Terms of Use

Last updated: 10 July 2026 · Effective date: 10 July 2026

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are a legal agreement between you and Thomas Peel ("we," "us," or "our"), the publisher of the Trace iOS app ("Trace" or the "App"). They also serve as the End User License Agreement (EULA) for the App. Please read them carefully.

Important (US users): These Terms contain a section titled "Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver" that affects the legal rights of users who are residents of the United States, including how disputes between you and us are resolved. That section applies only to US residents. Please read that section closely. If it applies to you, you may opt out of arbitration within 30 days as described there.

1. Acceptance of these Terms

By downloading, installing, or using Trace, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the App. If you are using Trace on behalf of someone else, or you are a minor, you confirm that you are allowed to agree to these Terms or that a parent or guardian has agreed on your behalf.

2. License grant

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to download and use one copy of Trace on Apple-branded devices that you own or control, as permitted by the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions and the Licensed Application End User License Agreement published by Apple (the "Apple Standard EULA"). This license is for your own personal, non-commercial use.

You may not: copy (except as allowed by this license), modify, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the App except to the extent that applicable law expressly permits it; rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute, or sublicense the App; or remove or alter any proprietary notices. We and our licensors retain all rights, title, and interest in the App, including all intellectual property rights. No rights are granted to you except as expressly set out here.

3. Your content

Trace is a journaling app. The recordings you make, the transcripts produced from them, the insights generated on your device, and any notes you create (together, "Your Content") belong to you.

• We claim no ownership of Your Content, and we take no license to it. We do not need a license, because Your Content never leaves your device and we never receive it. It is created and stored entirely on your iPhone.
• You are solely responsible for Your Content, including what you choose to record and how you use it.
• Acceptable use. You agree not to use Trace for any unlawful purpose, or to create or store content that you do not have the right to record or that violates the rights of others or any applicable law. You are responsible for complying with the laws that apply to you, including any laws about recording conversations or other people.
• No moderation, no sharing by us. Because Your Content is never transmitted to us or stored by us, we do not and cannot review, moderate, access, share, or remove Your Content. Managing, backing up, and deleting Your Content is up to you, using the controls in the App and on your device.
• Deletion. When you delete an entry, the App also deletes the AI data derived from it (its digest, and its contribution to insights when they next regenerate). Deleting the App deletes all of Your Content, because no copies exist anywhere else.

4. Subscriptions and billing (Trace Plus)

Trace is free to use with a limit on the free tier of 7 entries per week. For unlimited use and additional features, Trace offers an optional auto-renewable subscription called Trace Plus, available as:

• Monthly: 2.99 US dollars per month.
• Yearly: 19.99 US dollars per year.

Prices may vary by region and over time, and the actual price and currency shown to you at purchase will govern. There is no free trial.

What Trace Plus includes. Trace Plus removes the weekly entry limit, adds enhanced transcription, and unlocks additional AI insight cards. The AI weekly narrative card is available to everyone; other AI cards (such as Threads, Asked back, and the emotional arc headline, along with AI-upgraded versions of some existing cards) are part of Trace Plus. The AI cards require a device that supports Apple Intelligence. We may adjust which features are included in the free tier and in Trace Plus over time; if we make a material change, we will note it in the App's release notes.

Auto-renewal disclosure. Trace Plus is an auto-renewable subscription. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews at the then-current price unless you cancel it at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your Apple ID account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription, and turn off auto-renewal, at any time by going to your Apple ID Account Settings in the App Store after purchase. Canceling stops the next renewal; it does not retroactively refund the current period.

Payments and refunds. All purchases are processed by Apple through your Apple ID. We never receive or store your payment details. All refunds are handled by Apple according to Apple's policies. We do not provide refunds directly. Except where a refund is required by applicable law, payments are non-refundable. If you believe you are entitled to a refund, please request it through Apple.

5. AI and machine learning disclaimer

Trace uses on-device artificial intelligence and machine learning to transcribe your recordings (using the WhisperKit on-device model) and to generate insights (using Apple's on-device Foundation Models, the large language model that ships with iOS as part of Apple Intelligence, together with Apple's Natural Language framework). All of this processing runs entirely on your device, including background processing that the App schedules to run while your device charges, typically overnight; there is no cloud inference and Your Content is never sent to a server. These features are provided "as is" and may produce results that are inaccurate, incomplete, or wrong. Transcripts may mishear words; insights and AI-written summaries are automated pattern-spotting, not factual conclusions about you.

Do not rely on Trace's transcripts or insights as fact, and do not treat them as medical, psychological, therapeutic, legal, financial, or other professional advice. Trace is a personal journaling tool only. For professional guidance, consult a qualified professional.

6. Disclaimer of warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the App is provided "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE," with all faults and without warranty of any kind. We disclaim all warranties, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, quiet enjoyment, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or that any transcript or insight will be accurate. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties, so some of these exclusions may not apply to you. This disclaimer applies only to the extent permitted by law, and nothing in it affects your non-excludable statutory rights, including any rights you have under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 if you are a consumer in the United Kingdom.

7. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will we be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, or data, arising out of or relating to your use of, or inability to use, the App, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

Data loss. Because Your Content is stored locally on your device and you are responsible for backing it up (for example, through iCloud Backup), we are not liable for any loss, corruption, or deletion of Your Content, including loss caused by deleting the App, device failure, or backup settings.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to the App will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us (if any) for the App in the 12 months before the claim, or 50 US dollars.

UK and other non-excludable rights. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for any breach of the terms implied by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 that cannot lawfully be excluded, and for any other liability or right that applicable law does not allow to be limited or excluded. If you are a consumer in the United Kingdom, you have non-excludable statutory consumer rights, and nothing in these Terms affects those rights. The disclaimers and the liability cap above apply only to the extent permitted by law. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.

8. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Thomas Peel from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, and reasonable expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to your misuse of the App, your violation of these Terms, your violation of any law, or your infringement of the rights of any third party in connection with your use of the App.

9. Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver (US Residents Only)

Please read this section carefully. It affects the legal rights of users who are residents of the United States, including the right to go to court and to have a jury trial, and the ability to bring or take part in a class action.

Who this section applies to. The binding-arbitration and class-action-waiver provisions in this section apply only to users who are residents of the United States. They do not apply to consumers in the United Kingdom, the EU/EEA, or any other jurisdiction where pre-dispute binding arbitration of consumer disputes or class-action waivers are not enforceable. If you are not a US resident (or you are otherwise in a jurisdiction where these provisions are unenforceable), this section does not apply to you, and any dispute is instead handled under the Governing Law section below.

Informal resolution first. Before starting any arbitration, you agree to first try to resolve the dispute informally by emailing us at hello@yourtraceapp.com with a description of the problem and what you would like. We will try in good faith to resolve it. If we cannot resolve it within 60 days, either of us may begin arbitration.

Agreement to arbitrate. Except for the matters described below, if you are a US resident, you and we agree that any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the App will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration, rather than in court. Arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, before a single arbitrator.

Class action and jury trial waiver. You and we agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of class proceeding. You and we waive any right to a jury trial.

Small-claims carve-out. Either of us may bring an individual claim in a small-claims court if it qualifies, instead of arbitration.

30-day opt-out. If you are a US resident who would otherwise be bound by this section, you can opt out of this arbitration and class-action-waiver agreement. To opt out, email us at hello@yourtraceapp.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms (or within 30 days of the date this section is first added, if later), stating that you opt out of arbitration and including the Apple ID email or name associated with your use. If you opt out, the rest of these Terms still applies, and disputes will be handled in the courts identified in the Governing Law section.

Other carve-outs. Nothing here prevents either party from seeking injunctive or equitable relief in a court for the actual or threatened infringement or misuse of intellectual property rights. This section does not apply to the extent applicable law prohibits arbitration of a particular dispute, and does not affect any rights you have to bring a complaint before a government agency.

10. Apple-specific terms

These Terms are between you and Thomas Peel only, and not with Apple Inc. ("Apple"). The following applies because Trace is distributed through Apple's App Store:

• Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support services for the App.
• If the App fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price (if any) to you. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation with respect to the App, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty are our responsibility, not Apple's.
• Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the App or your possession or use of it, including product liability claims, any claim that the App fails to conform to any legal or regulatory requirement, and claims arising under consumer protection, privacy, or similar legislation.
• In the event of any third-party claim that the App or your possession and use of it infringes that third party's intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of any such claim, to the extent required by these Terms.
• You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a US Government embargo or designated as "terrorist supporting," and that you are not on any US Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

11. Termination

These Terms apply until terminated. Your license ends automatically if you fail to comply with these Terms. You may end it at any time by deleting the App and ceasing all use. Upon termination, the license granted to you stops, but the sections that by their nature should survive (including Your Content ownership, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, arbitration, and governing law) will survive.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. Subject to the Binding Arbitration and Class Action Waiver section (which applies only to US residents), you and we agree that the courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute not subject to arbitration.

If you are a consumer resident in a country other than England and Wales, you keep the benefit of any mandatory consumer-protection rules of the country where you live, and you may bring proceedings in the courts of your home country. Nothing in this section, or in these Terms, deprives you of any non-excludable statutory rights or the protection of any mandatory consumer-protection laws of the country where you live.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make a material change, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where reasonable, note it in the App's release notes. Your continued use of the App after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, please stop using the App.

14. Severability and entire agreement

If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, that provision will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will stay in full force. These Terms, together with the Apple Standard EULA and our Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and us about the App, and they replace any earlier agreements on that subject. Our failure to enforce any right or provision is not a waiver of it.

15. Contact

If you have any questions about these Terms, please email us at hello@yourtraceapp.com.

Trace is published by Thomas Peel (app bundle identifier com.thomaspeel.trace).