Terms and conditions
These terms govern the use of the OBDScan application for Android and iOS. By downloading, installing or using it, you accept what follows. If you disagree with any part of it, do not use the application.
1. Who provides the application
OBDScan is developed and distributed by the company responsible for the application, hereinafter «the developer». Informational contact address: israel.alvarado.segura.dev@gmail.com.
The developer is not affiliated with, associated with, authorised by or sponsored by any vehicle manufacturer, OBD-II adapter manufacturer, workshop, insurer or retailer. Trade marks mentioned in the application or on this site belong to their respective owners and are used solely descriptively or to indicate compatibility.
2. Licence
The developer grants you a personal, worldwide, revocable, non-exclusive and non-transferable licence to install and use OBDScan on devices you control, subject to these terms and to the terms of the store you obtained it from.
The application is licensed, not sold. The developer retains all intellectual property rights in the code, the design, the pictograms, the texts and the vehicle catalogue.
You may not decompile, reverse-engineer, extract source code from, redistribute the application through channels other than the official stores, resell it, or remove authorship notices, except to the extent applicable law expressly permits despite this prohibition.
3. Commercial terms
OBDScan's commercial terms — price, in-app purchases or subscriptions, if any — are those shown on the store listing you download it from, at the time of download. That listing prevails over any description on this site.
Any change to those terms will be applied through the corresponding store and by its mechanisms, not by silently editing this page.
The application does not sell hardware. The ELM327 adapter searches offered on the connection screen are search links to well-known retailers, unaffiliated and uncommissioned: the developer does not select sellers, earns nothing from those searches, and takes no part in and bears no responsibility for the purchase.
4. Requirements and required hardware
To read real data you need an OBD-II adapter compatible with the ELM327 text command set. It is not part of the application and you must obtain it yourself. The developer does not make, sell, certify or warrant any adapter, and is not liable for defects, incompatibilities or damage arising from any particular adapter.
The quality of ELM327 clones on the market varies enormously. Some advertise compatibility they do not deliver. Demo mode lets you get to know the entire interface before buying hardware.
On iPhone and iPad it is not possible to use classic Bluetooth (SPP/RFCOMM) adapters, due to an iOS restriction outside this application's control. Use Wi-Fi or BLE.
5. Nature of the information and absence of advice
OBDScan is an informational tool, not a professional diagnosis. It does not replace inspection by a qualified technician, an official test, or your vehicle's service manual.
The application shows what the vehicle's control unit answers to the standard modes of the OBD-II protocol. The accuracy, availability and meaning of each value depend on the vehicle, its ECU and the adapter used — all of them outside the developer's control.
Many systems — transmission, ABS brakes, airbags, body modules and much of what hybrids and electric vehicles do — use manufacturer-proprietary protocols that the application deliberately does not interpret, so as not to present invented values as if they were measurements.
The built-in vehicle catalogue is a preliminary filter, not a certification of compatibility. It contains data reconciled from public sources, with known conflicts and without official verification for every regional market. The vehicle's ECU is always the final authority.
No reading, absence of a reading or interpretation shown by the application should be taken as confirmation that a vehicle is safe, roadworthy or compliant with applicable regulations.
6. Clearing fault codes
Clearing a code turns off the warning light, it does not repair the fault. If the cause persists, the code will come back.
The clear command (Mode 04) acts on the emissions codes the vehicle supports, not on one code of your choosing, and may reset the freeze frame and the readiness monitors. A vehicle with incomplete monitors may fail an emissions or roadworthiness test.
The application requires the vehicle to be stationary, checks revs and speed beforehand, asks for express confirmation and does not retry the command automatically. Even so, you are responsible for the decision to clear and for its consequences.
A lost, invalid or ambiguous response is presented as an unknown result: in that case it cannot be stated whether the clear was applied. A valid confirmation means the ECUs that answered accepted the command, not that the vehicle is repaired or that no other modules have faults.
7. Responsible use and road safety
Do not operate the application while driving. Configure what you need with the vehicle stopped, and do not take your attention off the road to check a reading.
Using the application does not exempt you from traffic rules or speed limits. The application does not encourage any particular style of driving and must not be used for competitive activities on public roads.
Detailed conditions of use, including express prohibitions, are set out in the acceptable use policy, which forms an integral part of these terms.
8. Your data and your backups
The application sends none of your data to any server of the developer's, as set out in the privacy notice. The direct consequence is that the developer holds no copy of your information and cannot recover it if you lose the device, clear the app's data or uninstall it.
If your history matters to you, export it regularly. The application offers export to CSV, JSON and .obs.
9. Disclaimer of warranties
The application is provided «as is» and «as available», without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including without limitation warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, uninterrupted availability and freedom from error.
The developer does not warrant that the application is compatible with any particular vehicle or adapter, that readings are accurate or complete, that the map service will be available, or that operation will be uninterrupted or error-free.
Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain implied warranties; in that case, those exclusions will not apply to you to the extent the law prohibits them, and your statutory consumer rights remain unaffected.
10. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the developer will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages, nor for loss of profits, loss of data, loss of use or damage to the vehicle, arising from the use of or inability to use the application.
In particular, the developer is not liable for:
- repair, maintenance or purchase decisions taken on the basis of the information shown;
- the consequences of clearing codes, including the outcome of an emissions or roadworthiness test;
- damage to the vehicle, its electronics or its ECU arising from the use of an OBD-II adapter, its quality or its connection;
- failures, inaccuracies or behaviour of third-party adapters;
- loss of data stored on the device for any reason;
- traffic offences, accidents or damage related to using the application while driving.
The developer's total cumulative liability to you for any claim relating to the application is limited to the amount you paid for it in the twelve months preceding the claim, or to the minimum amount mandatorily set by applicable law where that law does not permit such a limit.
The developer is not answerable for misuse of the application. Each user is responsible for the use they make of it, for the decisions they take from the information it shows and for complying with the rules applicable in their jurisdiction, and answers to third parties for the consequences of that use.
Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for wilful misconduct, gross negligence, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any other liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law.
11. Indemnity
You agree to hold the developer harmless against third-party claims arising from your use of the application in breach of these terms, of the acceptable use policy or of applicable law.
12. Updates, changes and termination
The developer may publish updates that change, add or remove features. He may also, at his discretion, stop maintaining or distributing the application; in that case, copies already installed will keep working for as long as the device's operating system allows, without creating any obligation of support.
These terms may be amended. The version in force is the one published on this page, with its effective date. If you continue using the application after a substantial change, you will be taken to accept it; if you do not accept it, uninstall the application.
You may terminate this agreement at any time by uninstalling the application.
13. Governing law and jurisdiction
These terms are governed by the laws of the United Mexican States. For their interpretation and performance, the parties submit to the jurisdiction of the competent courts of the United Mexican States, waiving any other venue that might apply to them.
If you are a consumer resident in another country, this clause does not deprive you of the protection afforded by the mandatory provisions of the law of your habitual residence.
14. General provisions
If any clause of these terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remainder will stay in full force. The developer's failure to exercise a right does not constitute a waiver of it.
These terms, together with the privacy notice and the acceptable use policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and the developer regarding the application.
The Spanish text is the governing version. Versions in other languages are provided as a courtesy translation; in the event of discrepancy, the Spanish prevails.