Terms of Use

1. Your license

Subject to these Terms and to Apple’s Licensed Application End User License Agreement (the “Apple Standard EULA”), we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to download and use YapVault for your personal, non-commercial use on any Apple-branded device you own or control, as permitted by the App Store Usage Rules in the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, including through Family Sharing where Apple allows it. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

2. Free app, and the tip jar

2.1 The app is free

YapVault is offered free of charge. No feature of the current version is behind a payment, a subscription, an account, or an advertisement. We may add, change, or remove features in future versions at our discretion, and nothing here obliges us to keep any particular feature available, or free.

2.2 What a tip is

The app includes an optional tip jar, under “Support the Developer” in Settings. A tip is a voluntary, one-time, consumable in-app purchase, offered and fulfilled through Apple’s In-App Purchase system as the App Store Review Guidelines permit. In exchange for a tip you receive a digital item: an acknowledgment shown inside the app. That acknowledgment is the entire consideration for the purchase. Under the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, in-app purchases are licensed, not sold, and the item is delivered to you, and consumed, immediately on purchase.

2.3 What a tip is not

A tip does not unlock, extend, or entitle you to any feature, content, service, support priority, update, or future version of the app — every feature is already available to everyone at no charge. A tip is not a subscription and does not recur. A tip is not a charitable donation, is not tax-deductible, and is not made to or for any charity or cause. A tip is not an investment, a loan, a pre-order, a deposit, a pledge, a vote, or a purchase of equity, revenue share, or any ownership interest in Coastal Dune Labs or the app, and it gives you no right to direct, influence, or receive reports about the app’s development. A tip creates no obligation on our part to continue developing, maintaining, supporting, or distributing the app, to fix any defect, to add any feature, or to keep the app on the App Store.

2.4 Payment and refunds

Tips are billed to your Apple Account through the App Store at the price shown in the app at the time of purchase. Prices vary by country or region and can change at any time; Apple determines and collects tax where it applies. Consumable in-app purchases cannot be restored, transferred, or shared through Family Sharing. Under the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, all transactions are final. Any refund request goes to Apple and is decided by Apple under Apple’s own policies. We do not process payments, never hold your payment information, and cannot issue refunds, credits, or exchanges. If Ask to Buy or another Apple approval step applies, a tip completes only if and when Apple records the approval.

2.5 The acknowledgment

The app keeps a count of completed tips locally on your device in order to show the acknowledgment. That count is not synced, is not backed up by us, and cannot be recovered by us. If it is lost — because you delete the app, change devices, restore a backup, or Apple reverses a transaction — we have no obligation to restore it, and its loss is not a failure of what you purchased. We may change or remove the form of the acknowledgment in any future version.

3. Your recordings

3.1 They are yours

The audio you record, the transcripts, titles, summaries, notes, speaker names, and vocabulary built from it, and anything you import or export, belong to you. Coastal Dune Labs does not access, collect, transmit, or store any of it — we operate no servers that receive it. You are solely responsible for your content and for keeping your own backups, as described in section 6.

3.2 Recording other people is your responsibility

This section is a material part of these Terms. The app records whatever your microphone hears. Laws on recording conversations vary by place, and many jurisdictions — including the State of Florida — make it a crime, and a basis for civil liability, to record a private conversation without the consent of every participant. Other laws restrict recording in workplaces, courtrooms, medical settings, and schools, or restrict recording phone and video calls. You are solely responsible for working out which laws apply to each recording you make, for getting any consent they require before you record, for how you store, use, and share recordings of other people, and for the consequences if you get it wrong. The app does not obtain consent for you, does not know where you are or who you are recording, and does not warn you about the law. Coastal Dune Labs has no involvement in, knowledge of, or responsibility for any recording you make.

3.3 Lawful content

You must have the right to record, store, transcribe, and use everything you put into the app. You may not use it to record, store, or distribute material that infringes anyone’s rights, violates anyone’s privacy or publicity rights, or is otherwise unlawful.

4. Transcripts and AI summaries

4.1 Automated output can be wrong

Transcripts, speaker labels, titles, teasers, and summaries are produced automatically by speech-recognition and machine-learning models. They can be inaccurate, incomplete, misattributed, out of order, or misleading, and they can omit, invent, or misstate names, numbers, dates, and decisions. Speaker separation can merge two people into one label or split one person into several. Treat automated output as a convenience, and check it against the original audio before you rely on it.

4.2 Not an official record, and not advice

YapVault is a personal note-taking tool. A transcript or summary it produces is not a verbatim, certified, or official record, and is not designed or warranted as the sole or authoritative record of any conversation, meeting, interview, agreement, medical encounter, legal proceeding, or transaction. Nothing the app produces is legal, medical, financial, tax, or other professional advice. Where a record matters, keep the audio and obtain whatever official record the situation calls for.

4.3 Where the processing happens

Transcription, speaker separation, and search run on your device. Titles are produced on your device by Apple Intelligence. On devices and versions of iOS where Apple offers it, summaries are produced by Apple’s Private Cloud Compute unless you turn that option off in Settings, in which case they are produced on your device. When Private Cloud Compute is used, the transcript text is sent to Apple’s servers as described in our Privacy Policy. That processing is Apple’s, under Apple’s terms and privacy policy; we do not receive the data and are not responsible for Apple’s services.

4.4 Availability

Transcription needs a speech model that iOS downloads from Apple. Titles and summaries need an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, and the Private Cloud Compute option depends further on Apple’s service, regional availability, and per-user limits Apple sets. Apple’s models may decline to process some content. Any of these features may be unavailable, limited, or withdrawn at any time, including by Apple, and the app may fall back to another method or produce nothing. We do not warrant that any automated feature will be available or will produce any particular result.

5. Locked memos

The app can lock individual memos behind Face ID or your device passcode, using iOS security features. That lock is only as strong as your device passcode and Apple’s implementation, and anyone who can unlock your iPhone can unlock your locked memos. It is not a guarantee that a memo cannot be reached, and it is not a substitute for the safeguards genuinely sensitive material deserves. We hold no master key, cannot unlock a memo for you, and cannot recover one if you lose access to your device or passcode. Locked memos are included in your iCloud backup along with everything else, where they are protected by iCloud’s security rather than by the memo lock. We are not liable for any unauthorized access to, or loss of, locked or unlocked memos.

6. Storage and backups

This section is a material part of these Terms.

Your content is stored locally on your device. We maintain no server that stores, mirrors, or backs it up, and we cannot recover data from your device. The app does not sync between devices.

If iCloud Backup is on, iOS includes the app’s data in your device backup — recordings, transcripts, notes, settings, and locked memos alike. iCloud Backup is operated by Apple Inc. and governed by your agreement with Apple. We do not control it and are not responsible for a backup that is missing, incomplete, corrupted, delayed, or fails to restore. A backup is not a substitute for the exports described below.

The app lets you export transcripts and copy audio through the Files app. We strongly recommend exporting and storing copies of anything you cannot afford to lose, somewhere independent of your device, and before any device change, iOS update, or reinstall. Keeping those copies is your sole responsibility and your main protection against losing data.

Deleted memos sit in Recently Deleted for thirty days and are then removed permanently; a memo deleted from Recently Deleted cannot be recovered. You acknowledge that the risk of data loss is inherent in software that keeps data on a personal device. We are not liable for any loss of data, however caused, including loss caused by device failure, loss, or theft; operating-system or app updates; deleting or reinstalling the app; iCloud Backup or other Apple service failures; your own acts or omissions; or any other cause.

7. Apple and other third parties

The app relies on services Apple provides, including the App Store, In-App Purchase, speech recognition, Apple Intelligence, Private Cloud Compute, Siri, Shortcuts, Face ID, device encryption, and iCloud Backup. Your use of those is subject to Apple’s terms, and you agree to comply with them. We do not control Apple’s services and are not responsible for any failure, delay, error, outage, limit, content decision, or data loss they cause.

The app includes open-source software and machine-learning models licensed from third parties under their own licenses. Those components run entirely on your device and come with their own warranty disclaimers. A list of components and licenses is available on request.

8. Acceptable use

You agree not to: (a) use the app for any unlawful purpose, including any recording made in violation of section 3.2; (b) use it to harass, surveil, stalk, intimidate, defraud, or violate the rights of any person; (c) infringe intellectual-property, privacy, or publicity rights in material you record, import, or distribute; (d) interfere with, disrupt, damage, or impair the app or any service it depends on; (e) circumvent any security or access-control feature, including the memo lock; (f) manipulate, spoof, or try to obtain an in-app purchase or acknowledgment other than through Apple’s In-App Purchase system; (g) reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or attempt to extract the source code, models, or prompts of the app, except where applicable law expressly permits; or (h) remove or alter any proprietary notice in the app.

9. Intellectual property

The app and everything associated with it — content, design, source code, prompts, trademarks including the name “YapVault” and its mark, and other intellectual property — is the exclusive property of Coastal Dune Labs and our licensors. Except for the limited license in section 1, no rights transfer to you. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, lease, sublicense, or create derivative works of the app except where applicable law expressly prohibits that restriction. Your content stays yours; we claim no rights in it.

10. No warranty

11. Limitation of liability

12. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Coastal Dune Labs and its members, managers, employees, contractors, and licensors from any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, cost, or expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) any recording you make, store, use, or share, including any claim that it was made without required consent or otherwise breaks the law or violates someone’s rights; (b) your content; (c) your use of the app in violation of these Terms or applicable law; or (d) your violation of anyone else’s rights. We may assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification, and you agree to cooperate with us if we do.

13. Apple App Store provisions

These Terms are between you and Coastal Dune Labs only, not with Apple Inc. (“Apple”). Coastal Dune Labs, not Apple, is solely responsible for the app and its content. Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app; any support is provided by us to the extent applicable law requires. If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price, if any, paid for the app; to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the app. Coastal Dune Labs, not Apple, is responsible for addressing any claim by you or a third party relating to the app or your possession or use of it, including product-liability claims, any claim that the app fails to meet a legal or regulatory requirement, and claims under consumer-protection, privacy, or similar law. If a third party claims the app or your possession and use of it infringes their intellectual-property rights, Coastal Dune Labs, not Apple, is solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of that claim. You represent and warrant that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated by the U.S. Government as a “terrorist supporting” country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties. You must comply with any applicable third-party terms when using the app. Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and, on your acceptance, will have the right — and are deemed to have accepted the right — to enforce them against you. Your use of the app must also comply with the App Store Usage Rules and the Apple Standard EULA, which is incorporated here by reference; where they conflict, these Terms govern except where the Apple Standard EULA is more restrictive. Questions, complaints, or claims about the app should be directed to Coastal Dune Labs through our contact page.

14. Termination

We may suspend or end your license to use the app at any time, with or without cause and with or without notice, including by withdrawing the app from the App Store. Your rights under these Terms end automatically if you fail to comply with them. On termination your license to use the app immediately ceases; your content on your device is untouched by us. Sections 2 through 7 and 9 through 16 survive termination.

15. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Before filing any claim against us, you agree to first contact us through our contact page with a description of the dispute and to try in good faith to resolve it informally for at least thirty (30) days. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the app that is not resolved informally will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts in Pinellas County, Florida, and you consent to that jurisdiction and venue. Either of us may instead bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies.

If you are a consumer somewhere whose law gives you rights that cannot be waived by contract, nothing in these Terms limits those rights.

16. Everything else

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change we will update the date at the top and may give notice in the app or on this site. Continuing to use the app after the updated Terms take effect means you accept them.

If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the rest stays in force. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent; we may assign them at any time. These Terms and our Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Coastal Dune Labs about the app, and replace any earlier agreement about it.

Contact

Questions about these Terms: use the contact page.

YapVault is published by Coastal Dune Labs LLC, a Florida limited liability company, USA.