Terms of Use

§ 1 Scope

(1) These Terms of Use apply to the use of the free macOS application "Sophist" and the associated website (hereinafter "Service"), operated by Carsten Losch, Matterhornstraße 48, 14129 Berlin, Germany (hereinafter "Operator").

(2) The Service is operated as a private, non-commercial project and is provided free of charge.

§ 2 Description of Service

(1) Sophist is a macOS application for speech recognition and text transcription. The software is offered as a free download.

(2) The Operator strives to provide functional software but does not guarantee constant availability, error-free operation, or specific functionality.

(3) The software is provided "as is." There is no entitlement to support, updates, or further development.

§ 3 Usage Rights

(1) The Operator grants the user a simple, non-transferable, non-sublicensable right to use the software for private and professional purposes.

(2) The user may not:

• Decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reverse-engineer the software;
• Use the software for unlawful purposes;
• Redistribute the software commercially to third parties;
• Present the software as their own product or distribute it under a different name.

§ 4 Audio Data & Privacy

Sophist processes audio data exclusively on your local device. The Operator does not receive, store, or process any audio data or transcriptions. If you choose an online speech recognition provider, data is transmitted directly from your device to that provider. For details, please refer to our Privacy Policy.

§ 5 Liability

(1) The Operator is fully liable for damages resulting from injury to life, body, or health, as well as for intentional misconduct.

(2) For damages arising from the use of the free software, the Operator is only liable in cases of intent and gross negligence.

(3) Liability for data loss is excluded to the extent that the user has failed to perform regular data backups.

§ 6 Changes

The Operator reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use at any time. The current version is always available on this website.

§ 7 Final Provisions

(1) The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany apply.

(2) Should individual provisions of these Terms of Use be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected.

Last updated: March 2026
Carsten Losch, Berlin