Terms of Use

The short version

Trace is a macOS app you buy once, either from the Mac App Store or direct from our website. It runs on your Mac and stores your recordings on your Mac. The App Store version has no servers of its own. The website version adds a small licence check, so a paid copy can tell itself apart from a free trial, and updates itself. These terms are the legal bit; the privacy policy covers what the app does with your data.

By installing or using Trace, you agree to these terms. If you don’t agree, don’t use the app.

Who we are

Trace is made by an independent developer based in the United Kingdom. Contact: [email protected].

Your licence to use Trace

When you buy Trace from the Mac App Store, Apple grants you a non-transferable licence to use the app on Apple-branded devices you own or control, as set out in the standard Apple Media Services Terms and Licensed Application End User Licence Agreement. Those Apple terms apply to your purchase and use of Trace alongside the terms on this page.

If you buy Trace direct from our website, we grant you a personal, non-transferable licence to use it. Your purchase comes with a licence key you can activate on a number of Macs you own or control, set by the tier you bought (shown at checkout and in the app once you activate), and a single payment includes future updates. Licences bought before we introduced tiers cover two Macs and keep doing so. You can deactivate a Mac from inside the app to free that slot for another one. The free trial lets you use the full app for 7 days before you buy.

In plain English: you bought a personal copy of an app. You’re welcome to use it on your own Macs. You can’t redistribute it, reverse-engineer it, resell it, or share your licence key.

What Trace does

Trace records audio on your Mac, transcribes it locally, and writes the resulting files into the app’s sandboxed container. Full detail is on the privacy page.

Trace may optionally connect to third-party services that you explicitly enable (for example, Google Calendar). When you enable an integration, Trace will tell you clearly what it does, what it reads, and what it sends over the network. No integration is on by default.

What we don’t promise

Trace is provided “as is”. We work hard to make it accurate and reliable, but:

• Transcription, and the optional on-device summary, are done by machine learning models and will sometimes be wrong. Don’t rely on a transcript or summary for anything high-stakes without checking it.
• Recordings live on your Mac. If your Mac breaks, the files go with it. Back them up if they matter to you.
• Third-party services Trace integrates with (if any) are outside our control. If Google Calendar, the Mac App Store, or any other service changes or stops working, features that depend on them may change or stop working too.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all implied warranties, including fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. Nothing in these terms limits your statutory rights as a consumer.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential loss arising from your use of Trace, including lost recordings, lost transcripts, or lost business opportunities. Our total liability for any direct loss is capped at the amount you paid for Trace.

Nothing in this section limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be limited by law.

Responsible recording

Trace is a recording tool. You are responsible for how you use it. Laws on recording conversations vary by country and by state. Make sure you have the consent you need before recording anyone.

Refunds

If you bought from the Mac App Store, refunds are handled by Apple. Request one directly through reportaproblem.apple.com, and Apple’s refund policy applies.

If you bought direct from our website, payment is handled by our reseller, Paddle, who is the merchant of record. You can have a no-questions refund within 14 days of purchase by emailing [email protected]. We’ll refund through Paddle and deactivate the licence.

Changes to Trace

We may update Trace, add features, remove features, or retire it entirely. App Store copies are updated through the Mac App Store. Copies bought direct from our website update themselves, using Sparkle, an open-source updater for Mac apps; the app checks our update server for a newer signed build and installs it when you agree. Either way updates are optional from your side. If you don’t update, your existing installation keeps working until your macOS version is no longer supported.

Changes to these terms

If these terms change, the new version will appear at the same URL and the “Last updated” date at the top will change. If a change is material (for example, altering how a paid feature works), we’ll say so on the landing page.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any dispute that can’t be resolved by emailing us will be handled by the courts of England and Wales, except that consumers may be entitled to bring proceedings in the courts of their country of residence under local law.

Contact

Questions about these terms: [email protected].