Hooka
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Hooka

Terms of Service

Effective date: 5 July 2026. Please read these Terms carefully — Section 3 explains our tobacco content policy, which exists to keep Hooka compliant with Apple's App Store rules and Turkish tobacco-advertising law, and to keep you safe.

1. Acceptance of these terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you and Hooka governing your use of the Hooka app and hooka.com.tr (together, the "Service"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines, which are incorporated by reference.

2. Eligibility (18+)

You must be at least 18 years old to use Hooka. If the law that applies to you sets a higher minimum age for accessing tobacco-related content or services, you must meet that higher age instead. By creating an account you represent that you meet this requirement and that the birthdate you provide is accurate. We verify your birthdate at signup and reserve the right to request additional verification, and to suspend or terminate any account we reasonably believe belongs to someone under the required age.

3. Health, tobacco, and advertising policy

Hooka is a social journaling and discovery platform for an already-existing, already-legal adult activity — it is not a retailer, marketplace, or advertising channel for tobacco or nicotine products. Specifically:

  • We do not sell tobacco, shisha, hookah hardware, or any related product, and the Service cannot be used to buy, sell, trade, or arrange the sale of any such product.
  • We do not run tobacco advertising, sponsorships, or promotions, and you may not use Hooka to advertise, market, promote, or solicit business for any tobacco brand, product, lounge, or retailer — including sponsored posts, paid placements, discount codes, or incentivized reviews. Where tobacco brand or product names appear in Hooka's catalog, they are shown solely so you can identify and log what you tried (nominative use), not as an endorsement, partnership, or promotion of that brand.
  • We do not encourage tobacco consumption. Content that glamorizes excessive or binge consumption, encourages non-users (especially anyone under 18) to start, or depicts consumption by or targeted at minors is prohibited under our Community Guidelines and will be removed.
  • Health warning: hookah/shisha smoking exposes you to nicotine, carbon monoxide, tar, and heavy metals, and carries serious health risks including nicotine addiction, respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and increased cancer risk — a single hookah session can involve inhaling as much smoke as many cigarettes. Secondhand smoke poses risks to others. Nothing on Hooka is medical advice; consult a healthcare professional with questions about tobacco use.
  • This policy exists to comply with Apple App Store Review Guideline 1.4.3 (no encouraging consumption of, or facilitating sales of, tobacco) and Turkish Law No. 4207 on the Prevention and Control of the Hazards of Tobacco Products (no advertising, promotion, or sponsorship using tobacco brand names, logos, or trademarks). Content or accounts that violate it will be removed and may be banned.

4. Your account

You're responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your login credentials and for all activity on your account. Tell us immediately at support@hooka.com.tr if you suspect unauthorized access. One account per person; you may not create an account on behalf of someone else without authorization, or maintain more than one account to evade a suspension or ban.

5. Your content and our license to it

You keep ownership of the sessions, reviews, ratings, comments, photos, and other content you post ("User Content"). By posting User Content, you grant Hooka a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, and distribute it as part of operating and promoting the Service (for example, showing your session on your public profile or in a lounge's feed). You represent that you own or have the rights to everything you post, and that it doesn't infringe anyone else's rights.

If you believe content on Hooka infringes your copyright or trademark, email support@hooka.com.tr with the material at issue, its location in the app, and a statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorized; we will investigate and remove infringing content, and terminate repeat infringers.

6. Prohibited conduct

In addition to our Community Guidelines, you agree not to:

  • Break any applicable law, or post content that is illegal, defamatory, or infringing;
  • Harass, threaten, bully, or hate on anyone, or post sexual content involving or appearing to involve a minor (which we report to the relevant authorities, including NCMEC where applicable, with zero tolerance);
  • Advertise, market, or facilitate the sale of tobacco, alcohol, or other regulated goods, or run promotions/giveaways on behalf of a brand or retailer (see Section 3);
  • Impersonate any person or entity, or create fake accounts, fake lounges, or fake reviews;
  • Scrape, reverse-engineer, or use automated means to access the Service beyond what our public APIs allow, or attempt to bypass the age gate or any security control;
  • Upload malware or interfere with the Service's operation.

7. Moderation and enforcement

You can report content or accounts directly in the app. We review reports and, depending on severity, may remove content, issue a warning, temporarily suspend, or permanently ban an account. We may also proactively remove content or accounts that violate these Terms or our Community Guidelines without prior notice. You can appeal a moderation decision by emailing support@hooka.com.tr.

8. Lounges, brands, and third-party information

Information about lounges, tobaccos, brands, and mixes on Hooka is contributed by our community or aggregated from public sources for informational purposes, and does not imply a partnership, endorsement, or sponsorship by Hooka or by the referenced business/brand unless explicitly stated. We don't guarantee the accuracy of this information (hours, pricing, availability, or health/ingredient claims) — verify directly with the venue. Hooka does not process any purchase or booking transactions; any interaction with a lounge or retailer happens entirely outside the Service, between you and that third party.

9. Intellectual property

The Hooka name, logo, and app are our intellectual property and may not be used without our written permission. Tobacco and lounge brand names, logos, or trademarks that may appear in the catalog remain the property of their respective owners, are used solely for identification (nominative fair use), and do not imply affiliation with or endorsement by those brands.

10. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. We don't warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that any lounge/tobacco/mix information or user review is accurate, complete, or safe to rely on.

11. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, HOOKA AND ITS OPERATORS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY HEALTH OUTCOME RELATED TO TOBACCO USE OR RELIANCE ON USER-GENERATED CONTENT, OR FOR THE CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD-PARTY LOUNGE, VENUE, OR USER. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING FROM THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, OR (B) 100 USD. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited under applicable law (including mandatory consumer-protection rights).

12. Termination

You may stop using Hooka and delete your account at any time from Settings. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or applicable law, or if required to do so by law or an app-store partner. Sections that by their nature should survive termination (ownership, disclaimers, liability limits, governing law) will survive.

13. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Türkiye, without regard to conflict-of-law principles, and subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Antalya, Türkiye — except where you are a consumer resident in the EU/EEA, UK, or another jurisdiction whose law gives you the right to bring a claim in your home courts or grants you non-waivable consumer protections, in which case those mandatory rights apply instead. [Final choice of forum/arbitration to be confirmed with local counsel in each launch market.]

14. Apple App Store terms

If you downloaded Hooka from the Apple App Store, you acknowledge that:

  • This agreement is between you and Hooka only, not Apple, and Apple is not responsible for the Service or its content;
  • Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the Service;
  • In the event of any failure of the Service to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any); to the maximum extent permitted, Apple has no other warranty obligation;
  • Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims by you or a third party relating to the Service, including product liability, legal/regulatory compliance, or consumer-protection claims;
  • Apple is not responsible for investigating, defending, settling, or discharging any claim that the Service infringes a third party's intellectual property;
  • You will comply with applicable third-party agreements (e.g., your wireless data agreement) when using the Service;
  • You represent you're not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo or listed as "terrorist supporting," and are not on any U.S. government restricted- or denied-party list;
  • Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

15. General terms

If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision isn't a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines, are the entire agreement between you and Hooka regarding the Service. We may update these Terms from time to time; material changes will be notified in-app or by email before taking effect.