Terms of Service

Last updated:

1. Scope

These Terms govern your use of the “Niven” app (“Niven” or “the App”) between

Patrick Schlesinger, Parkstraße 19, 80339 München, Germany (the “Provider”)

and you, the user. By registering or using the app you accept these Terms.

2. Contract conclusion

The contract is concluded when you create an account in the app with e-mail and password. A paid subscription (Niven Pro) or a boost pack is concluded through a separate, explicit purchase via your app store (Apple App Store, Google Play).

3. Service description

Niven is a focus timer app with a pixel animal (“buddy”) as companion that lives off your focus sessions and chats with you through an AI (OpenAI gpt-5-mini). The free base version includes:

Niven Pro (price in app store) unlocks all species (dog, fox), lifts the chat limit to 50 questions/day, lets you “replan” at any time with your own note and enables AI buddy lines (reflection after sessions, daily greeting). See Settings → Pro for details.

Boost packs are one-time purchases (no subscription) with a fixed number of additional chat questions that are consumed beyond the daily limit (1 token = 1 question). Unused tokens do not expire as long as your account exists.

Web version: In the web app at https://niven.io/play the Pro features are currently available without purchase. We may change this at any time with reasonable advance notice (see § 12).

4. License

We grant you a non-transferable, non-exclusive right to use the app for your own non-commercial purposes. Reverse engineering, decompilation, and circumventing the daily chat caps are prohibited.

5. Availability

We aim for high availability but don’t guarantee uninterrupted access. Maintenance windows, cloud-provider outages, or LLM-provider outages can lead to temporary limitations — in particular your buddy may temporarily fail to respond in the chat.

6. User obligations

You commit to:

Violations may result in account suspension or termination.

7. AI disclosure (EU AI Act)

Your buddy answers through an AI system (OpenAI gpt-5-mini). You are chatting with an AI, not a human.

8. In-app purchases and subscriptions (Niven Pro, boost packs)

Niven Pro is an auto-renewing subscription with a monthly or yearly term. It renews at the end of each term unless cancelled at least 24h before. Cancel via your app-store account (Apple ID, Google Play). Boost packs are one-time purchases without renewal. All purchases are processed exclusively through the app stores; the web version offers no purchases.

Withdrawal for digital content

You get instant access to Pro features after purchase. Your right of withdrawal (§ 356 (5) BGB) expires if you explicitly consent at purchase and contract execution begins. Without that consent, the statutory 14-day withdrawal right applies.

Withdrawal address: Patrick Schlesinger, Parkstraße 19, 80339 München, kontakt@niven.io

For App Store / Google Play, you can also request refunds directly via the store provider.

Sample withdrawal form

To withdraw your contract, complete this form and return it to us (e-mail works). A free-form e-mail to kontakt@niven.io containing the same details is equally valid.

To:
Patrick Schlesinger
Parkstraße 19
80339 München, Germany
E-Mail: kontakt@niven.io

I/we (*) hereby withdraw from the contract concluded by me/us (*) for
the provision of the following service:

  Niven Pro subscription / boost pack, concluded on: ________________

Name of consumer(s):              _________________________
Address of consumer(s):           _________________________
Account e-mail (Niven login):     _________________________

Signature of consumer(s) (only on paper submission):
________________________

Date: ________________

(*) Delete as applicable.

Cancelling the Pro subscription

Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing cycle. Already-paid fees are not refunded pro-rata (digital content).

Warranty for digital content (§§ 327 ff BGB)

Niven is a digital service under §§ 327 ff BGB. We warrant functionality as described in the contract. For defects you are entitled to:

  1. Cure (defect remediation)
  2. Price reduction if cure fails
  3. Contract termination with refund if the defect is material

These statutory rights are not waived by these Terms.

Report defects to kontakt@niven.io with a problem description, your device or browser and – if available – the error message.

System requirements (interoperability)

The app needs an active internet connection for sign-in, data sync, and the buddy chat. Offline use is not supported.

9. Liability

We are fully liable for intent, gross negligence, and under the Product Liability Act. For ordinary negligence we are only liable for breaches of essential contractual obligations (Kardinalpflichten) and then limited to foreseeable, typical damages.

We are NOT liable for:

10. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy applies. We process personal data per GDPR and German law. EU servers (Frankfurt), LLM calls via OpenAI USA with EU Standard Contractual Clauses + DPF.

11. Term and termination

On account deletion your login and all your data are removed immediately (see Privacy § 7). Unused boost tokens and remaining Pro periods lapse with the deletion; an ongoing store subscription must additionally be cancelled in the store.

12. Changes to terms

We may update these Terms for the following reasons:

  1. Legal changes: new laws, regulations, or court decisions requiring adjustment
  2. Feature scope: new features added or existing features changed (e.g. new species, new Pro feature)
  3. Closing detectable gaps: when an existing clause turns out unclear or invalid in practice

We announce changes at least 30 days in advance via e-mail to your registered address AND in-app notice.

Material changes (e.g. price increase, reduction of Pro scope, change of contract subject) require your explicit consent via active “I accept the new Terms” tap on next app open. Without consent you keep using the app at the current scope until the next regular contract end, then the contract auto-ends.

Non-material changes (e.g. editorial improvements, new opt-in features) are deemed accepted if you don’t object within 30 days of notice. Every change notice explicitly marks whether it’s material or non-material.

This rule follows BGH XI ZR 26/20 case-law on fictitious-consent clauses in consumer terms.

13. Governing law and jurisdiction

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For consumers domiciled in the EU, the mandatory consumer-protection provisions of their home country remain unaffected.

Jurisdiction is München, to the extent legally permissible.

14. Severability

If individual provisions are invalid, the remaining provisions stay in force. An invalid provision is replaced by an effective one closest to the original economic purpose.

15. Contact

For questions about the app, your account, or these Terms:

E-Mail: kontakt@niven.io Post: Patrick Schlesinger, Parkstraße 19, 80339 München, Germany