Terms of Service — CheckMate

By downloading or using Checkmate ("the app") you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, don't use the app. When you create an account, you'll be asked to affirmatively accept these Terms and our Privacy Policy; using shared features means you accept them.

1. License to you

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use the app on devices you own or control, for your personal, non-commercial use, subject to these Terms and the rules of the app store you downloaded it from (Apple App Store).

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 13 years old to create an account, join or create a shared list, or use any feature that requires an account. The offline, on-device features work without an account at any age, but accounts, shared lists, and calendar sync are for users 13 and older. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 13, we will close it and delete its data (see our Privacy Policy and Children's Policy).

3. Your content and the license you give us

You own your content. Your tasks, notes, list and group names, and anything else you create are yours. Most of it is stored only on your device. If you use the optional shared-list feature, the content of a shared list is also stored on our server so the people you invite can see it. If you connect a third-party calendar for two-way sync (Section 5), the tasks you sync — their title, notes, and time — are stored on our server and written to the calendar you connect. (Attachments you add to a task stay on your device and are not uploaded — see the Privacy Policy.)

The license you grant us. So that we can operate the shared and sync features you choose to use, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable (only to our infrastructure providers acting on our behalf) license to host, store, back up, reproduce, transmit, display, and — only for technical purposes such as formatting, resizing, or syncing — modify the content you choose to share, solely for the purpose of operating and providing the service to you and to the people you share it with. This license exists only to run the features you use. We do not use your shared content for advertising, and we do not use it to develop, improve, or train artificial-intelligence or machine-learning models. You keep ownership of your content. This license ends when you delete the content or your account, except for the limited retention described in our Data Retention Policy and any legal hold.

Shared content is visible to the group. Anything you put in a shared list is visible to every member of that group (up to 7 people), including members who join later. You're responsible for the content you create and share, and for having the right to share it. We don't mediate private disputes between group members. Because shared content is visible to the other members, they may keep their own copies of what you shared; deleting your content or your account removes it from our servers but may not remove copies already held by other members.

Feedback. If you send us ideas, suggestions, or feedback about the app, you agree that we may use them without any obligation to you — no compensation and no confidentiality — to operate and improve Checkmate.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to use Checkmate to store, share, or transmit content that is unlawful, that infringes others' rights, or that violates our Community Guidelines, which are incorporated into these Terms by reference. This includes (without limitation) content that sexually exploits or endangers minors, harasses or threatens others, promotes violence or self-harm, is hateful, is fraudulent or deceptive, infringes intellectual-property rights, or contains malware. We have no tolerance for objectionable content or abusive users in shared spaces. You can report content and block users from within the app, and reach us at support@checkmatepriorities.com. We may remove content and suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or the Community Guidelines.

5. Optional account & connecting a third-party calendar

Connecting an account (via an access code) is optional. You're responsible for keeping your access code reasonably private and for activity under your account. We may suspend or revoke a code that is abused. Deleting your account (in Settings) revokes your code and removes shared lists you own from our server.

Checkmate can optionally connect to a third-party calendar account you choose (currently Google Calendar) to keep your tasks and calendar in two-way sync. Connecting is optional and initiated by you. When you connect:

You authorize Checkmate to view and modify events in that calendar account on your behalf, as described in our Privacy Policy.
Your use of the connected service remains subject to that provider's own terms and privacy policy (for Google, Google's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy). You represent that you have the right to connect the account you choose.
You can disconnect at any time in the app; disconnecting removes the stored connection and the synced data from our server and asks the provider to revoke access.
The connected service is operated by the third party, not by us. We are not responsible for that service's availability or changes, or for events created or changed outside Checkmate.

6. Copyright & repeat infringers

We respond to notices of claimed copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and we have a Copyright & DMCA Policy — see /copyright — with our designated agent's contact details and the process for submitting notices and counter-notices. It is our policy to terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the accounts of users who are repeat infringers. An account that accumulates three (3) copyright strikes within any rolling twelve (12) month period may be terminated. A "strike" is a piece of content removed following a valid infringement notice that is not reversed by a successful counter-notice.

7. Free trial & subscription

New installs include a 7-day free trial — you can use the app with no limit on the number of tasks. During the trial, a few limits apply: up to 3 subtasks per task, up to 5 active recurring tasks, and one shared group; appearance customization (alternate card faces and glass effects) requires a subscription.
After the 7-day trial, a subscription — or a one-time Lifetime purchase — is required to keep adding or editing tasks. Without one, the app becomes read-only: you can still view your existing tasks, but creating and editing are disabled. A subscription or Lifetime also removes the trial limits above and unlocks appearance customization.
Checkmate Premium is offered as an auto-renewing subscription (monthly or yearly), each of which may include an introductory free trial offered through the App Store, or as a one-time Lifetime purchase (which includes future updates).
All purchases are processed by Apple (billing managed via RevenueCat). Auto-renewing subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You manage and cancel subscriptions in your App Store account settings, not in the app. Prices and any applicable taxes are shown at the point of purchase. If you cancel during a free trial you won't be charged.
Prices may change; we'll give notice as required by the app store. Refunds are handled under Apple's policies — we generally can't issue refunds directly.
If we terminate your account for violating these Terms, you are not entitled to a refund of any unused subscription time; subscription management and any refunds remain governed by Apple's policies.

8. Reminders

Reminders are delivered as local notifications on your device and depend on your device's settings and operating-system limits; they may be delayed or missed. The app's suggestions (including routine and scheduling suggestions) are conveniences, not advice, and you remain responsible for your own commitments. Don't rely on Checkmate as the sole reminder for safety-critical or time-critical matters.

9. No warranty

The app is provided "as is" and "as available," without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We don't warrant that the app will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that data will never be lost — keep your own backups of anything important.

10. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, data, or goodwill, arising from your use of (or inability to use) the app, or from content shared by other users. Our total liability for any claim relating to the app won't exceed the greater of the amount you paid for it in the 12 months before the claim, or USD $20. Some jurisdictions don't allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you.

11. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from claims, damages, and reasonable expenses arising out of the content you share through the app or your misuse of the app or violation of these Terms.

12. Termination

You may stop using the app at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if you violate these Terms or misuse the service; where practical and not otherwise required, we'll give you notice and an opportunity to appeal by emailing support@checkmatepriorities.com. Sections that by their nature should survive (e.g. 3, 9, 10, 11, 13) survive termination.

13. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, United States, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules, except where the app store's terms or mandatory consumer-protection law in your jurisdiction provide otherwise. Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in California, and you consent to personal jurisdiction and venue there.

14. Dispute resolution & arbitration

Please read this section carefully — it affects how disputes are resolved and limits class actions. You may opt out (see below).

Informal resolution first. Before starting a formal proceeding, you agree to contact us at support@checkmatepriorities.com and give us 60 days to try to resolve the dispute informally.
Binding individual arbitration. Except for the carve-outs below, any dispute between you and us arising out of or relating to the app or these Terms will be resolved by binding, individual arbitration — not in court and not before a jury — administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitrator decides all issues, except that a court decides the enforceability of this arbitration section. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction.
Carve-outs. This section does not require arbitration of: (a) claims that qualify for small-claims court; (b) claims to enforce or protect intellectual-property rights; or (c) requests for injunctive relief. Either party may bring those in court.
Class-action waiver. You and we agree to bring claims only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims. If this class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) will proceed in court, and the rest of this section still applies.
30-day opt-out. You can opt out of this arbitration section by emailing support@checkmatepriorities.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, stating your name and that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out won't affect any other part of these Terms.
Where binding arbitration is prohibited by applicable law, it does not apply to you, and disputes are governed by Section 16 instead.

15. General

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, that provision will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the remaining provisions will stay in full effect.
Entire agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and the other policies referenced here, are the entire agreement between you and us about the app and supersede any prior agreements on that subject.
Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms. We may assign them to a successor (for example, in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets), and these Terms will bind any permitted successor.
No waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to enforce it later.

16. Changes

We may update these Terms; we'll change the effective date above and, where the changes are material, ask you to re-accept or otherwise note it in the app. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised Terms.

17. Contact

support@checkmatepriorities.com

Apple-required note: if any term here conflicts with Apple's standard End-User License Agreement (the "Licensed Application End User License Agreement"), Apple's EULA governs for apps obtained from the App Store, except to the extent these Terms are more protective of the end user.