Is it safe for my child?

Stories are written to be warm and gentle, with tension matched to your child’s age, and every story is checked before you see it. You can add anything you’d like kept out of bedtime, and if something ever feels wrong you can tell us from the story itself.

What happens to my family’s details?

They’re used to write your stories, only after you agree, and never for ads. You can remove anything, or delete your account and everything with it, from inside the app.

A new story every night for your first week, then one new story a week for your household — continuing each one a few times, with read-along, bedtime music, the dark reader and sharing. Premium adds a story every night, every child in the family, and your whole shelf.

Can grandparents use it?

Yes. Send them a story by link — it opens in any browser — or invite them into your family: up to 4 grown-ups share one subscription.

Does it need an internet connection?

Only to write a new story. Stories you’ve already made are kept on your phone.

Is there an Android version?

Not yet. Once is for iPhone and iPad, in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Terms of Service

Last updated September 2026

Welcome to Once. By using the app you agree to these terms. Once is intended for parents and guardians: you must be 18 or older to create an account, and accounts are managed by adults on behalf of the children the stories are written for. Once is provided by Strode Media Company, LLC.

Your use of the app is also governed by Apple’s Standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement. Where these terms and that agreement differ about the app itself, these terms apply between you and us, and Apple is not responsible for Once or its content.

Using Once

Once is for personal, family use. You are responsible for the details you add to Your World, for keeping your account secure, and for the stories you choose to share. Do not misuse the service or attempt to disrupt it.

Once writes bedtime stories for young children, and the details you enter go into those stories. Do not enter anything that does not belong in one — sexual or adult content, hateful content, or anything designed to make the app produce material outside children's fiction. We screen what is entered and may refuse a request, and we may suspend an account that repeatedly tries.

Free and premium

Free accounts include one new story every night for the first seven nights after the household joins — seven stories in that first week — then one new story per week, counted from the day the household joined and shared by everyone in it. Free accounts cover one child and show the 10 most recent stories in the archive. Older stories are kept rather than deleted, and reappear if you upgrade.
"More" — continuing a story while a child is still awake — is available on a free account up to three times per story. "Gentler" and "Sleepy" are never limited. Premium raises "More" to 45 continuations a month across the household.
Premium includes 45 stories and 45 continuations per month, any number of children, and the full archive. Premium allowances reset on the first of each month and do not carry over.
Premium is available monthly or annually.
One premium subscription covers everyone in a linked family, up to four members.
A family shares one monthly allowance rather than receiving one each: the 45 stories are counted across the whole household, whoever makes them.

Billing

New subscribers may be offered a free trial of 14 days, once per Apple ID. When the trial ends your Apple account is charged for the plan you chose unless you cancel at least 24 hours before it ends.

Purchases are made through the App Store and billed to your Apple account. Subscriptions renew automatically at the same price unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, which you do in your Apple account settings (Settings › your name › Subscriptions) rather than in Once. Cancelling stops the next renewal; it does not end the period you have already paid for, and premium remains active until that period ends.

Refunds are handled by Apple under their terms, not by us. Prices may change; we will not change the price of a period you have already paid for.

Stories written by AI

Stories are written by Claude, an AI service operated by Anthropic. We ask for your explicit permission before any of your family's details are sent, and you can withdraw that permission at any time in Profile → Settings. While your permission is withdrawn, Once cannot write new stories for you; stories you already have remain readable. Permission belongs to each adult rather than to the household, so if you share a family, another parent keeps their own.

We work hard to keep stories gentle and age-appropriate, and we screen both what goes in and what comes out. AI is not perfect, and a story may occasionally be odd, repetitive, or not what you asked for. You know your child; please use your judgment when reading along. If a story lands badly, open its menu in your archive and tap "Something was wrong with this story" — it comes off your shelf straight away, and we read every report. You can also email support@getonce.app.

Your content

The stories Once writes for you are yours to read, keep, and share. We do not delete them to make you upgrade — a free account shows the 10 most recent, and the rest are waiting if you subscribe later. Your World details remain yours: edit or remove any of them at any time, or delete your account entirely from Profile → Settings.

You give us permission to store, process and send what you enter — to the providers named in our Privacy Policy — only so far as that is needed to write, keep and show your stories. We claim no ownership of it.

Sharing stories

A shared link can be opened by anyone who has it. You are responsible for who you send it to. You can turn a link off at any time, and every link stops working 30 days after it is shared.

Two details about deletion, both explained in full in our Privacy Policy. If you share a family with another parent, deleting your account passes your children and stories to them rather than erasing them, so the household keeps its memories. And a count of how many stories have been written stays attached to your sign-in — it holds nothing about the stories themselves, and exists so the free monthly allowance cannot be reset by deleting an account and starting again.

Availability

We aim to keep Once running every night, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted service. Stories already in your archive can be read offline; writing a new one needs a connection.

Our responsibility

Once is provided as it is. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, and our total liability to you is limited to what you paid us in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under consumer law that cannot be excluded, including under the Australian Consumer Law and the UK Consumer Rights Act.

Ending things

You may stop using Once and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these terms, and will tell you why where we can.

Changes

We may update these terms as Once grows. We will update the date above when we do, and where a change materially affects you we will say so in the app.

The law that applies

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, United States, except where the law of the country you live in gives you protections that cannot be set aside.

Contact

Questions? Email info@strodemedia.com.