Terms of Service

1. Agreement

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your use of the Graphophone applications for iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, and Linux (the “App”) and the graphophone.app website (the “Site”). By installing or using the App, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the App.

The App is provided by the Graphophone maintainers (“we”, “us”). You must be the age of digital consent in your jurisdiction (at least 13, and 16 in much of the EU) to use it; if you are under the age of majority where you live, you may use it only with a parent or guardian who agrees to these Terms on your behalf.

Before you can use the App, you accept these Terms inside it. That in-app acceptance — recorded with the version you agreed to — is the governing version of this agreement; this page is a plain-language copy.

2. Your content is yours

Everything you write stays yours. We claim no ownership of, and no licence to, your journal entries, attachments, or any other content you create. Your entries are encrypted on your device and we never receive them.

Because your data is encrypted with a key derived from your passphrase, we cannot read, reset, or recover it. If you lose both your passphrase and your recovery code, your journal is permanently inaccessible — to you and to everyone else. Keep your recovery code somewhere safe.

3. Licence to use the App

We grant you a personal, worldwide, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to install and use the App on devices you own or control, for your own journaling. The App is proprietary software: this licence grants no right to its source code, and these Terms govern your use of the App and its paid features. Third-party open-source components included in the App are listed, with their licences, at /open-source.

You may not resell the App, circumvent or tamper with the paid-feature entitlement checks, or use the App to break the law.

Trademarks. “Graphophone” and the Graphophone logo are trademarks of the App’s publisher; this licence covers using the App, not our name, logo, or branding. Other product, company, model, and service names on this site or in the App — operating systems and platform features, model runners you may point the App at, open-weight models you may download, payment processors, and apps we compare ourselves to — are the trademarks of their respective owners. We name them only to identify those products, for compatibility, attribution, or comparison. Naming them implies no affiliation with, sponsorship by, or endorsement from their owners, and no such owner is a party to these Terms.

4. Free tier, and no advertising

Graphophone shows no advertising, on any tier. There is no ad SDK, no ad CDN, and no remote ad call.

The free tier is not a trial and does not expire. Writing, talking with the on-device companion, voice input, encryption, search, and full export are free for everyone, and always will be.

5. Paid plans and payments

Paying unlocks additional capabilities, which may include larger on-device models, a longer span of history in insights, hands-free conversation, additional AI analysis, use of a model server you run yourself, and an automatic periodic review. The core of Graphophone — writing and talking with it, voice input, on-device memory, encryption, search, export, and the insights you open yourself — stays free, and contains no advertising. You may pay either through a one-time Lifetime Pass or through an auto-renewing monthly or annual subscription. Subscriptions renew automatically at the then-current price for successive periods unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the current period ends, through your store account; you can cancel at any time and keep your paid access through the end of a period you have already paid for. The exact features included are described in the app at the point of sale. Purchases are processed by the platform store you bought through (Apple App Store, Google Play, Microsoft Store, or another listed channel) — we don't process payments or receive your card details — and that store's payment terms, taxes, and currency conversion apply.

“Lifetime” means the supported lifetime of the App as we are able to provide it; it does not guarantee perpetual operation of optional network services such as cross-device sync. Refunds are handled according to the policy of the store you purchased through. If you reinstall the App or move to a new device on the same store account, you can restore your Lifetime Pass or active subscription at no additional charge.

The app-store provider you buy through (Apple, Google, Microsoft, or another listed channel) is not a party to this agreement and is not responsible for the App. Where you obtained the App through the Apple App Store, Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of the in-app Terms and may enforce them, and Apple is not responsible for the App, its content, maintenance, support, or any claims relating to it — the full app-store terms are set out in the governing in-app Terms.

6. Bring-your-own-key and third-party AI providers

Bring-your-own-key cloud routing is not yet enabled in the app — today all AI runs on-device — so this section describes how it will work once it ships. If you supply your own OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter, or other provider API key, requests for the features you opt in to are sent directly from your device to that provider. We do not proxy, store, or log those calls. Your use of any third-party provider is governed by that provider's terms and pricing, and you are responsible for the costs you incur with them.

7. Acceptable use

You agree not to use the App to store or distribute content that is illegal where you are, to attempt to circumvent payment or licensing, or to interfere with the security of the App or its optional services. The App is a personal journaling tool, not a platform for distributing content to others.

8. You are responsible

You are solely responsible for your own actions, decisions, and conduct in and through the App, and for everything you write, record, save, or export. You use the App at your own risk and on your own judgment.

The App is a tool for personal writing and reflection. It doesn’t direct or supervise you, and you won’t treat anything in it — including AI-generated text — as a directive or as a substitute for your own judgment or qualified professional advice. To the fullest extent the law allows, you accept the risks of using the App and release the people who make Graphophone from claims arising out of your own actions, decisions, or content.

9. Not medical or professional advice

Graphophone is a personal journaling and wellness tool. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical, psychological, mental-health, legal, financial, or other professional advice, and using it creates no professional relationship. Always seek a qualified professional for those questions.

The App is not an emergency or crisis service and isn’t monitored — it can’t detect or respond to a crisis. If you’re in danger or may have a medical or mental-health emergency, don’t rely on the App; contact your local emergency number or a crisis line right away. AI features are generated by software, can be wrong or inappropriate, and are not a substitute for professional care.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

The App is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that AI-generated reflections are accurate, complete, or suitable for any decision. Graphophone is not a medical, psychological, legal, or financial service and does not provide professional advice.

11. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither we nor the people who make Graphophone will be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, arising from your use of or inability to use the App. Because we cannot access or recover your encrypted data, you are solely responsible for keeping backups and safeguarding your passphrase and recovery code. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us for the App in the twelve months before the claim or US$50.

12. You cover claims from your use

To the extent the law allows, you agree to cover (indemnify) the Graphophone maintainers and the people behind the project against claims, losses, and reasonable legal costs that arise from your use or misuse of the App, your content, your actions or decisions, your breach of these Terms, or your use of any third-party service.

13. Settling disagreements

If you have a dispute with us, please contact us first at hello@graphophone.app and give us 30 days to resolve it. If we can’t, disputes are resolved on an individual basis by binding arbitration rather than in court, and not as part of any class or representative action — except that either of us may use small-claims court, or ask a court to protect intellectual property. The Terms you accept in the App set out the governing law, venue, and the arbitration details. Nothing here removes a consumer right you can’t waive where you live.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the App evolves. When we make material changes we will update the date below and ask you to review and accept the updated Terms in the App before you continue using it. Continued use after acceptance means you agree to the updated Terms.

15. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email hello@graphophone.app. For privacy questions, see our Privacy Policy.