Terms of Use
These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and Stillwater Labs Ltd (“Stillwater Labs”, “we”, “us”, “our”) governing your use of the Pond mobile application (“Pond”, “the app”). Please read them carefully. By downloading, accessing, or using Pond, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.
Stillwater Labs Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17235124), with its registered office at 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ.
1. About Pond
Pond is a calm, self-guided wellness app. It helps you notice and work through difficult thoughts using exercises inspired by cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques, presented through a gentle pond metaphor. Pond is designed to be a quiet space for reflection.
Pond is a personal wellbeing tool. It is not a healthcare service, and using it does not create any kind of clinical, therapeutic, or professional relationship between you and Stillwater Labs.
2. Who can use Pond
You must be at least 16 years old to use Pond. By using the app you confirm that you meet this requirement and that you are able to enter into a binding agreement with us.
3. Important: Pond is not medical care or a crisis service
Please read this section carefully.
Pond is a self-help tool for general wellbeing. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and it is not a crisis or emergency service. Pond does not provide medical or psychological advice, and nothing in the app should be taken as such.
- Pond cannot assess your situation, cannot respond to emergencies, and is not monitored by anyone in real time.
- The exercises in Pond are general wellbeing techniques. They may not be suitable for everyone and are not tailored to your individual circumstances.
- Always seek the advice of a qualified health professional with any questions you have about your mental or physical health. Never disregard professional advice, or delay seeking it, because of something in the app.
If you are in crisis or may be in danger, do not use Pond to seek help. Contact emergency services or a crisis line immediately:
- In a life-threatening emergency, call 999 (UK) or your local emergency number.
- Samaritans (UK & ROI): call 116 123, free, any time, day or night.
- Shout (UK): text SHOUT to 85258, free, 24/7 — if you’d rather not talk to someone by phone.
- NHS 111 (UK): for urgent but non-emergency health concerns.
- If you are outside the UK, please contact your local emergency services or a local crisis line.
By using Pond you acknowledge and accept that it is a self-help tool only, and that you are responsible for seeking appropriate professional or emergency help when you need it.
4. Your use of Pond
We grant you a personal, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to use Pond on devices you own or control, for your own personal, non-commercial use, in accordance with these Terms and any rules set by the App Store.
You agree not to:
- copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the app;
- reverse-engineer or attempt to extract the source code, except where the law permits;
- use the app in any unlawful way, or in any way that could harm, disable, or impair it;
- attempt to gain unauthorised access to the app or its related systems.
5. Your thoughts and your privacy
Pond is built to be private by design. You don’t need an account to use it, and we don’t track you or build a profile of you.
The thoughts and entries you create are stored on your device. They are not uploaded to us, and we can’t read them.
If you take out a Pond Premium subscription, some limited information is involved in processing that purchase. This is explained in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.
Because your entries are stored on your device, you are responsible for your own data, including keeping your device secure and backing it up. If you delete the app or lose your device, your entries may be lost, and we cannot recover them for you.
6. Pond Premium subscriptions
Pond is free to download and includes core features at no cost. Some features are available through an optional auto-renewing subscription, Pond Premium.
- Pricing and billing. Current subscription prices and billing periods are shown in the app at the point of purchase. Payment is charged to your Apple Account on confirmation of purchase.
- Auto-renewal. Subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your Apple Account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period.
- Managing and cancelling. You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time in your Apple Account settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. Deleting the app does not cancel your subscription.
- Refunds. Purchases are handled by Apple. Refund requests are managed by Apple in accordance with their policies, not by us.
- Price changes. We may change subscription prices for new subscribers. Where a price change would affect an existing subscription, it will be handled in accordance with Apple’s rules, which generally require your consent before a higher price takes effect.
- Free features. We may change which features are free and which require Pond Premium, but we will not remove access to thoughts or entries you have already created.
7. Changes to the app
We may update, change, or discontinue Pond or any of its features at any time. We may also stop supporting older versions of the app. We are a small independent developer and cannot guarantee that the app will always be available or error-free.
8. Intellectual property
Pond, including its design, content, mascot, graphics, and software, is owned by Stillwater Labs Ltd and is protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms do not transfer any ownership rights to you. Your own entries remain yours.
9. Disclaimers
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Pond is provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied. We do not warrant that the app will meet your requirements, be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, or that any results from using it will be accurate or reliable.
Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes any rights you have under applicable consumer protection law that cannot be limited or excluded.
10. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Stillwater Labs Ltd will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, arising out of or relating to your use of, or inability to use, Pond.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under the law of England and Wales.
This section should be read together with section 3 (“Pond is not medical care or a crisis service”). You understand and agree that Pond is a self-help tool and not a source of medical, psychological, or crisis support.
11. The Apple App Store
These Terms are between you and Stillwater Labs Ltd only, and not with Apple. Apple is not responsible for Pond or its content.
You acknowledge and agree that:
- The licence granted to you for Pond is a non-transferable licence to use Pond on any Apple-branded device you own or control, as permitted by the App Store Terms of Service.
- Apple has no obligation to provide any maintenance or support for Pond. Any questions, support requests, or complaints about Pond should be directed to us using the contact details below, not to Apple.
- To the extent permitted by law, Apple has no warranty obligation with respect to Pond. If Pond fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple may refund the purchase price (if any); otherwise, Apple has no responsibility for Pond.
- Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims relating to Pond, including product liability claims, claims that Pond fails to conform to legal or regulatory requirements, or claims arising under consumer protection or similar law.
- Apple is not responsible for investigating, defending, settling, or discharging any third-party claim that Pond, or your use of it, infringes that third party’s intellectual property rights; we are responsible for those claims as set out in these Terms.
- You confirm that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. Government embargo or designated as “terrorist supporting”, and that you are not on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
- Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and on your acceptance of these Terms, Apple has the right (and is deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.
12. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, let you know in the app. Your continued use of Pond after changes take effect means you accept the updated Terms.
13. Governing law
These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and any disputes will be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. If you are a consumer resident elsewhere, you may also have the benefit of mandatory protections under the law of your country of residence.
14. Contact us
If you have any questions about these Terms or about Pond, please contact us:
Stillwater Labs Ltd
71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom
Email: support@pondapp.co