Terms of Service

Last updated: July 19, 2026

These terms govern your use of Cadence, a live captioning app for iPhone made by Index Labs LLC ("we," "us"). By installing or using Cadence, you agree to them. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.

What Cadence is

Cadence is an accessibility tool that captions nearby speech on your iPhone in real time. All recognition happens on your device. How the app handles your data is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

These terms cover the Cadence app. This website is covered by the Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy; the website collects nothing from the app, and using the site is not required to use Cadence.

Cadence is not a substitute for a human interpreter

Please read this section carefully. It matters more than anything else here.

Cadence uses automatic speech recognition, and automatic speech recognition makes mistakes. It mishears words. It drops words. It struggles with crosstalk, background noise, unfamiliar accents, technical vocabulary, proper nouns, and speech that is fast, quiet, or overlapping. It can produce a caption that is fluent, confident, and wrong.

Do not rely on Cadence as your only source of understanding in situations where a misunderstanding could harm you or someone else. That includes, without limitation, medical appointments and emergencies, legal proceedings, financial or contractual negotiations, safety briefings, and any setting where you have a right to a qualified human interpreter or CART provider.

Cadence is designed to help in everyday conversation. It is not a certified interpretation service, it is not a legal record, and it does not satisfy any obligation an institution may have to provide you with accommodations under the ADA or similar laws. If you are entitled to an interpreter, you remain entitled to one, and you should ask for one.

Captions produced by Cadence are provided for your convenience and are not certified transcripts.

Recording other people

Cadence processes audio from your surroundings, which will often include other people's voices.

You are responsible for using Cadence lawfully. Laws about recording conversations vary considerably: some places require the consent of every participant, others require only yours, and some settings, such as workplaces, schools, courts, or medical facilities, carry additional rules. It is your responsibility to know what applies where you are and to obtain any consent required.

We would encourage you to tell people that you are using live captioning, both because it is often legally necessary and because it is usually the decent thing to do.

Because Cadence processes everything on your device and transmits nothing to us, we have no ability to monitor, review, or intervene in how the app is used.

Your responsibilities

You agree not to:

• Use Cadence in violation of any applicable law, including recording and wiretapping laws.
• Use Cadence to record people who have not consented where their consent is required.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to derive the source code of the app, except to the extent this restriction is unenforceable under applicable law.
• Interfere with the app's security features or attempt to disrupt its operation.

Availability and changes

Cadence may contain defects and may not always behave as expected. We may modify, suspend, or discontinue Cadence, or any part of it, at any time and without liability to you.

Your content

Captions and session data created with Cadence are yours. They are stored on your device, not ours. We claim no ownership of them and no license to them, because we never receive them in the first place.

Backing up, exporting, and safeguarding that data is up to you. We cannot recover it. If you delete a session or delete the app, it is gone, and we have no copy.

Our intellectual property

Cadence, its name, its interface, and its underlying software are owned by Index Labs LLC and protected by intellectual property law. These terms grant you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app on devices you own or control, for your own purposes. No other rights are granted.

Cadence incorporates third-party open-source software, including FluidAudio, which is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. Those components remain governed by their own licenses, which are reproduced in the Acknowledgments section of the app's settings. Where a third-party license conflicts with these terms, that license governs its component.

Third-party services

Speech models are downloaded from infrastructure operated by third parties. Your use of the App Store is governed by Apple's terms. We are not responsible for third-party services, and their availability is outside our control.

Disclaimer of warranties

Cadence is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that captions will be accurate or complete, that the app will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that defects will be corrected.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of these exclusions may not apply to you. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under consumer protection laws that cannot be waived by agreement.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Index Labs LLC will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, loss of profits, or loss of goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of or inability to use Cadence, including any damages arising from an inaccurate, incomplete, or missing caption.

Our total aggregate liability for all claims relating to Cadence will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid us for the app in the twelve months preceding the claim, or twenty-five US dollars.

These limits apply regardless of the legal theory on which a claim is based and even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of liability for personal injury or for certain other damages, so these limits may not fully apply to you.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Index Labs LLC from any claim, demand, loss, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of your misuse of Cadence or your violation of these terms or of applicable law, in particular any claim brought by a person you recorded.

Termination

You may stop using Cadence at any time by deleting it. We may suspend or terminate your access if you materially breach these terms. The sections on intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, and indemnification survive termination.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the United States and of the state in which Index Labs LLC is organized, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles. This does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory consumer laws in your country of residence.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the date at the top of this page. Material changes will be communicated in the app before they take effect. Continuing to use Cadence after a change means you accept the revised terms.

Contact

Questions about these terms can go to [email protected].