Ruminate Terms of Service

1. Agreement and the Ruminate Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) are a binding agreement between you and Johnathan Pulos, an individual who operates the Ruminate app (“Ruminate,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). They govern your use of the Ruminate mobile app for iOS and Android, our website at https://ruminatebible.app/, and any related services (together, the “Service”). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Service.

Ruminate is an app for slowing down and reflecting on Scripture. Each day, you choose a Bible passage to focus on. Throughout the day, we send push notifications inviting you back to the app, where you are asked a new question about your passage. You decide how many questions appear in each session and can set do-not-disturb times. You can respond in text, audio, or video. The Service is free and has no in-app purchases.

2. Eligibility and Your Account

You must be at least 14 years old to use the Service. If you are under 18, you confirm that a parent or legal guardian knows you are using Ruminate and agrees to these Terms on your behalf. If we learn that someone under 14 has created an account, we will delete it.

To use Ruminate you create an account with your email address and a password, and you must verify your email address. You agree to:

• provide accurate information and keep it up to date;
• keep your password confidential and not share your account;
• tell us promptly at support@ruminatebible.app if you suspect unauthorized access; and
• accept responsibility for activity that happens under your account.

You may keep only one account, and it is for your personal use.

3. Your Content

“Your Content” means the text, audio, and video responses you submit, the passages you select, and your settings. Ruminate is built for private self-reflection: other users cannot see Your Content, and we do not publish it.

Ownership. You own Your Content. We do not claim ownership of it.

License to operate the Service. You grant us a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, transmit, and process Your Content, only as needed to provide, secure, and support the Service for you. This license ends when you delete the content or your account, subject to routine backup cycles.

Our access. We do not review Your Content as a matter of course. We may access it only when needed to provide support you request, protect the security of the Service, investigate a suspected violation of these Terms, or comply with law.

Your responsibilities. You are responsible for Your Content. Do not submit anything you lack the right to share, or anything that is illegal (see Section 5).

Backups. We work to keep your content safe, but we cannot guarantee it will never be lost. Keep your own copy of anything you cannot afford to lose.

Deletion. You can delete your account at any time from within the app or by emailing support@ruminatebible.app. After deletion we will delete your account data and stored responses within 30 days, except where the law requires us to keep it.

4. AI-Generated Questions, Notifications, and No Advice

AI-generated questions. Ruminate uses artificial intelligence, requested from our servers through Anthropic’s Claude API, to generate the reflection questions you see. AI can produce questions that are incorrect, awkward, or theologically inaccurate. We send only the Bible passage you select to the AI provider, never your name, email, or responses. Questions are prompts for your own reflection. They are not Scripture, and they do not represent the official teaching of any church or denomination. Please read Scripture itself and weigh your reflections with your own judgment.

No advice. Ruminate is a reflection tool. It does not provide pastoral, spiritual direction, counseling, medical, mental-health, legal, or other professional advice, and it is not a substitute for your church, pastor, or a qualified professional.

Emergencies. Ruminate is not an emergency service. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call your local emergency number, or in the United States call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

Push notifications. By enabling notifications you agree to receive daily reminders from Ruminate. You can set do-not-disturb times in the app and turn notifications off at any time in the app or in your device settings. We do not guarantee that a notification will be delivered at a particular time.

5. Acceptable Use

You agree to use the Service lawfully and only for its intended purpose of personal reflection. You will not:

• submit, upload, or store content that is illegal, or use the Service to commit or promote an illegal act;
• try to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other accounts, or our systems, or interfere with or disrupt them;
• use bots or other automated means to access the Service or overload it; or
• copy, reverse engineer, or attempt to extract the source code of the app, except where the law allows it.

If we reasonably believe you have violated this Section, we may remove the content, suspend or terminate your account, and report the matter to law enforcement or other authorities where the law requires or permits us to.

6. Intellectual Property and Termination

Our property. The Service, including the app, its code, design, text, and the Ruminate name and logo, belongs to us or our licensors and is protected by intellectual property laws. We give you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the app for your own non-commercial use. Third-party materials, including any Bible translations, belong to their respective owners.

Feedback. If you send us suggestions or feedback, we may use them freely without owing you anything.

Ending your use. You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time.

Our right to suspend or terminate. We may suspend or terminate your access if you violate these Terms, if your use creates legal or security risk, or if we discontinue the Service. Where reasonable, we will give you notice and a chance to export or save your content before we discontinue the Service.

What happens next. When your access ends, your license to use the app ends and we handle your data as described in the Privacy Policy. Sections that by their nature should survive (including Sections 3, 6, 7, and 8) will survive.

7. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

Disclaimer. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, THAT AI-GENERATED QUESTIONS WILL BE ACCURATE, OR THAT USING RUMINATE WILL PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR SPIRITUAL OR PERSONAL RESULT.

Limitation of liability. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, RUMINATE AND JOHNATHAN PULOS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOSS OF DATA, CONTENT, OR PROFITS, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM RELATING TO THE SERVICE WILL NOT EXCEED US$100.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limits on warranties or liability, so some of the above may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot legally be limited, such as liability for fraud or willful misconduct.

8. Governing Law, Disputes, Changes, and Contact

Governing law. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California and applicable U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Disputes. If you have a concern, please email support@ruminatebible.app first so we can try to resolve it informally. If we cannot, any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in California, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction.

App stores. Apple and Google are not parties to these Terms and have no obligation to provide support or maintenance for Ruminate. You must also follow the terms of the app store you use. Apple and Google may enforce these Terms against you as third-party beneficiaries where their store rules provide for it.

Changes to these Terms. We may update these Terms from time to time. For material changes, we will notify you by email or an in-app message before the changes take effect. If you keep using the Service after the effective date, you accept the updated Terms. If you do not agree, you may delete your account.

General. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are our entire agreement with you about the Service. If any part is found unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. Our not enforcing a provision is not a waiver of it. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent.

Contact. Questions about these Terms: support@ruminatebible.app.