Terms of Service

Acceptance

By downloading, installing, or using OpenClient ("the App"), you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use the App.

Eligibility

You must have legal capacity under applicable law to accept these terms. If you do not, you may use the App only with permission from a parent or legal guardian.

What the App Does

OpenClient is a native Apple client for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS that connects to any OpenAI-compatible server you provide — such as Ollama, LiteLLM, or any other self-hosted or third-party backend that implements the OpenAI API. The App enables text conversations, image and document analysis (Vision), voice transcription (Speech-to-Text), text-to-speech playback, image generation, web search, and an agentic tool-calling loop. Server-backed AI operations are sent to the server you configure. Depending on the selected setting, speech transcription may instead use Apple's Speech framework; processing then follows Apple's platform behavior and settings. The App does not host, operate, or control any LLM server, AI model, or search provider.

Additional capabilities include:

• Conversation sync: Conversations are stored locally on your device and, if iCloud is enabled, synced across your Apple devices via iCloud Drive.
• Memory: Persistent memory items are stored locally in a JSON file and, when iCloud sync is enabled, may be synchronized as a file through iCloud Drive. Models may also create memory items autonomously during a conversation. Legacy UserDefaults and iCloud key-value data may be migrated to file-based storage.
• Web search: When enabled, the App sends search queries through your LiteLLM server to the search provider configured on that server (e.g., Brave, Tavily, DuckDuckGo). The App never contacts search providers directly.
• Agent mode: The App supports an agentic tool-calling loop in which the model may invoke registered tools and receive their outputs before generating a final response.
• Share Extension & Shortcuts: The App can receive content from other apps via the iOS/iPadOS Share Extension, a custom URL scheme (openclient://), drag and drop, or Apple Shortcuts.
• Spotlight: Conversation titles and message excerpts are indexed locally in Spotlight for quick search. This data does not leave your device.

AI Output

AI output can be inaccurate, fabricated, incomplete, offensive, or unsafe. Independently verify important information. Output is not professional medical, legal, financial, or safety advice.

Free App, Third-Party API Costs

OpenClient is free to download and use and has no subscription. The App offers optional, voluntary in-app purchases through its tip jar; they are not required to use the App.

However, connecting the App to a paid LLM provider — such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, or any other cloud-based service — may incur charges billed directly by that provider based on your API usage (tokens consumed, images generated, audio transcribed, etc.). These costs are entirely independent of the App and the developer of OpenClient has no visibility into, control over, or liability for them.

Local and self-hosted models (e.g., Ollama running on your own hardware) generally involve no per-request cost, but you are responsible for the infrastructure you operate.

Your Responsibilities

• Server & infrastructure: You are responsible for setting up, maintaining, and securing your own server and any upstream LLM providers it connects to.
• API keys & costs: Any API keys you configure in the App or on your server are your responsibility. Costs incurred through LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Groq, Ollama, etc.) are entirely your responsibility as the operator. The developer of OpenClient has no involvement in, or liability for, charges from third-party services.
• Content: You are solely responsible for the content you send through the App and the responses you receive. The developer does not monitor, moderate, or store any conversations.
• Web search content: You are responsible for the queries you send through the web search feature and any actions taken based on search results. Results are provided by third-party services via your LiteLLM server; their accuracy, availability, and legal compliance are outside the developer's control.
• Memory: You are responsible for reviewing and managing memory items stored by the App, including those created autonomously by models. Review your memory regularly in Settings to ensure stored content reflects your expectations.
• Shared and imported content: You are responsible for any content sent to the App via the Share Extension, URL scheme, drag and drop, or Apple Shortcuts.
• Compliance: You agree to use the App in compliance with all applicable laws and the terms of service of any LLM provider or search provider you connect to.

Votice Feedback

Voluntary feedback submissions through Votice may include an optional name, text, and attachments, and may be visible to other users through the feedback board. Do not submit confidential, unlawful, or infringing material. You grant the developer non-exclusive permission to display and use submitted feedback to operate and improve the App; you retain ownership of your content.

iCloud & Local Data

The App stores conversation history locally on your device using the file system. If iCloud is enabled in your device settings, the following data may be synced to iCloud:

• Conversation files and attachments (via iCloud Drive)
• User profile JSON file (via iCloud Drive)
• Memory JSON file (via iCloud Drive)
• Custom prompt templates (via iCloud Drive)
• Deletion and tombstone metadata used for synchronization

You control whether iCloud sync is active through your device's iCloud settings. The developer does not access any data stored in your iCloud account. Disabling iCloud sync stops future synchronization by the App but does not automatically delete files already in iCloud; you manage those files through iCloud. Disabling sync does not prevent server requests, voluntary Votice submissions, or voluntary tip purchases processed by Apple through StoreKit.

Estimated Costs

The App may display estimated conversation costs calculated from token usage and pricing metadata supplied by your LiteLLM server. These figures are approximations only; actual charges are determined exclusively by your LLM provider or API usage plan. The developer is not responsible for any discrepancies between displayed estimates and actual billing.

Open Source License

The App's source code is available under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. You may inspect, modify, and redistribute the code under the terms of that license. The open-source nature of the project allows you to verify all claims made in these terms and in the Privacy Policy.

No Warranty

The App is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. The developer does not guarantee that the App will be error-free, uninterrupted, or compatible with every server configuration.

Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, the developer shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, revenue, or profits, arising from your use of the App. This includes, without limitation, costs incurred through third-party API providers, data loss resulting from server misconfiguration, inaccurate search results, or unintended actions performed by models in agent mode.

No Affiliation

OpenClient is an independent open-source project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by LiteLLM, OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, Groq, Brave, Tavily, Apple, or any other company or service mentioned in the App or its documentation.

Changes to These Terms

These terms may be updated from time to time. Changes will be published on this page with an updated revision date. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the new terms.

Contact

If you have questions about these terms, you can open an issue on the GitHub repository.