Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are a legal agreement between you and Riccardo Berti, an individual developer based in Italy (“we”, “us”, the “Developer”), governing your use of the Quiet Alarm mobile application, including all of its audio sessions, features, and updates (the “App”).

1.Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to use the App. If you are between 13 and the age of majority where you live, you may use the App only with the involvement and consent of a parent or legal guardian, who accepts these Terms on your behalf and is responsible for your use of the App.

2.Licence

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

This is a licence, not a sale. We and our licensors retain all rights in the App that are not expressly granted to you.

3.What you may not do

You agree not to:

• copy, modify, adapt, translate, or create derivative works of the App, except as permitted by mandatory law;
• reverse-engineer, decompile, or disassemble the App, or attempt to extract its source code or audio-engine algorithms, except to the extent this cannot lawfully be prohibited (in the EU, Articles 5 and 6 of Directive 2009/24/EC on interoperability remain unaffected);
• rent, lease, lend, sell, sublicense, distribute, or otherwise commercially exploit the App or its audio sessions;
• extract, re-record, redistribute, or republish the audio content generated by the App as your own or as part of another product or service;
• remove or obscure any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary notices;
• use the App in any way that breaks applicable law, or the rules of the app store you obtained it from.

4.Alarm reliability — important limitations

Quiet Alarm is designed to wake you gently, but no mobile application can guarantee that an alarm will sound. You accept the following, which is fundamental to your use of the App:

• The App is not a guaranteed wake-up service. It depends entirely on your device’s operating system, hardware, and settings, over which we have no control.
• Do not rely on Quiet Alarm as your only alarm for anything important. For flights, exams, medical appointments, work shifts, medication schedules, or any situation where missing a wake-up would cause you harm, loss, or serious inconvenience, use an additional, independent alarm (a second phone alarm, a dedicated alarm clock, or another person).
• On iOS, the App must stay running in the background to deliver its wake-up audio. If you force-quit the App after arming an alarm, the alarm will not sound. Your device may also terminate the App on its own for reasons outside our control.
• The alarm may not sound, may sound late, or may sound at the wrong volume for many reasons, including but not limited to: the device being powered off, in flight mode, out of battery, or restarting; the operating system suspending, terminating, or restricting the App; battery-optimisation, power-saving, or “app hibernation” settings; Do Not Disturb, Focus, silent mode, or scheduled-summary settings; low or muted alarm/media volume; headphones, Bluetooth, or audio-routing issues; permissions being withdrawn; OS updates; time-zone or daylight-saving transitions; or device faults.
• Check your volume and settings before an important night. The audio you hear depends on your device’s alarm and media volume levels.

We are not liable for missed alarms or for any consequence of an alarm failing to sound, sounding late, or sounding too quietly, to the maximum extent permitted by law. See section 11.

5.Health, wellbeing, and safety

Quiet Alarm is not a medical device. It does not diagnose, treat, cure, monitor, or prevent any disease or medical condition, and it does not provide medical advice.

• The App’s sessions use binaural beats and other tonal audio. Binaural-beat research is an evolving field, evidence is mixed, and individual results vary. Descriptions of sessions as supporting gradual waking, deeper sleep, or dream awareness describe their design intent, not a guaranteed or clinically proven outcome.
• Nothing in the App is a substitute for professional medical advice. If you have a sleep disorder, or any medical or psychological condition, or you are concerned about your sleep, consult a qualified healthcare professional. Never disregard or delay seeking medical advice because of something the App suggests.
• If you have epilepsy, a seizure disorder, or are otherwise sensitive to rhythmic auditory stimulation, consult a doctor before using the App. Stop using it immediately if you experience dizziness, nausea, headache, disorientation, or any other adverse effect.
• Protect your hearing. Prolonged listening at high volume can damage hearing. Set volume to a comfortable level, especially with headphones. You are responsible for the volume you choose.
• Do not use the App while driving, operating machinery, or in any situation requiring your full attention. Its sessions are designed to accompany rest and sleep.
• If you use headphones or earbuds overnight, be aware of the comfort, hygiene, and safety implications of doing so, including reduced ability to hear smoke alarms and other emergency sounds in your home.

You use the App at your own risk and are responsible for deciding whether it is appropriate for you.

6.Your content and your device

The App stores your alarms and settings locally on your device. You are responsible for your own data and for keeping any backups you want. Uninstalling the App, resetting your device, or clearing app data deletes your alarms permanently, and we cannot recover them — we never hold a copy.

How your information is handled is described in the Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

7.Intellectual property

The App, its user interface, design, artwork, icons, audio engine, DSP algorithms, session presets, and generated audio content are owned by the Developer or its licensors (including the BioSynCare audio engine) and are protected by copyright and other intellectual-property laws. “Quiet Alarm” and “BioSynCare” and their associated logos are marks of their respective owners.

The App includes third-party open-source components, which remain subject to their own licences. Those licences govern your rights in respect of those components and, where they conflict with these Terms, they take precedence for that component. A list of components and their licences is available on request from the contact address in section 17.

8.Price, and paid features in the future

The App is currently provided free of charge. We may in the future introduce optional paid content, features, or subscriptions (for example additional audio sessions).

If we do:

• Existing functionality that you already have will not be put behind a paywall without notice, and any change will be described before it takes effect.
• All purchases will be handled by Apple’s App Store or Google Play, not by us. Payment, billing, taxes, auto-renewal, and refunds are governed by your store’s terms and your account settings with Apple or Google. We do not process payments and never see your payment details.
• Refunds are requested through Apple or Google under their policies. This does not affect your mandatory statutory rights as a consumer under EU law.
• Subscriptions, if offered, will auto-renew until cancelled through your store account, with the price, period, and cancellation method disclosed at the point of purchase.

We reserve the right to change the price of any future paid features. Changes will not apply retroactively to a purchase you have already made.

9.Updates, changes, and availability

We may release updates, change or remove features, or discontinue the App at any time. We are not obliged to provide updates, support, or maintenance, and we do not guarantee that the App will remain compatible with future operating-system versions or devices.

We may stop distributing or supporting the App. If we do, your licence ends, but you may continue using any copy already installed for as long as it works on your device.

10.Disclaimer of warranties

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the App is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranty of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the App will be uninterrupted, timely, error-free, or that alarms will always sound, that defects will be corrected, or that the App will meet your requirements or produce any particular result.

If you are a consumer in the European Union, this section does not exclude or limit the legal guarantee of conformity or any other mandatory statutory right you have under the law of your country of residence, including under Directive (EU) 2019/770 on digital content and services and, in Italy, the Codice del Consumo.

11.Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

• We are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of profits, revenue, opportunity, data, or goodwill, arising out of or in connection with the App.
• We are specifically not liable for any loss or damage resulting from a missed, late, silent, or malfunctioning alarm, including missed flights, appointments, work, exams, or medication, or for any consequence of relying on the App as a sole means of waking.
• Our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the App and these Terms will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you actually paid us for the App in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim, or (b) EUR 20.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for: death or personal injury caused by our negligence; fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; gross negligence or wilful misconduct; or any other liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. If you are a consumer, your mandatory statutory rights are unaffected, and this section applies only to the extent permitted by the consumer-protection law of your country of residence.

12.Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, and except where you are acting as a consumer, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claim, loss, or expense arising from your breach of these Terms or your unlawful use of the App.

13.Termination

These Terms apply until terminated. Your licence ends automatically if you breach them, and you may end it at any time by deleting the App from your devices. Sections 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 14 survive termination.

14.Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of Italy, excluding its conflict-of-law rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

If you are a consumer, this choice of law does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence. You may bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence, and we will bring any proceedings against you only there. For consumers resident in Italy, the competent court is the one of the consumer’s place of residence or domicile, in accordance with the Codice del Consumo.

If you are not a consumer (for example, if you use the App in the course of a business), the courts of Italy have exclusive jurisdiction.

You may also be entitled to use an out-of-court alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body in your country. Before starting any dispute, we would appreciate the chance to resolve it directly — please contact us first at the address in section 17.

15.Apple and Google specific terms

If you obtained the App from the Apple App Store, the following applies and prevails over any conflicting provision in these Terms:

• These Terms are between you and the Developer only, not with Apple. Apple is not responsible for the App or its content.
• Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for the App.
• If the App fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any). To the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation in respect of the App, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, or expenses attributable to a failure to conform to a warranty are our responsibility.
• We, not Apple, are responsible for addressing any claims by you or a third party relating to the App, including product-liability claims, claims that the App fails to conform to legal or regulatory requirements, and claims under consumer-protection or similar legislation.
• We, not Apple, are responsible for the investigation, defence, settlement, and discharge of any third-party intellectual-property infringement claim relating to the App.
• You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as a “terrorist supporting” country, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and, upon your acceptance, have the right to enforce them against you.
• You must comply with applicable third-party terms of service when using the App.

If you obtained the App from Google Play, your use is also subject to the Google Play Terms of Service. Google is not a party to these Terms and is not responsible for the App.

16.General

• Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the App, and supersede any prior understanding.
• Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, it will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions stay in force.
• 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 App, provided your rights are not reduced.
• Changes to these Terms. We may update these Terms — for example if we add paid features. We will update the “Last updated” date and, for material changes, give notice in the App or its store listing. Continuing to use the App after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms; if you do not accept them, stop using the App and uninstall it. Changes will not apply retroactively to a purchase already made.

17.Contact

Riccardo Berti
Email: gor.na.rik@gmail.com