Your memories are yours. These are the few rules for using the app.
These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of Ember, a private journal and life archive for macOS, and the website at ember.mov. Ember is developed and operated by a sole developer ("we," "us," "our"). By downloading, installing, or using Ember, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.
These Terms work together with our Privacy Policy, which explains what data Ember does and does not collect.
We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use Ember on Apple devices that you own or control, for personal use, in accordance with these Terms. When you download Ember from the App Store or TestFlight, Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies. These Terms add to that agreement, and where the two conflict on a matter Apple governs, Apple's agreement takes priority.
Ember itself, including its code, design, name, and logo, belongs to us. You may not copy, modify, redistribute, sell, or sublicense the app, or reverse engineer it, except where the law expressly allows it.
Everything you create in Ember (journal entries, people, stories, interactions, media, and anything else) is your content. You keep all rights to it. Because Ember is local-first and has no Ember server, your content never reaches us, and we claim no license or ownership over it.
The core Ember app is free, with no limits on your writing, your people, or your memories. It does not expire and does not lock your data.
Ember Plus is an optional paid upgrade that adds private iCloud sync across your devices and the full theme catalogue. Plus is offered as a monthly or yearly subscription, and for a limited time as a one-time lifetime purchase. Current prices are shown on our website and in the app.
We may change prices or what Plus includes in the future. Price changes do not affect a period you have already paid for, and Apple will notify you before a subscription price increase applies to you.
Ember may be offered as a beta through Apple's TestFlight. Beta builds are pre-release software. They may contain bugs, change or remove features, expire, or in rare cases lose data. Please export a backup of anything you care about while using a beta.
As a thank you, beta testers who give us their email on the beta page will receive one year of Ember Plus free when Ember launches. We will use that email only to send you the offer and news about Ember, and you can ask us to remove it at any time.
If you send us feedback or ideas, you agree that we may use them to improve Ember without any obligation to you.
Ember is a place to remember people, so it often holds information about others. You are responsible for the content you store and for using Ember in line with the laws that apply to you. You agree not to use Ember to:
Your content lives on your devices and, if you choose, in your own iCloud account. We have no copy of it, so we cannot recover it for you. You are responsible for keeping backups, for example with Ember's built-in export or with Time Machine. iCloud sync is provided by Apple and is subject to Apple's iCloud terms.
Ember works with services and file formats from other companies, including Apple iCloud, Apple Music, Day One, Apple Journal, Obsidian, and Bear. Those services are governed by their own terms. Ember is not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them, and their names are trademarks of their respective owners. Imports and exports are provided as a convenience and may not carry over every detail.
Ember is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not promise that Ember will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that it will never lose data. Some jurisdictions do not allow these exclusions, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, memories, or profits, arising from your use of or inability to use Ember. Our total liability for any claim relating to Ember is limited to the amount you paid for Ember in the twelve months before the claim, or, if you paid nothing, to zero. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.
You can stop using Ember at any time by deleting the app. Your license ends automatically if you break these Terms. Even then, your content stays yours, and you can export it before you uninstall.
If we ever discontinue Ember, we will give reasonable notice where we can, so that you have time to export your archive.
We may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced in the app or on this website, and the "Last updated" date above will change. If you keep using Ember after a change takes effect, you accept the updated Terms.
Questions about these Terms? You can reach us through:
Ember was made by one person. These terms were written to be read, not skimmed past.