App Usage Terms & Conditions

01These terms, and who they are with

These terms are an agreement between you and Kamalraaj Senthilkumar, operating as ZenMode OS, 4/80 DA, Sindhunagar, Koolipatti, Reddipatti (PO), Namakkal, Tamil Nadu – 637002, India ("ZenMode", "we", "us"), covering the ZenMode OS Android launcher and any related services we provide.

By installing or using ZenMode OS you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the app. Two related documents also apply: the Gold Invest Terms if you use that feature, and the Privacy Policy.

02Who can use ZenMode

You must be at least 13 years old to use ZenMode OS. If you are under 18, you may only use it with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian, who accepts these terms on your behalf.

Gold Invest has a separate, higher bar: you must be 18 or older and hold your own broker account. See the Gold Invest Terms.

You must also be capable of entering into a binding contract and not be barred from using the app under any applicable law.

03Your account

Some features, including accountability pairing, need an account. You agree to give accurate information, keep your credentials to yourself, and tell us promptly at helpdesk@zenmodeos.com if you think someone else has access.

You are responsible for activity under your account. You may delete your account at any time from within the app, which is described in the Privacy Policy.

04Accountability partners and Random Connect

ZenMode can pair you with another user so that each of you can see the other's Zen Score. Random Connect may match you with someone you do not know.

What your partner sees is deliberately narrow: your Zen Score, its direction, and the summary in your Zen Report. They do not see the content of your messages, your browsing, your keystrokes, or the identity of every app you open, except to the extent your Zen Report itemises categories or apps you have chosen to include.

You can unpair at any time. Treat your partner decently: pairing is a shared commitment, not a channel for harassment. We may unpair accounts, block matches or suspend access where we see abuse.

You are responsible for deciding what you are comfortable sharing with a stranger. If you would rather not be matched with someone you do not know, do not use Random Connect.

05Permissions the app needs

ZenMode OS is a launcher, so Android requires certain permissions for it to work. These typically include usage access to read app usage statistics, notification access, the ability to draw over other apps for intent prompts, and permission to be set as your default home app.

You grant these through Android's own permission screens and you can revoke them in system settings at any time. Revoking them will break parts of the app, most obviously Zen Score, because the score cannot be calculated without usage statistics.

What each permission is used for is set out in the Privacy Policy.

06Zen Score and Zen Report

Zen Score is a behavioural signal we calculate from your declared intents, session lengths and app usage. It starts at 100 each day, is reduced by unintentional usage, and is earned back through declared sessions that end on time and time in apps you have marked as productive.

The score is an approximation. Android usage statistics are imperfect, devices differ, and our rules are a judgement call rather than a measurement of anything objective. We may change how the score is calculated, and scores are not comparable across app versions.

Zen Score has no monetary value, cannot be transferred, sold or exchanged, and gives you no entitlement to any money, gold, unit or reward from us.

07ZenMode is not health advice

ZenMode OS is a productivity and habit tool. It is not a medical device, not a diagnostic tool, and not treatment for addiction, anxiety, depression, attention disorders or any other condition.

Nothing in the app is a clinical assessment, and a low Zen Score is not a diagnosis of anything. If you are struggling with compulsive phone use or your mental health, please speak to a qualified professional.

08Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• Use the app to harass, coerce, surveil or control another person, including a partner you are paired with.
• Falsify your usage data or manipulate your Zen Score to mislead a partner.
• Attempt to access another user's account, data or score.
• Interfere with, overload, probe or attack our services or infrastructure.
• Use the app for anything unlawful, or in breach of anyone else's rights.

Installing ZenMode on someone else's device to monitor them without their knowledge and consent is a serious misuse of the product and is prohibited.

09Gold Invest

Gold Invest is an optional feature that lets you choose a quantity of Gold BeES units and hands you off to Zerodha Kite, where you review and confirm the order yourself. ZenMode is not a broker or an investment adviser, holds no money and no units, and charges nothing for the feature.

Using it means accepting the Gold Invest Terms, which set out the risks and the limits of our role in full.

10Open source licence

ZenMode OS is open source. The source code is published at github.com/ThammanaSrinivas/zenmode under the GPL-3.0 licence, and your rights in the code are governed by that licence rather than by these terms.

Where the licence and these terms conflict in respect of the code, the licence wins. These terms still govern your use of our hosted services, our brand, and features such as pairing.

11Brand and content

The ZenMode name, the ZenMode mark, and the Albeit design system, including its wordmarks, icons, illustrations and stickers, belong to us. Publishing the design system does not grant you a licence to use our brand as your own, to imply endorsement, or to ship a confusingly similar product.

You keep ownership of anything you create or enter in the app. You grant us only the limited permission needed to operate the service, such as showing your score to a partner you paired with.

12Availability, updates and pre-release software

We are building in the open, and parts of ZenMode OS may be beta or experimental. Features can change or disappear, and pre-release builds can be unstable.

We do not guarantee that the app will be available, uninterrupted, timely or error free, and we may modify or discontinue features. Because ZenMode is a launcher, a serious defect could affect how you reach other apps on your device. Keep another launcher available if that matters to you.

13Third party services

The app links to and hands off to services we do not control, including your broker, app stores, and any distribution platform such as F-Droid. Their terms and policies apply to your use of them, and we are not responsible for them.

14Disclaimers

To the fullest extent permitted by law, ZenMode OS is provided on an as-is and as-available basis without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, or non-infringement.

We do not warrant that using ZenMode will reduce your screen time, change your habits, improve your wellbeing, or produce any particular outcome.

15Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential loss, or for loss of profits, data, goodwill, opportunity or anticipated savings, arising out of or in connection with your use of ZenMode OS.

Our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these terms is limited to INR 1,000. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law, including for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

16Suspension and ending this agreement

You can stop using ZenMode at any time by uninstalling it and deleting your account.

We may suspend or end your access if you breach these terms, if we are required to by law, or if we discontinue the service. Where it is reasonable to do so we will tell you first. Sections that by their nature should survive termination, including intellectual property, disclaimers, liability and governing law, continue to apply.

17Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version in force is the one published here with its effective date. If a change is material we will make reasonable efforts to notify you in the app or by email before it takes effect, and continuing to use ZenMode after that means you accept it.

18Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of India. The courts at Namakkal, Tamil Nadu have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any right you have as a consumer to bring proceedings where you live.

Before starting formal proceedings, please write to us so we can try to sort it out directly. Most things can be.

19Contact and grievances

Write to helpdesk@zenmodeos.com. Our grievance officers under applicable Indian information technology rules are Kamalraaj Senthilkumar and Srinivas Thammana (Grievance Officer / Data Protection Contact), reachable at helpdesk@zenmodeos.com, 4/80 DA, Sindhunagar, Koolipatti, Reddipatti (PO), Namakkal, Tamil Nadu – 637002, India. We aim to acknowledge complaints within 30 working days.