Terms of Service

Effective: 2026-10-11

These terms govern your use of MeerKatta, a voice-dictation and voice-capture app for macOS and iOS, operated by Lugugul llc ("we", "us"). By installing or using MeerKatta you agree to these terms. If you don't, don't use the app.

App Store purchases and optional registration

For the iOS App Store app, Apple's Standard End User License Agreement applies. App Store purchase, subscription, cancellation and refund rules apply to Apple transactions. Where those rules conflict with a Mac/web license provision below, the Apple terms govern the App Store purchase.

You can purchase, restore eligible Apple purchases and use purchased iOS functionality without a MeerKatta account. Registration and eligible purchase linking are optional and available later. Valid Apple access remains available after signing out. Use Restore Purchases in Plan & Access with the Apple Account used for the purchase; a MeerKatta login is not required.

Monthly and annual subscriptions provide managed transcription and polishing during active access. Eligible trials and renewal terms are shown by the App Store. MeerKatta + Your AI is a separate one-time purchase for supported personal AI providers; their subscription or usage fees are separate. Apple Speech is an optional backup, subject to permission, device and language availability. A one-time own-provider purchase does not include the managed subscription service.

Deleting a MeerKatta account or uninstalling the app does not cancel an Apple subscription. Manage or cancel it in Apple's subscription settings. Request App Store refunds through Apple. For purchase recovery and help, see Help.

1. License grant

When you complete a purchase, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to:

• For Mac/web licenses, install MeerKatta on up to 3 personal Macs you own or primarily use. For App Store purchases, use compatible devices you own or control as permitted by Apple’s license and usage rules.
• Run the software for personal use, or use within a single organization by the named licensee.
• Receive bug-fix and feature updates per the update policy below.

A license covers one named human user. Sharing your license key with others, or using a single license to operate an internal "transcription bureau" service for unnamed end users, requires a multi-seat or commercial-redistribution agreement (contact us).

You do not own a copy of MeerKatta. You own a license to use it.

2. Acceptable use

You may not:

• Share or resell your license key. A license is for one human user.
• Run a transcription / capture service to unnamed third parties using a personal license. (Multi-seat licenses for organizational use are available — email us.)
• Bypass license validation, device caps, or activation limits.
• Reverse-engineer for piracy or competitive copying. (Reverse-engineering for security research, interoperability, or personal learning is fine — we encourage it.)
• Record people without their consent where consent is required by law in your jurisdiction. You alone are responsible for the legality of recordings made with MeerKatta.
• Use MeerKatta to violate any law, including but not limited to copyright laws (recording broadcasts for redistribution), privacy laws, or financial regulations.
• Engage in evidently abusive automation patterns that don't match personal or single-organization use — e.g. continuous machine-driven audio playback through MeerKatta, scripted mass-activation across devices, or repeated refund-and-rebuy cycles. We may suspend access that shows clear automation inconsistent with how the app is intended to be used. Ordinary legitimate use and a high capture count alone do not establish abuse.

Violating any of the above gives us the right to suspend or terminate your license without refund (refunds in specific defective-product or accidental-purchase cases are still honored — see Refund Policy §3).

3. AI processing, API keys, and usage costs

MeerKatta can use external AI providers for transcription and polishing when cloud AI is enabled. How this works depends on your plan:

• Lifetime: you connect your own supported API key. You are responsible for usage charges, provider terms, and securing your API keys.
• Subscription: MeerKatta supplies the managed AI service for you. Your subscription covers normal managed usage under the plan.

If you connect your own API key, you are solely responsible for:

• The cost of API usage on your account
• Compliance with each provider's terms of service
• Securing your API keys

When you use your own API key, we don't pay for your API usage. When you use a managed subscription, we pay the underlying provider on your behalf.

4. Refund policy

For eligible Mac/web purchases, we offer a 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked, plus discretionary refunds for unresolved defects after that window. Full details in the Refund Policy.

5. Updates

We update MeerKatta regularly with bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features. Updates are delivered:

• Via Sparkle on macOS (auto-checks daily; you control whether to install)
• Via the App Store / TestFlight on iOS

Access checks may verify purchase or subscription status through MeerKatta’s service. Older Mac releases may also use Keygen licensing. These checks are separate from processing your dictated content.

We may discontinue features that prove technically unsustainable. If we do, we'll provide reasonable notice and, where possible, a migration path.

6. Termination

A one-time license continues subject to these terms and the applicable store rules; subscription service access depends on an active subscription. We may terminate access for breach of these terms. We may terminate without refund if you:

• Violate the Acceptable Use rules in §2
• Resell, share, or publicly post your license key
• Use MeerKatta to engage in illegal activity
• Repeatedly attempt to bypass license validation, the device cap, or activation limits
• Engage in clear refund abuse (see Refund Policy §3)

For non-abuse-related cancellations, you may terminate at any time by uninstalling the app. We'll honor refund requests within the 14-day review window per the Refund Policy.

7. Disclaimers (the "as-is" part)

MeerKatta is provided AS-IS and AS AVAILABLE, without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We don't warrant that:

• The app is free of bugs
• The app will meet your specific needs
• The transcriptions or polished output will be accurate (AI is imperfect; review before relying)
• Service availability is uninterrupted (third-party API outages happen)

If the app produces a transcription error that costs you a job, a relationship, or a million dollars, we sympathize, but we're not legally on the hook for that.

8. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability to you for any claim related to MeerKatta is capped at the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim. We are not liable for indirect, consequential, or punitive damages — lost profits, lost data, business interruption, etc.

If your jurisdiction doesn't allow these limitations, the most generous limit it does allow applies.

9. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify Lugugul llc against claims arising from your misuse of MeerKatta or violation of these terms. Standard clause; we don't expect to invoke it.

10. Privacy

Use of MeerKatta is governed by our Privacy Policy. Read it; it's short.

11. Changes to these terms

If we change these terms materially:

1. We'll update the "Effective" date at the top.
2. We'll notify you via email and in-app on next launch.
3. You'll have the chance to read the changes before they take effect.

For minor wording or clarification changes, the new version takes effect on the date posted.

12. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute that we can't resolve via email goes to the state or federal courts located in Sacramento County, California.

For EU consumers, mandatory consumer-protection laws of your home country still apply.

13. Severability and entire agreement

If a court finds any part of these terms unenforceable, the rest still applies.

These terms (plus the Privacy Policy) are the entire agreement between you and us regarding MeerKatta.

14. Contact