Terms of Service

1. Introduction & Legal Identity

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of essentia ("the App") and any related services operated by Makoto Studio ("we", "our", or "us").

Makoto Studio is an individual developer operating under a commercial trade name. Contact and legal details:

• Trade name: Makoto Studio
• Email: developer@makotostudio.dev

By using the App you enter into a legally binding agreement with Makoto Studio. Please read these Terms carefully before using the App.

2. Definitions

• "App" means the essentia iOS, iPadOS, and macOS application.
• "Service" means the App, our website at essentia.makotostudio.dev, and any associated backend services.
• "User" / "you" means any individual who accesses or uses the Service.
• "User Content" means any data you create or import in the App, including tasks, notes, collections, checklists, and locations.
• "Pro Subscription" means the paid subscription tier that enables cloud sync and additional features.
• "Infrastructure" means our backend systems, databases, APIs, and cloud resources used to operate the Service.

3. Acceptance of Terms

By downloading, installing, or using the App, or by creating an account, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the App.

If you are using the App on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you have authority to bind that organisation to these Terms.

4. Apple EULA

The App is distributed exclusively through the Apple App Store. Your use of the App is also subject to Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement ("Apple EULA"), available at apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/.

Apple is a third-party beneficiary of these Terms and, upon your acceptance, 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.

As between Makoto Studio and Apple, Makoto Studio (not Apple) is solely responsible for the App and its content. Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support services for the App. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no warranty obligation with respect to the App.

5. Eligibility

To use essentia you must:

• Be at least 16 years of age. If you are between 16 and 18, you confirm that a parent or legal guardian has reviewed and consented to these Terms.
• Have the legal capacity to enter into a binding contract in your jurisdiction.
• Maintain only one account per person. Creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, abuse free trials, or bypass enforcement actions is prohibited.
• Not use automated scripts, bots, or other non-human means to create or operate an account.

We reserve the right to verify eligibility at any time and to terminate accounts that do not meet these requirements.

6. Description of the Service

essentia is a personal organisation application following a bullet-journaling philosophy: capture quickly, plan intentionally, and review and decide. The Service is available in two tiers:

• essentia (Free): Full local functionality with no cloud sync. All data remains on-device.
• essentia Pro: All free features plus cross-device cloud sync via Supabase and additional Pro-only features.

The Service is available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac (macOS). We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature or functionality of the Service at any time, with or without notice, though we will endeavour to provide reasonable advance notice for material changes.

7. Pro Subscription

Pricing

Prices are in euros and may vary by region based on Apple's local pricing matrix. The applicable price will be shown before you confirm your purchase.

Billing and Auto-Renewal

• Subscriptions are managed through the Apple App Store via RevenueCat.
• Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase.
• Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current billing period.
• Your Apple ID account is charged within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period.
• You can manage and cancel your subscription at any time via your Apple ID account settings.

Free Trial

The 30-day free trial is available to all new essentia Pro subscribers (Monthly or Annual) who have not previously used a free trial for this App. If you do not cancel before the trial ends, you will be charged the applicable subscription price. Free trials may only be used once per Apple ID.

Cancellation and Downgrade

• You may cancel at any time through your Apple ID settings. Access to Pro features continues until the end of the current billing period.
• Upon cancellation or downgrade: all your data (tasks, notes, collections) remains intact on your device. Cloud sync pauses, and Pro-exclusive features become inaccessible for new actions, but existing synced data is preserved.
• We do not offer refunds for partial subscription periods, except where required by applicable law (including EU consumer protection law).

8. User Content

You retain full ownership of all User Content you create in essentia. We do not claim any intellectual property rights over your data.

By using essentia Pro's sync features, you grant Makoto Studio a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to store, process, and transmit your User Content solely to the extent necessary to provide the sync service to you. This licence terminates automatically when you delete your account or discontinue use of the sync service.

You are solely responsible for ensuring your User Content:

• Does not violate any applicable law or regulation;
• Does not infringe any third-party intellectual property, privacy, or other rights;
• Is not defamatory, obscene, harmful, or otherwise objectionable.

9. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. The following conduct is strictly prohibited.

9.1 General Prohibitions

• Violating any applicable local, national, or international law or regulation;
• Engaging in defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening, or harassing conduct;
• Infringing any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual property rights of any party;
• Impersonating any person or entity, or falsely representing your affiliation with a person or entity;
• Collecting or harvesting any personally identifiable information from the Service.

9.2 Database & Data Abuse

• Scraping, crawling, or mass-extracting any data from our backend or databases through any automated means;
• Attempting to access, query, or read data belonging to other users, including through crafted API requests, SQL injection, or any other technique;
• Attempting to bypass, circumvent, or undermine Row-Level Security (RLS) policies or any other access control mechanism;
• Accessing the Supabase database directly (i.e., without going through the App's authorised API layer) unless explicitly authorised by us in writing;
• Using bots, scripts, or automated agents to create, modify, or delete data at rates that exceed normal human interaction;
• Exfiltrating, copying, or reproducing the database schema or contents for any purpose outside normal App use;
• Performing SQL injection, NoSQL injection, or similar data-layer attacks.

9.3 API & Infrastructure Abuse

• Making API requests at volumes or frequencies that impose unreasonable load on our infrastructure (rate abuse);
• Attempting to disrupt, degrade, or deny service to other users or to our systems (DDoS or similar attacks);
• Probing, scanning, or testing the vulnerability of our systems or networks without our express written authorisation;
• Sending deliberately malformed, oversized, or malicious requests intended to crash, corrupt, or exploit backend services;
• Using the Service as a proxy, relay, or anonymisation layer for other network traffic.

9.4 Technical Abuse

• Reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, or attempting to derive source code from any part of the App;
• Intercepting, monitoring, or altering network traffic between the App and our servers (man-in-the-middle attacks, SSL stripping, traffic proxying for data extraction);
• Injecting code, scripts, or payloads into the App or its runtime environment;
• Bypassing or disabling any authentication, authorisation, or encryption mechanism;
• Modifying, patching, or tampering with the App binary or its resources.

9.5 Account Abuse

• Creating multiple accounts to circumvent restrictions, exploit free trials, or evade enforcement actions;
• Sharing account credentials with other individuals;
• Selling, transferring, or sublicensing access to your account;
• Using automated means to create accounts or interact with the Service;
• Abusing free trial offers by creating new accounts after a trial has been used.

9.6 Content Abuse

• Using the App to store, distribute, or process illegal content, including content that violates child protection laws;
• Using the App to plan, coordinate, or facilitate criminal activities;
• Storing data obtained through illegal means, including stolen credentials or personal data obtained without consent.

10. Fair Use & Rate Limiting

The Service is intended for personal, non-commercial use only. We reserve the right to impose technical rate limits, throttling, or usage caps on any account or IP address at our sole discretion, with or without prior notice, to protect the stability and availability of the Service for all users.

Automated rate limiting is applied transparently and is not a form of enforcement. If you believe a rate limit has been applied to you in error, please contact us at developer@makotostudio.dev.

11. Enforcement & Consequences

We take violations of these Terms seriously. Our typical response is graduated, but we reserve the right to skip steps in serious cases:

1. Warning: We may notify you of the violation and request that you cease the prohibited activity.
2. Temporary restriction: We may temporarily suspend access to affected features or API endpoints.
3. Account suspension: We may suspend your account pending investigation.
4. Account termination: We may permanently terminate your account and ban your email, device, and associated identifiers.
5. Legal action: For serious violations (e.g., data theft, infrastructure attacks, organised fraud), we may pursue civil or criminal legal remedies.

We may skip to any step, including immediate termination and legal action, where we determine that the violation is serious, ongoing, or has caused significant harm. We will cooperate fully with law enforcement authorities and may preserve evidence of violations for use in legal proceedings.

Termination of your account does not relieve you of any obligations or liabilities that accrued before termination.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Makoto Studio from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to:

• Your violation of these Terms;
• Your User Content;
• Your violation of any law or the rights of any third party;
• Your use of the Service in a manner not authorised by these Terms.

Nothing in this clause limits any rights you may have under applicable mandatory consumer protection law in your jurisdiction.

13. Intellectual Property

essentia, the essentia name, logo, and all associated branding, software, and content are owned by Makoto Studio and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. All rights are reserved.

These Terms grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use the App on your personal Apple devices solely for your personal, non-commercial use in accordance with these Terms and the Apple EULA. No other rights are granted.

If you provide us with feedback, suggestions, or ideas about the Service ("Feedback"), you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide licence to use, incorporate, and exploit that Feedback for any purpose, without compensation to you.

14. Privacy

Your use of essentia is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. The Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have. By using the App, you acknowledge that you have read and understood our Privacy Policy.

15. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement.

We do not guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or free from viruses or other harmful components. We are not responsible for the loss of data due to device failure, App errors, network issues, or circumstances beyond our control.

We strongly recommend that you maintain regular backups of important data. Account deletion is permanent and irreversible.

If you are a consumer in the European Union, you benefit from mandatory statutory guarantees under EU consumer protection law that cannot be excluded by agreement. Nothing in this section limits those rights.

16. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Makoto Studio's total liability to you for all claims arising from or related to these Terms or the Service shall not exceed the greater of: (a) the total amount you paid us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim; or (b) €50.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Makoto Studio shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including loss of profits, loss of data, loss of goodwill, business interruption, or cost of substitute services, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

The foregoing limitations do not apply to:

• Liability arising from our gross negligence or wilful misconduct;
• Liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;
• Any liability that cannot be limited or excluded by applicable mandatory law (including consumer protection law in the EU).

17. Force Majeure

Makoto Studio shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform any obligation under these Terms to the extent such delay or failure is caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: natural disasters, pandemics, war, acts of terrorism, civil unrest, government actions, power or internet outages, cyberattacks against our infrastructure, or failures of third-party services (including Supabase, Firebase, RevenueCat, or Apple).

If a force majeure event occurs, we will notify you as soon as reasonably practicable and will endeavour to restore the Service as quickly as possible.

18. Termination

Termination by You

You may terminate your account at any time by using the "Delete Account" option in the App's Settings. Account deletion permanently and irreversibly removes your account and all associated remote data from our servers.

Termination by Makoto Studio

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service:

• Immediately, without notice, if you violate Section 9 (Acceptable Use Policy) or engage in conduct that poses a risk to the Service, other users, or us;
• With 30 days' written notice, for any other reason, including our decision to discontinue the Service.

Effects of Termination

Upon termination for any reason: your access to the Service ceases; your Pro Subscription (if active) is cancelled; remote data is deleted. Sections 1, 2, 8, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, and 21 of these Terms survive termination.

19. Dispute Resolution

We hope to resolve any concerns quickly and informally. In the event of a dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service, the following process applies:

1. Informal resolution (30 days): Contact us at developer@makotostudio.dev with a written description of your complaint. We will endeavour to respond within 14 days and resolve the matter within 30 days.
2. Mediation: If informal resolution fails, either party may request mediation under Spanish Law 5/2012 on Mediation in Civil and Commercial Matters.
3. Courts: If mediation is unsuccessful, disputes shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Spain, and these Terms shall be governed by Spanish law.

If you are a consumer in the European Union, you may also submit a complaint via the EU Online Dispute Resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. Nothing in this section limits any mandatory rights you have under the consumer protection laws of your country of habitual residence.

20. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. For material changes, we will provide at least 30 days' advance notice by:

• Sending an email to the address associated with your account; and/or
• Displaying a prominent in-app notification.

Minor changes (e.g., corrections, clarifications, editorial improvements that do not affect your rights) may be made without advance notice, though we will always update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you must stop using the Service.

21. General Provisions

• Severability: If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
• Entire agreement: These Terms and the Privacy Policy constitute the entire agreement between you and Makoto Studio regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.
• No waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
• Assignment: You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations without restriction.
• Notices: Notices from us to you shall be sent to the email address associated with your account. Notices from you to us shall be sent to developer@makotostudio.dev.
• Language: These Terms are provided in English and Spanish. In the event of any inconsistency between the English and Spanish versions, the Spanish version shall prevail to the extent permitted by applicable law.
• No agency: These Terms do not create any partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship between you and Makoto Studio.

22. Contact

If you have questions, concerns, or requests relating to these Terms, please contact us:

Makoto Studio
developer@makotostudio.dev

We aim to respond to all enquiries within 5 business days.