Terms of Service | ToneForge

1. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use ToneForge (or 16 where a higher age is required by local law, including in parts of the European Economic Area). By using the Services you represent that you meet this requirement, that you have the capacity to enter a binding contract, and that you are not barred from using the Services under applicable law.

If you are between 13 and the age of majority in your jurisdiction, you represent that your parent or legal guardian has reviewed and agreed to these Terms on your behalf.

2. Your Account

To use the Services you must register using Sign in with Apple, Sign in with Google, or an email address and password. You agree to provide accurate information, to keep your credentials confidential, and to accept responsibility for all activity under your account. Notify us promptly of any unauthorized use.

You may delete your account at any time from Profile → Settings → Delete account. Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.

3. ToneForge Is Free

ToneForge is provided free of charge. There are no subscriptions, no in-app purchases, and no fees of any kind. We do not collect payment information.

We reserve the right to introduce paid features in the future. If we do, we will update these Terms and give you notice before any charge applies. No existing feature you rely on today will begin charging you without your explicit, affirmative consent.

4. Licence

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licence to install and use the ToneForge application on a device you own or control, for your personal, non-commercial use.

All rights not expressly granted are reserved. The Services — including all software, source code, design, the AMA rating system and its underlying algorithms, the Foundations curriculum, the Molten Forge design system, trademarks, and other proprietary materials — are owned by us or our licensors and protected by intellectual property laws.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree that you will not, and will not permit anyone else to:

Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of the Services, except where that restriction is prohibited by law;
Circumvent, disable, or interfere with any security, authentication, or rate-limiting measure, or attempt to exceed the AI usage limits applicable to your account, including by creating multiple accounts;
Use the Services, or any AI feature within them, to develop, train, evaluate, or improve any machine-learning model or competing product;
Scrape, crawl, harvest, or systematically extract data from the Services, including other users' profiles, ratings, or practice data;
Access another user's account, or attempt to read, modify, or delete data belonging to another user;
Falsify practice sessions, ratings, streaks, or challenge results, or otherwise manipulate the AMA system or any leaderboard;
Harass, threaten, impersonate, bully, or abuse any other user, including through usernames, display names, friend requests, or challenge names;
Use friend requests, friend acceptances, or challenge invitations to send another user unwanted notifications, or to place text on their device that would violate this Section;
Upload any profile photo or submit any content that is unlawful, obscene, hateful, infringing, or that depicts or targets a minor inappropriately;
Use the Services to transmit malware or to interfere with, disrupt, or overload our infrastructure or that of our providers;
Submit to the AI coach any personal information about another person, or any sensitive information about yourself, as described in Section 7.6; or
Use the Services in violation of any applicable law or regulation.

We may suspend or terminate your access for any violation of this Section.

6. Your Content

You retain ownership of the content you create in ToneForge — your session notes, tasks, repertoire entries, profile photo, display name, and messages to the AI coach ("Your Content").

You grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, and process Your Content solely to: operate and secure the Services; perform the actions you request, including — only where you have granted the separate permission described in Section 7.2 — sending the necessary context to our AI provider as described in the Privacy Policy; display it to the other users you have chosen to share it with; and produce deidentified, aggregated statistics that cannot be linked back to you.

This licence does not permit us to sell Your Content, use it for advertising, publish it outside the Services, or use it to train AI models. It ends when you delete the content or your account, except for deidentified aggregates and any copies we must retain by law.

You represent that you have the rights to the content you submit and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights.

7. Artificial Intelligence Features

7.1 What the AI Is

ToneForge uses OpenAI's GPT-5 model to generate daily practice plans, piece breakdowns, beginner lessons, and coaching responses ("AI Output").

The ToneForge coach is an artificial-intelligence system, not a human teacher. No person reads your messages or writes its replies. It is software that predicts text. It is not qualified, licensed, or supervised, and it does not know you beyond the practice data described in the Privacy Policy.

7.2 AI Is Optional and Requires Your Separate Permission

AI features are off until you turn them on. Before any of your data is shared with OpenAI, ToneForge asks you separately — on its own screen, not as part of accepting these Terms — and you may decline. If you decline, the rest of the Services continue to work.

You may withdraw that permission at any time from Profile → Settings → AI features. Withdrawal is honoured server-side on the next request. See Section 6 of the Privacy Policy for exactly what is shared and what is not.

7.3 What You Accept About AI Output

You acknowledge and agree that:

AI Output is generated by a probabilistic model and may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or unsuitable for you;
AI Output is not professional musical instruction, medical advice, physical-therapy advice, mental-health care, legal or financial advice, or a substitute for a qualified teacher or clinician;
Similar or identical AI Output may be generated for other users, we make no claim as to its originality, and we do not warrant that AI Output is free of third-party rights;
You are solely responsible for evaluating AI Output before acting on it; and
AI features are subject to usage limits, and may be modified, degraded, or discontinued at any time — including if our AI provider changes its terms, pricing, or availability.

7.4 The Coach Is Scope-Restricted

The coach is built to discuss music practice and nothing else. It will decline and redirect other topics. You agree not to attempt to circumvent that restriction, and not to use prompt injection or any similar technique to make it behave outside its defined role.

7.5 Do Not Use the Coach for Crisis Support

ToneForge is not a mental-health service and the coach must not be used as one. If you are struggling, please contact a qualified professional, a crisis line, or your local emergency number.

If a message you type indicates a risk of self-harm, ToneForge stops it on your device, does not transmit it to OpenAI, does not store it, and shows you crisis-support resources instead. That safeguard is a courtesy, not a clinical service, and it is not a substitute for real help.

7.6 What You Must Not Send to the AI

You agree not to submit to the AI coach:

Personal information about other people — names, contact details, or anything identifying someone who has not agreed to it;
Sensitive information about yourself, including health, medical, biometric, financial, precise-location, or government-identifier data; or
Credentials, security details, or anything confidential to a third party.

The coach does not need any of it, and you should assume anything you type is transmitted to OpenAI as described in the Privacy Policy.

7.7 Ownership of AI Output

As between you and us, you may use AI Output generated for your account for your own personal practice. We make no representation that AI Output is protectable by copyright, and you may not resell it, redistribute it as a product, or use it to train, evaluate, or improve any machine-learning model (see Section 5).

8. Health and Physical Safety

Playing a musical instrument is a physical activity and carries a risk of injury, including repetitive strain injury, tendonitis, and hearing damage.

ToneForge suggests practice durations, exercises, and tempos generated algorithmically or by AI. These suggestions are general in nature and are not tailored to your body, your health conditions, or your physical limitations.

You agree that you are solely responsible for practicing safely; that you will stop immediately if you experience pain, numbness, or discomfort; that you will take appropriate breaks and protect your hearing; and that you will consult a qualified teacher or medical professional as appropriate. Do not treat a streak, a ring, or a practice goal as a reason to play through pain.

We are not responsible for any injury arising from your use of the Services.

ToneForge includes friends, leaderboards, and group challenges. Information visible to other users is described in Section 8 of our Privacy Policy — read it before making your profile public.

You are responsible for your conduct toward other users. We may remove content, restrict features, or terminate accounts that we reasonably believe are used to harass or harm others. We do not moderate all content and are not responsible for the conduct of other users.

10. Notifications

Notifications are optional. ToneForge sends none until you grant iOS permission and turn them on. You can turn them off at any time in Profile → Settings → Notifications, or revoke permission in the iOS Settings app, and the rest of the Services continues to work exactly as before.

What we send, what it contains, what Apple receives, and how long we keep it are described in Section 3.10 of our Privacy Policy. In summary: practice reminders are limited to two per local day, friend and challenge notifications are not counted against that limit, and nothing is sent between 9:30pm and 8:00am in your local time zone.

Notification text is generated automatically from your practice data and, for social notifications, from another user's display name. No person writes or reviews it. Like AI Output, it may be wrong — a reminder can arrive after you have already practised, or a streak figure can lag a session you logged moments before — and you should not treat a notification as an authoritative record of your account.

We do not guarantee delivery. Push notifications depend on Apple's Push Notification service, your device, your network, and your own iOS settings, none of which we control. A notification may be delayed, replaced by a newer one of the same kind, or never arrive. Do not rely on a notification to protect a streak, a rating, or anything else you care about. We may also change, reduce, or discontinue any notification at any time.

11. Availability and Changes

The Services are provided on an as-available basis. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Services at any time, with or without notice. We may also impose or adjust usage limits.

ToneForge is operated by an individual and depends on third-party providers. We do not guarantee any level of uptime, and we do not guarantee that the Services will remain available indefinitely. We encourage you to treat ToneForge as a practice aid rather than the sole record of your musical history.

12. Termination

You may stop using the Services and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access, with or without notice, if we reasonably believe you have violated these Terms or applicable law, if your use creates risk or legal exposure, or if we discontinue the Services.

Upon termination, your licence ends immediately. Sections 4 through 8 and 12 through 19, and any provision that by its nature should survive, will survive.

13. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE SERVICES AND ALL AI OUTPUT ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; THAT ANY AI OUTPUT OR RATING WILL BE ACCURATE OR APPROPRIATE FOR YOU; OR THAT YOUR DATA WILL BE PRESERVED WITHOUT LOSS. NO ADVICE OBTAINED FROM US OR THROUGH THE SERVICES CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED HERE.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

14. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, LOSS OF PRACTICE HISTORY, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICES WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100). BECAUSE THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE, THIS LIMITATION FORMS AN ESSENTIAL BASIS OF THE BARGAIN AND APPLIES EVEN IF ANY LIMITED REMEDY FAILS OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

NOTHING IN THESE TERMS LIMITS LIABILITY THAT CANNOT BE LIMITED BY LAW, INCLUDING LIABILITY FOR FRAUD, OR FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless ToneForge from any claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to your use of the Services, Your Content, your conduct toward other users, your violation of these Terms or applicable law, or your negligence or willful misconduct.

16. Apple-Specific Terms

These Terms are between you and ToneForge only, not with Apple Inc. ("Apple"). You acknowledge and agree that:

Apple has no obligation to furnish any maintenance or support for the application;
If the application fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) to you; to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the application;
Apple is not responsible for addressing any claim by you or a third party relating to the application, including product-liability claims, claims that the application fails to conform to legal or regulatory requirements, and claims arising under consumer-protection or privacy law;
In the event of any third-party claim that the application infringes intellectual property rights, Apple is not responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, or discharge of that claim;
You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as "terrorist supporting", and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties; and
Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and, upon your acceptance, will have the right to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.

17. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles.

Informal resolution first. Before starting any formal proceeding, you agree to contact us and attempt in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least sixty (60) days. Most disputes can be resolved this way.

Binding arbitration. If we cannot resolve the dispute informally, you and we agree that it will be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, or another location we agree on, or by videoconference.

Class action 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 CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING.

Exceptions. Either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court, and either party may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property rights.

If you are a consumer resident in the European Union or United Kingdom, nothing in this Section deprives you of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence, including your right to bring proceedings in your local courts.

18. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. We will update the "Last Updated" date and, for material changes, provide notice in the app or by email before they take effect. Your continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance. If you do not agree, you must stop using the Services and may delete your account.

19. General

Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Services.

Severability. If any provision is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of it.

Assignment. You may not assign these Terms. We may assign them in connection with a transfer of the Services.

Force majeure. We are not liable for any failure or delay caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

Contact. Questions about these Terms: vnevdev@gmail.com

ToneForge: AI Music Coach Terms of Service