see your ratings, and we never tell anyone who rated them. Repeated flags affect your standing and who you are grouped with. We use ratings to keep people safe and to decide who you meet next; that is part of the service and has no separate opt out. How ratings, qualities and sparks are handled is described in the Privacy Policy.
You can report or block anyone, at any time, on any account, for free. You do not have to wait for us: someone you block cannot contact you.
We read every report. We start looking into a report about objectionable content or abusive behavior within 24 hours, and we review every report within 15 working days. A working day means Monday to Friday. Reports about safety, threats, or anyone under 18 come first. Depending on what we find, we may remove the content, warn an account, suspend it, or ban it.
If we act on your account, we tell you, without naming anyone who reported you. You can ask us to look again: reply to that notice, or write to support@orbitssocial.com, within 20 working days. We will answer within 20 working days, and if we got it wrong we will lift it and put it right.
Your membership if we suspend or ban you. While a suspension or a ban is in effect, you cannot take part. The membership you paid for keeps running and is not extended, and only Apple or Google can cancel it, so cancel it in your phone's subscription settings. If we ban your account, we do not normally give back the unused part of a membership you have already paid for; any refund request goes to Apple or Google under their own policies.
Deleting a suspended or banned account. It cannot be deleted from inside the app: write to support@orbitssocial.com and our team will delete it. We keep our record of the decision, and for 24 months we keep a scrambled code of the account's sign in details, so that they cannot be used to open a new account. The Privacy Policy explains this.
To be clear about what we do not do: we do not monitor orbits, and we cannot guarantee how any member will behave.
Orbits is an adults only service and we have zero tolerance for child sexual abuse and exploitation. These are our published child safety standards.
On an Official Orbit, no names and no photos are shown before you meet. The venue normally shows about 24 hours before the start, and the group, meaning nationality, interests, and field of work, about 12 hours before. A reveal can be delayed, but both are shown to you at the latest 12 hours before the orbit starts. Names and faces are exchanged in person. An Orbits Star also sees Star Map: up to three of the interests they share with each person in the group. After the orbit has ended, and once they have finished rating it, the people who were in your group can see your first name and photo on that orbit’s page.
A member created orbit works the opposite way: everything is visible from the moment it is published. The host and everyone who has joined, with their first name, photo, nationality, interests, and field of work, and the venue with its map location, are shown to every signed in account, including a Guest. So joining a member created orbit is never anonymous.
Do not try to identify or track down other members outside the app, and do not pass on what you learn about someone to anyone else.
Orbits introduces adults to one another, and you attend at your own judgment. Orbits provides no emergency service, no monitoring, and no response of any kind. In an emergency, contact your local emergency services yourself.
The safety tools in the app only help you share from your own phone: you can share your live location inside your own Google Maps app, and send a message with your plans through your phone's share sheet. Orbits does not deliver, monitor, or respond to anything you share, and the app never reads your device location.
An orbit's page may show the public emergency numbers of the city the orbit is in. We type those numbers in by hand and may get one wrong, so treat them as a convenience, not a guarantee. Any call is placed by your own phone, never through Orbits.
A few things worth doing. Tell someone you trust where you are going. Arrange your own way there and back. You never have to stay, and you never owe anyone a reason for leaving. Do not send money to another member or take an investment or business offer from one, and tell us if someone asks. If something feels wrong, report it.
The people you meet are other members, not Orbits staff. We do not vet them, we do not run background checks on them, we do not check anyone's identity, and we do not supervise the orbit.
A member created orbit is created and run by a member, not by us; our part is to provide the platform. A host is a member, not someone acting for us.
A price on an orbit is never paid to Orbits. Where a member created orbit shows a price, that is what the activity costs each person. We never collect it, never process it, never hold it and never refund it. How it is paid is arranged between you and the host. Hosts are responsible for describing their price honestly and for their own legal and tax obligations on anything they charge.
Orbits connects people through the app, and for an Official Orbit we also form the group and choose and reserve the venue. That is the whole of our part. We do not supervise the orbit, provide staff, security or first aid there, or run the venue. You take part by your own choice, and you are responsible for your own safety, your own health and your own conduct, at the orbit and on the way there and back.
Venues are independent businesses. We do not own, control or supervise any venue or its staff, and choosing a venue is not a promise about its premises, its food and drink, its service or its prices. For a member created orbit, the host chooses the place, which may be a business or a private place such as a home, and we do not visit, check or approve it. What you pay at a venue, and how it treats you, is between you and the venue.
What you are responsible for:
If you host, you choose the place and you are responsible for it, for describing the orbit honestly, and for anything you prepare, serve or offer there. Remember that the location of a member created orbit is shown to every signed in account.
If something goes wrong. If you feel unsafe, leave. In an emergency, call the local emergency number. If a crime may have been committed, tell the police. Then tell us, by reporting it in the app or by writing to support@orbitssocial.com.
What we are not responsible for. To the extent the law allows, neither Aleph Labs LLC nor the Orbits team is responsible for any accident, injury, illness or allergic reaction, for any loss of or damage to your belongings, or for anything else that happens before, during or after an orbit, including on the way there and back, unless it was caused by our own negligence or by our own staff. To the extent the law allows, we are also not responsible for anything done or not done by a venue, a host, another member or anyone else at or around the orbit.
This section does not limit our responsibility for the app itself, for how we handle your data, or for the conduct of our own staff, and the limits and the consumer protection in section 16 apply to it.
What you write and upload stays yours. You give us a license to host, store, and display your profile, your messages and your orbits to the people who are meant to see them, only to make the app work. You are responsible for what you post, and you confirm you have the right to post it.
Cover photos. A cover photo you upload for an orbit you host is shown publicly, including to guests. By uploading one you confirm that you hold the rights to it and any permission needed from anyone shown in it.
Your name. The name on your profile is your first name, as one word.
Moderation. Our team can review any profile, photo, orbit or cover, and can read the messages in a chat that has been reported to us. We may remove or hide any content at any time that breaks these terms, and act on the account that posted it, up to a permanent ban.
Orbits will keep changing. We may add, change, or remove features, perks, and Orbits Star benefits over time.
Badges. Badges carry no money value and are not part of what a membership buys. We may add, change, reset or remove any badge, or the whole badge system, at any time.
If we change what a paid membership includes. For small changes, we tell you. If we remove the higher group size limit, withdraw access to all games, withdraw the free boosts, or withdraw a named Orbits Star benefit altogether, we tell you at least 14 days before it takes effect, and you can cancel your membership in your phone's subscription settings. If you are inside a quarter or a year you have already paid for, write to us at support@orbitssocial.com and we will either keep the benefit running for you until that period ends, or back your refund request to Apple or Google in writing.
If we make a meaningful change to these terms, to the Privacy Policy, or to membership prices, we let you know in the app or by email, and we give you at least 14 days before it takes effect. If you do not agree with a change, you can stop using Orbits and cancel your membership. Continuing to use Orbits after a change takes effect means you accept it.
Orbits is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. Without limiting your rights as a consumer, we do not promise the app will be uninterrupted, error free, or secure.
To the extent the law allows, Orbits is not responsible for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost profits or lost data.
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our responsibility for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that the law does not allow us to limit or exclude. Nothing in these terms limits rights that consumer law does not allow to be limited.
Where our responsibility can lawfully be limited, and apart from the things named in the paragraph above, our total responsibility to you for everything connected with Orbits is limited to the amount you paid for Orbits in the 12 months before whatever caused the loss.
You can cancel your subscription at any time in your phone's subscription settings. Your membership then runs until the end of the period you have paid for.
You can delete your account at any time in Settings then Delete account. It cannot be undone. Deleting your account does not cancel your subscription, so cancel that separately with Apple or Google.
If you delete your account while you are hosting an orbit, an orbit that has not started yet is canceled and everyone who joined it is told. An orbit that has already happened stays on the app without your name on it.
We may end or suspend an account that breaks these terms, as described in section 8.
How we handle your data is set out in the Orbits Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms. Two points belong here as well: chat is not end to end encrypted and our moderators can read reported content, and the app never collects your device location.
The law that applies. These terms are governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates, where Aleph Labs LLC is registered, and the competent courts of the United Arab Emirates have jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of them. If you are a consumer, nothing in these terms takes away the protection of the mandatory consumer law of the country you live in. You can always write to us first, at support@orbitssocial.com.
If Orbits or Aleph Labs LLC is sold. We may transfer these terms to another company if Orbits or Aleph Labs LLC is sold, merged or reorganized. Your rights under them stay the same, and we will tell you.
If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest still applies. Our not acting on a breach once does not mean we give up the right to act on it later. These terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the whole agreement between you and Aleph Labs LLC about your use of Orbits, alongside the separate terms of Apple or Google for anything you buy from them.
These terms are between you and Aleph Labs LLC only. They are not an agreement with Apple, and Apple is not responsible for Orbits or for anything in it. Aleph Labs LLC alone is responsible for Orbits and for its content.