Legal · Terms

Terms of Service

Last updated: 2026-05-30 Version 2.0 German law

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of SpeechKey (the "App"), a native iOS and Apple Watch app for realtime speech translation, provided by Markus Vaitl, Wengertstr. 18, 72766 Reutlingen, Germany ("we", "us"). By downloading, installing or using SpeechKey, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not use the App.

01Acceptance

By installing or using SpeechKey you confirm that you (i) have read and understood these Terms, (ii) are at least 16 years old or the age of digital consent in your jurisdiction, and (iii) have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement. SpeechKey has no user accounts — these Terms apply to your use of the installed App.

02What SpeechKey is

SpeechKey captures speech and produces realtime transcripts and translations, optionally spoken aloud, on iOS 17+ and watchOS 10+. Translation and voice synthesis are performed by third-party AI providers you connect with your own API keys ("BYOK") — currently OpenAI, Alibaba Qwen, xAI Grok and iFLYTEK for translation, and ElevenLabs or Minimax for voice. The App is provided "as available"; features may evolve and certain capabilities depend on network conditions, device permissions and your selected provider. An active network connection is required for translation.

03Eligibility

SpeechKey is not directed to children under 16, and you may not use it if you are below the age of digital consent in your country. If you use the App on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you are authorised to bind that organisation.

04One-time purchase

SpeechKey is a one-time purchase through the Apple App Store. There is no subscription, no recurring fee and no per-use markup from us.

  • The price, taxes and currency are shown by Apple before you buy (currently 9,99 € worldwide, ¥99 in China).
  • Payment, billing and refunds are handled entirely by Apple under Apple's terms. We do not process or store your payment details.
  • Refund requests are handled by Apple via reportaproblem.apple.com.
  • Usage costs charged by any AI provider you connect (BYOK) are billed to you directly by that provider — never by us, and with no markup from us.

05Licence

We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to install and use SpeechKey on Apple devices you own or control, for your personal or internal business use, in accordance with these Terms and the Apple App Store Terms of Service. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

06BYOK & provider costs

When you connect a provider's API key, your use of that provider is governed by that provider's own terms and privacy policy. You are responsible for keeping your key secure, complying with the provider's terms, and paying any usage costs the provider charges. We do not control and are not responsible for the availability, latency, accuracy, security, data handling, pricing or model-training practices of any third-party provider.

BYOK disclaimer We are not liable for provider outages, provider charges, rate limits, key suspensions, or how a provider processes the audio and text you send it. Connecting and funding a provider is your decision and your responsibility.

07Your responsibilities

You are responsible for the lawful use of SpeechKey, including obtaining the consent of all participants before recording, transcribing or translating a conversation where such consent is required by law (for example, two-party-consent rules), and for the legality of the content you process.

08Prohibited use

You will not, and will not permit any third party to:

  • use the App to record or translate any conversation without legally required consent of all participants;
  • use the App for unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, defamatory, harassing or harmful purposes;
  • infringe the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of third parties;
  • reverse-engineer, decompile or disassemble the App, except to the extent this restriction is prohibited by applicable law;
  • resell, sublicense, rent or redistribute the App, or share or resell connected API keys;
  • circumvent security mechanisms, rate limits or regional restrictions;
  • generate content that violates the terms of an underlying AI provider.

09AI & translation disclaimer

Translations and transcripts are generated by artificial intelligence and may contain errors, omissions, inaccuracies or hallucinations. SpeechKey is a communication aid and must not be relied upon for legally binding, medical, safety-critical, financial or otherwise high-stakes decisions without independent human verification.

Important We do not guarantee translation accuracy. You are responsible for verifying translated content wherever an error could cause harm or legal consequences.

10Intellectual property

We retain all rights, title and interest in the App, including its software, designs and trademarks. You retain all rights to the audio you capture and the transcripts and translations produced from it ("Your Content"), which are stored on your device. Because we operate no server in the data path, we do not receive, store or claim any licence over Your Content.

11Warranty

To the extent permitted by law, the App is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind. Nothing in these Terms limits the statutory warranty and consumer rights that apply to you as a consumer in the EU; those rights remain unaffected.

12Limitation of liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, and for injury to life, body or health, as well as under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz). For slight negligence we are liable only for breach of a material contractual obligation (cardinal duty), and then limited to the foreseeable, contract-typical damage. Any further liability is excluded. In particular, we are not liable for indirect or consequential damages, lost profits or data, for translation errors, or for the acts, charges or outages of third-party AI providers you connect.

13Apple EULA & App Store

SpeechKey is licensed, not sold, to you. Your licence is also subject to Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement (Standard EULA), available at apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula, which you accept in full. Where these Terms conflict with the Apple Standard EULA, the Apple Standard EULA governs for App Store distribution. You acknowledge that Apple has no obligation to furnish maintenance or support for the App, and that Apple is a third-party beneficiary of these Terms entitled to enforce them.

14Changes

We may update these Terms. Material changes will be notified in-app, or by posting an updated version with a new "Last updated" date, before they take effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.

15Governing law & venue

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). If you are a consumer, you also benefit from the mandatory consumer-protection provisions of the country in which you are habitually resident, and — as a consumer — proceedings may be brought in the courts of your place of residence. The EU Online Dispute Resolution platform is available at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We are neither obliged nor willing to participate in dispute-resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

16Contact

© 2026 Markus Vaitl · SpeechKey. This document is provided for information and is not legal advice. Have your final terms reviewed by qualified counsel before launch.