Methodux is the project coach for students who want to do the work themselves.

It has a template for DECA and a free-form template for any other project. Methodux turns a big project that runs for months into a plan scheduled from your real deadlines. For DECA, the ICDC dates come from DECA's official pages, each with its source and the day we last checked it. You enter your district and state dates and confirm them with your advisor. In the free-form template you enter your own due date. You get milestones, outcomes you define yourself, and a clear signal of whether you're ahead, behind or on track. You keep a dated logbook of your evidence: photos, scanned pages, links, notes and files. You can add sources by DOI or web link, save pages from Safari with the share sheet, and build a bibliography. You can export your plan, your logbook, your bibliography, a calendar file and a full project archive. Optional reminders for deadlines and weekly check-ins are made on your device. With iCloud, you can pick up where you left off on your iPhone and iPad.

One project each school year is free, with every feature. Paid plans let you start more projects and keep editing a project after its school year ends.

The Coach asks. You write.

The Methodux Coach interviews you and points out gaps in your plan. It is built to never draft your hypothesis, research question, abstract or citations. In this version the Coach asks scripted questions from your template. No AI is used. Everything you type to the Coach is saved in your AI-use log. You can also log AI tools you use elsewhere. When your competition or teacher asks how you used AI, you can export a disclosure from your log.

The app has no account, no ads and no tracking. Your work stays on your devices and in your own iCloud, and we never see it unless you email it to us. When you add a source by DOI, Methodux asks Crossref for the citation details. The Privacy Policy says what leaves your device.

Methodux is an independent app by DF Venture Experts LLC. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by DECA Inc. or any competition organizer. Competition names are used only to describe what the app supports.

METHODUX PRIVACY POLICY 

Effective: 2 October 2026

1. Who we are

Methodux is an app for iPhone and iPad. It helps high-school students plan and document competition and school projects. DF Venture Experts LLC makes it. In this policy, "we" and "us" mean DF Venture Experts LLC.

This policy covers the Methodux app from the App Store. It does not cover our websites.

If you test a beta version through Apple's TestFlight, Apple's TestFlight terms also apply, and we see the name and email address Apple shows us and any feedback you send through TestFlight. 

How to reach us:

• Support, feedback, and privacy questions and requests: support@methodux.app. Email sent to this address is forwarded by our domain provider to a mailbox we read.

2. What we collect: nothing

Methodux is built so that we, the developer, collect no data through the app. The one exception is an email that you choose to send us (section 10).

• There is no Methodux account.

• There is no analytics, no advertising and no tracking in the app.

• The app contains no third-party code. It has no analytics, crash-reporting, advertising or tracking tools. It uses Apple's frameworks and our own code.

• We run no server for the app. The app does not send your work to us.

• We collect no personal information unless you contact us by email for support. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for advertising. The only personal information we hold is email that you send us.

• Our App Store privacy label is "Data Not Collected."

What can leave your device, and why. The same five places are listed in the app under Settings, "What leaves this device":

• Your iCloud. To sync your projects between your own devices, and to keep the record of your free project (section 3).

• The App Store. For plan purchases and to check your plan. Where a state law requires it, Methodux also asks Apple for your age range (section 8).

• Crossref. When you add a DOI, or import a file that contains one.

• Websites you open. Links open in Safari.

• Us. Only if you email us.

3. Where your data lives

On your device

Your projects, plans, notes, sources, evidence, logbook and AI-use log are stored on your iPhone or iPad. That includes the photos, scans and files you add. A few things stay on the device only and never sync: the schedule of your reminders, the items waiting in your Research inbox, and a search index of the text read from your files.

In your own iCloud

If you are signed in to iCloud, Methodux syncs your projects between your devices through your own private iCloud database (CloudKit). That database belongs to your Apple Account. We have no access to it and cannot read it.

Methodux cannot share a project with other people through iCloud. It does not use any public or shared iCloud database.

Which text is encrypted

Apple protects data in iCloud. On top of that, Methodux asks CloudKit to use encrypted fields for these items:

• Project: title, teammate names and disclosure statement.

• Milestones: outcome text and override note.

• Checklist items: the name of the person assigned.

• Evidence: title, caption and note text.

• Sources: excerpt, annotation and source notes.

• The Coach: the messages in a Coach session.

• AI-use log: what you typed, the reply, and your notes on an entry.

• Check-ins: blockers.

• Interview and gap answers.

These items, and others, are not encrypted fields:

• Titles of phases, milestones and checklist items.

• Source titles, web links, authors, DOIs and the details Crossref returns.

• Web links you save as evidence, and the original file names of files you add.

• Dates and their titles.

• The log of changes to your plan.

• The name of an AI tool you type in the AI-use log.

• Photos, scans, files, their preview images and the text read from them.

They are still stored in your private iCloud, and we still cannot read them.

The record of your free project

The free plan gives you one project for each school year. A school year runs from 1 August to 31 July, in your time zone.

To remember which project used the school year's free project, Methodux saves a small record:

• It holds the school year (for example, 2026-27) and a random project ID. It holds no name, title or text.

• It is kept in three places: your private iCloud database, Methodux's iCloud key-value storage, and your device's Keychain. The Keychain also keeps a one-way code made from your iCloud account, and this code stays on the device. If you are not signed in to iCloud, the record is kept on your device only.

• It is meant to survive deleting the app, so a student cannot get a second free project by deleting and reinstalling. Deleting the app does not remove it.

If Methodux asks you to choose one project to keep editing, it saves your choice in its iCloud key-value storage, as the school year and that project's random ID, so your other devices know it.

To keep the school year date honest, Methodux also reads the time from iCloud instead of trusting only the clock on your device. To do that, it saves a small record in your private iCloud with a random value in it, and reads back the time iCloud gave it. It does this when the app starts and at some background checks. This needs a network connection and iCloud. Methodux keeps the latest trusted date in the Keychain, and that date is not lowered. It stays there after you delete the app. If iCloud cannot be reached, that alone does not block you from your work.

In this version, Methodux has no way to remove the free-project record or the trusted date.

Your AI-use log

What you type to the Coach, and what the Coach answers, is saved in the AI-use log of that project. You can also add entries for AI you use elsewhere. You can export the log as a disclosure for a teacher or a competition. Entries are never edited, hidden or deleted in the app. You can add notes beside an entry. The log syncs with your project.

The Coach in this version asks scripted questions from your project's template. It uses no AI. What you type stays on your device and in your own iCloud.

Photos, scans and files

You can add photos, scanned pages, links, notes and files (PDFs, images and text). Methodux reads text from imported files on your device and makes small preview images there.

Besides notifications, the only permission Methodux asks for is the camera, so you can take photos and scan pages. Methodux does not ask for your location, contacts, microphone or full photo library.

By default, Methodux keeps a resized copy of a photo. If you turn on "Keep original photos," it keeps the original, including any location saved in it. When you export images, or when Methodux writes its weekly backup, it removes location data from them. Other files, such as PDFs, are stored as they are.

The Files app and weekly backups

About once a week, when you open the app or when iOS gives it a short background refresh, Methodux writes a backup of each active project into the app's Documents folder. You can see it in the Files app, under On My iPhone (or On My iPad), Methodux, Backups. Methodux keeps the newest four backups of each project.

The backups are plain files: a project file in JSON and your attachments. Methodux does not encrypt them, and the project title is part of the folder name. Anyone who can open your unlocked device and the Files app can read them. Deleting a project does not delete its earlier backup folders.

Protection on the device

Methodux's files get the protection that iOS gives them, which depends on your device settings, such as having a passcode.

Methodux does not exclude its files from your device's backups. iCloud Backup or a computer backup may include Methodux's data, as it does for other apps.

Exports you create are files on your device. Methodux does not send them anywhere. You send them where you choose. Copies of files you export, import or open are kept in the app's temporary folder. Methodux removes the copies that are more than a day old when you open the app or when iOS gives it a short background refresh.

4. Notifications

Methodux sends reminders from your device only. It does not send push notifications from a server.

Methodux asks for permission once, after you set up your first project. You can say "Not now." You can change your choice at any time in iOS Settings. Every notice is also listed inside the app.

Reminders include your project name and milestone or deadline titles. Depending on your iOS settings, they may show on a locked screen.

In the background, iCloud may wake the app so it can sync. That is not a message from us.

5. DOI lookups go to Crossref

Crossref is a free service that looks up details of a published paper from its DOI. Crossref is the only scholarly service Methodux contacts in this version. There is no search screen, so no search text is ever sent.

A lookup happens in two cases:

• You paste a DOI into My sources.

• You import a file whose content contains a DOI. Methodux then looks it up on its own, without asking each time.

What Methodux sends to api.crossref.org:

• The DOI, as part of the web address.

• The app's name and version, and our support address, in the header that Crossref asks apps to send.

• As with any website, Crossref can see your device's IP address.

Methodux sends no name of yours, account, device identifier or cookie. The request uses no cookies and no cache. Methodux waits 10 seconds and does not try again. If Crossref does not answer, or does not know the DOI, Methodux keeps the source with the DOI and whatever it already has, such as the title read from your file.

Crossref is a separate organization. What it keeps is up to its own privacy policy, which you can read on crossref.org. We do not control it.

6. Links, and saving from other apps

Links open in Safari. Methodux has no browser of its own. When you tap a link (for example, a competition's official rules page, a source, or a link in your logbook), your device opens it in Safari or your default browser. We do not see which links you open. The website sees your visit as it would from any browser, and its own privacy policy applies.

Save to Methodux. The share sheet in other apps has a "Save to Methodux" option. It accepts one web link, some text, one file or one image. It copies the item to storage shared between the extension and Methodux on your device. It uses no network. The item waits in the Research inbox until you file or dismiss it.

7. Purchases and Family Sharing

Apple handles purchases and subscriptions. We never see your payment details or your name. Plans renew automatically until you cancel them in your Apple Account settings. Apple bills and renews them, and handles cancellations and refunds.

Methodux asks the App Store for your plan on your device, and checks Apple's signed answer there. There is no server, and we receive no receipt. If you restore purchases, the request goes to the App Store.

The family plans are shared by Apple's Family Sharing, which Apple manages. We do not see who is in your family.

8. Your age range, where the law requires it

In some U.S. states, a law asks app stores to tell apps a person's age range. Where Apple says such a law applies to you, Methodux asks Apple for your age range once each time the app starts. Apple may show its own screen, or answer without one.

If Apple shares your age range, Methodux uses it only to meet the law. Methodux does not store it, log it or send it anywhere. Whatever the answer, or if you decline, Methodux works the same and your work stays open to you.

9. Crash reports

Methodux has no crash reporter and no analytics of its own. If you turned on "Share With App Developers" in your device's Analytics settings, Apple may give us crash and performance reports from its own system. We use them only to fix problems. We add nothing to them.

10. If you email us

The "Send feedback" and "email the developer" buttons in Methodux open a new message in your own mail app, addressed to support@methodux.app. For feedback, the subject names the app version and build, and the message has a short template for you to fill in. "Email the developer" opens an empty message. Nothing is attached. You see the message and can change or cancel it before you send it.

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to write or attach. We use it only to reply. We delete it when you ask. Email you send under our terms, such as a dispute, an arbitration opt-out or a copyright notice, is also support email. We use it to act on your request, and we keep it as long as we need a record of it. 

11. Children

Methodux is made for high-school students. It is not directed at children under 13, and it is not in the App Store's Kids category. Its 9+ App Store age rating does not change this. Through the app, we collect no personal information from anyone, of any age.

The only way we could receive a child's information is if a child emails us. If we learn an email came from a child under 13, we reply once, if a reply is needed, and then delete the email.

12. Deleting your data

• In the app. You can delete a project on the Projects screen. In this version, this hides the project and can be undone in the same session. It does not erase the project's data from your device or from your iCloud. In this version, the only way to erase it is to erase all of Methodux's data, with the steps below.

• Everything on the device. Delete the Methodux app. That removes its data on the device, including the backups in its Documents folder. It does not remove your data in iCloud. It does not remove the free-project record (see below).

• Everything in your iCloud. On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and open the list of apps that use your iCloud storage. Choose Methodux and delete its data there.

• The AI-use log. The app never deletes entries one by one. They go when you delete Methodux's data, as described above.

• The free-project record. Deleting the app does not remove it. The copy in your device's Keychain also stays when you delete the app's iCloud data. In this version, Methodux has no way to remove it. See "The record of your free project" above.

• Anything you exported or copied. Files you shared, and copies in the Files app that you saved elsewhere, are yours to delete.

• Emails us. Write to support@methodux.app and we will delete them. Email you sent under our terms is kept as long as we need a record of it (section 10). 

Apart from emails you send us and any crash reports Apple passes on, we hold no data about you, so there is nothing else for us to delete.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will post the new version at the same address and change the effective date at the top. If a change affects what leaves your device, we will say so in the release notes of the update.

Contact

Questions about this policy: support@methodux.app 

This policy is published at https://www.dfventureexperts.com/methodux.

Methodux Support

We're here to help. Most questions are answered below. If yours isn't, email support@methodux.app 

What do I need to run Methodux?

You need an iPhone or iPad that runs iOS 27 or iPadOS 27. Methodux is for iPhone and iPad. The Coach in this version is scripted and uses no AI, so it needs no special hardware. Taking photos and scanning pages use your camera. You don't need an iCloud account, but without one your projects stay on that one device and don't sync.

Which competitions does Methodux cover?

DECA today, additional competition templates coming soon. Anything else - Free-form Now.

The DECA template covers three kinds of DECA written event: business operations research, project management and the independent business plan. It has DECA's ICDC dates for the 2026-27 season. Each one shows its source and the day it was last checked. You enter your district and state dates yourself and confirm them with your advisor. The Free-form template works for any project. You enter your own due date and Methodux turns it into milestones, or you start with a blank plan and add your own steps. Methodux is not affiliated with or endorsed by DECA Inc. or any competition organizer.

What is the Coach?

The Coach asks you questions about your project and points out what is missing from your plan. In this version it asks scripted questions from your template. No AI is used. It won't write your research question, hypothesis, abstract or citations. You can skip its questions. The full instructions the Coach follows are published in the app: open Settings, then Help & Coach instructions. The Coach is there for your project only. If you type something that reads as distress, the Coach shows a fixed message that tells you to talk to a trusted adult and gives the 911 and 988 numbers.

My projects aren't showing up on my other device.

Check that both devices are signed in to the same iCloud account and that you have iCloud storage available. Then open Settings, then Sync & backups in Methodux. It shows the last sync and any problems. If a device is offline, your changes wait on that device and sync when it reconnects. Methodux also saves a backup of each active project to the Files app about once a week. Open Files, then On My iPhone or On My iPad, then Methodux, then Backups. It keeps the newest four for each project.

How does the free project work?

Every school year you get one free project with every feature in the app. A school year runs from August 1 to July 31, in your time zone. You can edit your free project until its school year ends. A project you start in March, for example, is free to edit until July 31 of that same school year. After that you can still open it, read it and export it. To edit it again, you need a plan.

A second project in the same school year needs a plan. On August 1 a new school year starts and you get a new free project. Deleting your free project, or the app, does not give the free project back for that school year. Methodux keeps a small record for this in your own iCloud and on your device. It holds the project's ID and the school year, not your name or your work. To decide which school year it is, Methodux uses a trusted time from iCloud when it can reach it, not only your device's clock.

You don't need a payment method for the free project.

What plans are there, and what do they cost?

There are two plans, each with a monthly and an annual price.

Individual: $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year.

Family: $8.99 per month or $49.99 per year. Up to six family members via Family Sharing.

Prices are for the United States. The App Store shows the price for your country. Methodux is sold in the United States and Canada. Every plan has every feature and unlimited projects. The Individual annual plan costs about the same as six months of monthly. Plans renew automatically until you cancel. Apple charges your Apple Account when you confirm and again at each renewal.

How does the Family plan work?

When one person in your family buys the Family plan, up to six family members can use it through Family Sharing. Set up Family Sharing in your device's Settings first. Family Sharing shares the plan, not the projects. Each person's projects stay in their own iCloud. The Individual plan can't be shared. If Ask to Buy is on, a parent or family organizer has to approve the purchase before the plan starts. Until then you can keep working on the free project.

How do I subscribe, cancel or restore a purchase?

Subscribe: Methodux shows the plans when you try something your free project doesn't allow, such as starting a second project in a school year or editing a project that is read-only. You can also open Settings and choose see plans.

Cancel: open Settings in Methodux and choose manage subscription, or open your Apple Account's subscriptions in your device's Settings. Cancel at least 24 hours before your plan renews. Deleting the app does not cancel a plan.

Restore: open Settings in Methodux and choose restore purchases. Use the Apple Account that bought the plan.

Refunds: Apple handles refunds. Go to reportaproblem.apple.com. If Apple refunds a purchase, the plan ends and the free project rules apply.

Will my work ever be locked away?

No. A project you can't edit is read-only, and you can always open it and export it. Exports are your plan as a PDF, your logbook as a PDF, your bibliography and AI-use disclosure as PDF, text or Markdown, your dates as a calendar file, and the whole project as an archive with your attachments. You can still add to the AI-use log, so your disclosure stays complete. Methodux stops scheduling reminders for that project, and the Coach waits until you can edit again. To edit again, subscribe.

If your plan ends and you have several projects, one stays editable for the rest of the school year and the others become read-only. Methodux asks you which one, unless one of them is already your free project for this school year. Your choice is final for that school year, unless you subscribe again.

What reminders does Methodux send?

None until you allow them. Methodux asks once, after you set up your first project. Reminders are made on your device. No server sends them. If you allow them, you get a morning note on days when something is due, a Sunday evening list for the week, and alerts 30, 7 and 1 day before a fixed date. You can also turn on a Friday list for next week, a list on the 1st of each month, gate reminders, a note when a project falls behind, and a weekly check-in prompt on the day and time you pick. Open Settings, then Notifications, to change any of these, turn quiet hours (22:00 to 7:00) on or off, or mute one project. Every notice also appears in Notices inside the app, so nothing important depends on allowing notifications. Methodux stops scheduling reminders for a read-only project. A reminder that was already scheduled can still appear until you next open the app.

Is Methodux allowed under my competition's AI rules?

Rules vary by competition, school and teacher, so always check the official rules and ask your advisor. Methodux doesn't decide what is allowed at your event. In this version the Coach asks scripted questions from your template and uses no AI. It won't write your research question, hypothesis, abstract or citations. Everything you type to the Coach is saved in your AI-use log. Entries can't be edited or hidden. You add corrections beside the original. If you use AI tools elsewhere, add them to the log yourself. Then export a disclosure to give your advisor or your judges.

How do I export my work?

Open Export & share in your project. You can make a plan PDF, a logbook PDF, a bibliography, an AI-use disclosure, a calendar file and a full project archive, then share or print them. Every export works in a read-only project. Location data is removed from exported images.

A competition date in my template looks wrong.

On the Plan and Milestone screens, a date that comes with the template shows its source and the day it was last checked. A date you entered yourself says to confirm it with your advisor. Open Settings, then Rules for this project, to see the source and last-checked day for each rule. Dates and rules change, so always confirm them with the official rules. Methodux is not responsible for a missed deadline. Email us at support@methodux.app with a link to the official page so we can check it.

How do I delete my data?

Methodux has no account and no server, so we hold none of your work. Your projects live on your device and in your own iCloud. Deleting a project in Methodux hides it. It does not erase its data, and its earlier weekly backups stay in the Files app until you delete them there. To erase the data itself, delete the app. That also removes the backups in the Files app. Then, on your iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name, then iCloud, and open the list of apps that use your iCloud storage. Choose Methodux and delete its data there. The small free project record described above stays on your device when you delete the app, so deleting the app does not reset the free project.

Suggest a feature:

Open Settings in Methodux and choose send feedback. You can also find it under Help & Coach instructions. Or email us.

Email: support@methodux.app

METHODUX TERMS OF USE

Effective: 2 October 2026

1. How these terms fit with Apple's EULA

These terms supplement Apple's standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement ("Apple's EULA"). You can read it at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/. Apple's EULA applies to Methodux. These terms add to it. They do not replace it.

These terms are between you and DF Venture Experts LLC ("we" and "us"). Apple is not a party to these terms.

If these terms and Apple's EULA conflict about your license to use the app, Apple's EULA controls. On everything else, these terms apply.

By downloading or using Methodux, you accept both Apple's EULA and these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use Methodux.

Our privacy policy explains how Methodux handles data. It is at https://www.dfventureexperts.com/methodux.

Section 14 has an agreement to resolve disputes by arbitration, and waivers of class actions and jury trials. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days (section 14.2).

2. What Methodux is, and what it is not

Methodux is an app for iPhone and iPad (iOS and iPadOS 27 or later). It helps high-school students plan and document a long project, such as a competition entry. With it you can:

• build a plan from a template and your dates;

• see whether you are ahead of or behind your own plan;

• keep a dated logbook of evidence, such as photos, scans, links, notes and files;

• organize sources and format a bibliography;

• keep a record of your AI use and export a disclosure;

• export your plan, logbook, bibliography, calendar file and a full project archive.

Methodux 1.0 has a template for DECA and a free-form template.

Methodux includes a Coach. In this version the Coach asks scripted questions from the template and points out gaps in your project. It does not use AI. It does not write any part of your project.

Methodux is not:

• a competition organizer, a school, a teacher or an advisor;

• a source of official rules. It shows dates and rules with their sources and points you to the official rules;

• a way to submit anything to a competition, a school or a judge. You do that yourself;

• a checker. It does not check whether your work is original or follows a competition's rules;

• legal, medical, mental-health, financial or academic advice.

3. Not affiliated

Methodux is an independent app by DF Venture Experts LLC. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by DECA Inc. or any competition organizer. Competition names are used only to describe what the app supports. The names belong to their owners.

4. Dates, rules and deadlines

Check every date and rule yourself. We are not responsible for missed deadlines, disqualification or rule changes.

• Methodux's competition templates show dates and rules taken from a competition's published sources, as we read them when we last checked. A date in a template shows its source. In the DECA template, the national (ICDC) dates come with the template, each with its source and the day we last checked it. You enter your own district and state dates. The rules screen shows the source and the date we last verified. It tells you to confirm with the official rules. When you enter a date yourself, the app asks you to confirm it with your advisor.

• Dates and rules change. National, state, district and school dates can differ. A template can be out of date, incomplete or wrong.

• Before you rely on any date, rule, form or requirement, check the official source and ask your teacher or advisor. You are responsible for knowing and meeting every deadline and requirement of your competition and your school.

• To the extent the law allows, we are not responsible for a missed or late deadline, an incomplete or rejected entry, disqualification, a rule change, or any loss of a placement, award, scholarship or grade that comes from relying on Methodux. 

• Reminders, due lists and the ahead-or-behind status are aids. Status and projected finish are estimates from your own plan and entries. Reminders come from your device and can be late or not shown. This can happen because of your iOS notification and Focus settings, or because you did not allow notifications. Do not rely on them alone.

• Templates come with the app. We may change them in app updates. Updating the app does not confirm that a date is still right.

5. Your work, AI use and the Coach

• You write your project. You are responsible for what you submit, for following the rules of your competition, your school and your teachers, and for any AI disclosure they require.

• Every exchange with the Coach is recorded automatically in your AI-use log. The log is stored on your device and, if you are signed in to iCloud, in your iCloud. Entries cannot be edited, hidden or deleted in the app. You can add notes beside an entry. You can add entries for AI you use outside Methodux. The log holds what the Coach records and what you add. When you import a file as AI-assisted, the app adds an entry for it, which you then complete. Apart from suggesting that label for an imported file that looks like an AI chat, Methodux does not detect or record AI you use elsewhere.

• What you type to the Coach is kept in your AI-use log and cannot be removed. Do not type passwords or other people's private information.

• Disclosure exports are built from what is in your project. Check them before you submit. The competition, school or judge decides whether a disclosure meets its rules.

• Bibliographies are formatted from the details you enter and the details Crossref returns. Fixed rules do the formatting, without AI. Check every citation against the source and against the style your competition or school requires.

• The Coach asks questions and points out gaps. It will not write your research question, hypothesis, abstract or citations. It is not a teacher, a counselor or a therapist. It does not give medical, mental-health or legal advice. If you feel unsafe or think about hurting yourself, talk to a trusted adult today. In an emergency, call 911. In the US and Canada you can call or text 988 at any time. If you type something that reads as distress, the Coach shows a fixed message with these numbers; the exchange stays in your AI-use log and is left out of the disclosure and logbook exports.

6. The free project and paid plans

6.1 The free project

Methodux is free to start. The free plan gives you one project for each school year, with every feature in this version. You do not need a payment method.

A school year runs from 1 August to 31 July, in your time zone. Making a project uses that school year's free project. Deleting the project does not give it back. Another project in the same school year needs a paid plan.

To decide which school year it is, the app uses a trusted time source (Apple's iCloud, when the app can reach it) and not only your device's clock. The app also keeps a small record of which school year's free project you used, in your iCloud and on your device. The record holds the school year and a project ID. It holds no project content. Deleting and reinstalling the app does not reset it. The privacy policy has details. Do not try to get around the limit, for example by changing your device's clock or by tampering with the app's records.

6.2 When the school year ends

On 1 August at 12:00 a.m. in your time zone, a free project from the last school year becomes read-only, unless you have an active paid plan.

• A read-only project stays readable, and you can still export it.

• In a read-only project you cannot edit, add evidence, import files or use the Coach. You can still add entries and notes to the AI-use log.

• The app stops scheduling reminders for a read-only project. A reminder that was already scheduled can still appear until you next open the app.

In the new school year you can start a new project. If that school year's free project is not used yet, the new project takes it.

Without an active paid plan, you can edit one project at most: the current school year's free project. Your other projects are read-only. If more than one of your projects could be this school year's free project, the app asks you to choose one. You cannot change that choice later. To edit the others again, you need a paid plan.

6.3 When the app cannot check

If the app cannot confirm your plan or the school year, it does not block you. This can happen when you are offline the first time you open it, or when iCloud or the App Store does not answer. A project that the app already knows was an earlier school year's free project stays read-only. The app applies the rules when it can check again.

6.4 Paid plans

A paid plan lets you edit all your projects and make new ones. The plans are auto-renewing subscriptions in one subscription group:

Plans 

Monthly

       Individual - $4.99

       Family - $8.99 (up to six family members via Family Sharing)

Annual

        Individual - $29.99

        Family - $49.99 (up to six family members via Family Sharing)

The App Store and the Plans screen call the individual plans Monthly and Annual, and the family plans Family Monthly and Family Annual. These are US prices at launch. Methodux 1.0 is offered in the United States and Canada, and the Plans screen shows the App Store's price for your country. Apple shows the price, with any tax, before you confirm. The price Apple shows when you buy is the price you pay.

There is no free trial and no introductory offer. The free project is not a trial.

6.5 Apple handles billing

Apple sells and bills these plans, under Apple's terms and your Apple Account. Apple, not we, handles payment, renewal, cancellation, refunds, Ask to Buy and Family Sharing. We cannot see your payment details, cancel a plan for you or give you a refund. The app checks your plan on your device, with Apple's StoreKit. It has no server of ours.

• Plans renew automatically until you cancel.

• Your Apple Account is charged when you confirm the purchase, and again at each renewal.

• To cancel, do it at least 24 hours before the renewal date. On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings, tap your name, then tap Subscriptions.

• Deleting the app does not cancel a plan.

• To ask for a refund, go to Apple, for example at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple decides.

• If a parent or guardian uses Ask to Buy, Apple holds the purchase until they approve it.

• If Apple changes a price, Apple tells you, under Apple's rules.

Methodux treats a plan as active only while the App Store reports it as active. There is no grace period. If a renewal payment fails, your access can end when the paid period ends, and it returns when Apple collects payment. A refunded or revoked purchase ends the plan.

In the app, you can restore purchases from the Plans screen and from Settings. Settings in the app also has a link to manage your subscription.

6.6 Family plans and Family Sharing

The family plans can be shared through Apple's Family Sharing, with up to six family members. Apple sets up the family group and decides who is in it. The individual plans cannot be shared.

A person has the family plan only while Apple reports that they have access through Family Sharing. If they leave the group, or the plan is canceled or ends, they lose it.

Sharing a plan does not share projects. Each person's projects stay on their own devices and in their own iCloud.

7. Age

Methodux is made for high-school students. It is not directed at children under 13, and it is not in the App Store's Kids category. We answered Apple's age-rating questionnaire truthfully, and then chose a higher rating on purpose: 9+. The 9+ rating does not change this. These terms set no minimum age.

Apple's rules decide who can have an Apple Account and buy a subscription. If you are under 18, or under the age of majority where you live, ask a parent or guardian before you buy. A parent or guardian who manages the Apple Account is responsible for purchases made with it.

If you are under 18, or under the age of majority where you live, read these terms with a parent or guardian. When they let you use Methodux, they agree to these terms for you. 

8. Your work, your data and your backups

Your work is yours. Methodux has no accounts and no server of ours. We do not receive your projects, and we do not collect technical data from your device through Methodux. So we do not need a license to your content, and these terms do not give us one.

Your projects are stored on your device. If iCloud is on, they also sync to your own iCloud private database. Apple runs iCloud. Sync can be late or fail, and you need enough iCloud storage. Without iCloud the app works on one device and does not sync.

Back up your work. Export your project and keep the copies somewhere safe. The app also saves a weekly backup of each active project in its folder in the Files app, and keeps the newest four. Deleting the app removes them.

Because we do not hold your data, we cannot recover it. Deleting a project, deleting the app, changing your iCloud settings or losing a device can make your work hard or impossible to get back.

If you email us, the privacy policy explains how we handle it.

9. Acceptable use

Use Methodux lawfully, honestly and fairly. Do not:

• break the law or anyone's rights;

• use Methodux, its exports or its AI-use log to misrepresent your work, your activities or your use of AI to a school, a competition or anyone else;

• try to get around plan limits, purchase checks or the free-project limit, for example by changing your device's clock or by tampering with the app's records;

• interfere with the app, with Apple's services or with the services the app connects to, or send them automated or excessive requests;

• reverse engineer, copy or resell the app, except as Apple's EULA and the law allow;

• put other people's private information in the app without their permission.

When you add a link, import a file or save a page from Safari, the content belongs to its owner. You are responsible for having the right to save, use and share it, and for citing it. Methodux stores what you tell it to store. It does not review it.

10. Other services and links

Methodux works with services we do not run:

• Apple. iCloud, the App Store, StoreKit and Family Sharing work under Apple's terms.

• Crossref. When you add a source by its DOI, or import a file that contains a DOI, the app may look the DOI up on Crossref. The details it returns can be incomplete or wrong. The privacy policy has details.

• Websites. Links open in Safari. We do not control other websites.

We are not responsible for these services or websites, for their content, accuracy or availability, or for changes to them.

11. Our rights

Methodux, its templates, its text and its design belong to DF Venture Experts LLC or its licensors. Your license to use the app comes from Apple's EULA. Names of competitions and organizations belong to their owners.

If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them without owing you anything.

Copyright notices. If you believe that something we provide in Methodux, such as a template or its text, infringes your copyright, send a notice to our copyright agent. Until our agent is registered with the US Copyright Office, send notices to support@methodux.app. Your notice should include:

• your name, postal address, phone number and email address;

• the work you say is infringed;

• where the material is in Methodux, in enough detail for us to find it;

• a statement that you believe in good faith that the owner, its agent or the law has not allowed the use;

• a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner or are allowed to act for the owner;

• your physical or electronic signature.

We do not see or store what you put in Methodux. It stays on your device and in your iCloud, so a notice can cover only what we provide. 

12. No warranty, limits on our liability, and indemnity

Methodux is provided "as is" and "as available." To the extent the law allows, we do not promise that:

• the dates, rules, templates, source details or citations in Methodux are correct, complete or current;

• you will meet a deadline, qualify, be accepted or place;

• the app will work without interruption or errors, or that sync and backups will work;

• your data will not be lost.

To the extent the law allows, we disclaim all other warranties, including the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. 

Limit of liability. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost opportunities, placements, awards, scholarships, grades, data or profits, that come from your use of Methodux. Our total liability to you for any claim about Methodux is limited to the greater of what you paid for Methodux through Apple in the 12 months before the claim and US$50. 

Indemnity. To the extent the law allows, if someone else makes a claim against us because you broke these terms or the law, or because of content you put in Methodux or shared from it, you agree to cover our reasonable losses and costs from that claim, including reasonable lawyers' fees. This does not apply to any part of a claim that we caused. This does not cover a claim that Methodux itself infringes someone's rights. We handle those, as Apple's EULA says. We will tell you about the claim promptly, and you can take part in the defense. We will not settle a claim in a way that makes you admit fault or pay, without your agreement. If you are under 18, or under the age of majority where you live, this paragraph does not apply to you. 

Nothing in these terms limits liability that the law does not allow us to limit. Some places do not allow some of these limits, so they may not apply to you. Nothing in these terms takes away rights you have under Apple's EULA, or rights that consumer law gives you and that cannot be waived.

13. Changes, and ending your use

You can stop using Methodux at any time. Delete the app. Cancel any subscription separately, as section 6.5 explains.

We may change, add or remove features, or stop offering Methodux or a plan.

We may update these terms. The current version is at https://www.dfventureexperts.com/methodux, with its effective date. If you keep using Methodux after an update, you accept the update. An update does not change the price of a subscription you already have. Apple handles that.

14. Governing law and disputes

14.1 Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas and by applicable US federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. A dispute that section 14.2 does not send to arbitration, other than a small claims case, goes to the courts in Denton County, Texas, unless the law gives you the right to go elsewhere. This does not limit rights you have under consumer laws where you live that cannot be waived, or rights the law gives you as a minor. 

14.2 Arbitration

Please read this section carefully. It changes how you and we resolve disputes. It includes a waiver of class actions (section 14.3) and of jury trials (section 14.4).

• Talk to us first. If you have a dispute with us about Methodux or these terms, email support@methodux.app first. Tell us what happened and what you want. We will try to solve it with you. If it is not solved within 60 days, either of us may start arbitration.

• Arbitration instead of court. Except as this section says, you and we agree to resolve any dispute about Methodux or these terms by binding arbitration, not in court. An arbitrator decides instead of a judge or a jury, and a court can review the decision only in limited ways. The arbitrator can give you the same individual relief that a court could.

• Rules and place. The American Arbitration Association (AAA) runs the arbitration under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The Federal Arbitration Act applies to this section. The hearing can be held by video or phone, on written submissions, or in the county where you live.

• Fees. You pay no more of the fees than the AAA's Consumer Arbitration Rules allow. We pay the rest of the AAA's and the arbitrator's fees.

• What stays in court. Either of us may bring an individual claim in a small claims court in the county where you live, or in the Texas county named in section 14.1, if the claim qualifies. Either of us may ask a court to stop the misuse of copyrights, trademarks or other intellectual property.

• Opting out. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days after you first accept these terms. Email support@methodux.app with the subject "Arbitration opt-out" and say that you opt out. If you opt out, sections 14.2 and 14.3 do not apply to you, and a dispute goes to court under section 14.1.

• If we change this section. A change to section 14 does not apply to a dispute that started, or that you told us about, before the change. You can reject a change to section 14 by emailing support@methodux.app within 30 days after it takes effect. The earlier version then keeps applying to you. 

• Where it does not apply. If the law where you live does not allow a consumer to agree to arbitration before a dispute, this section does not apply to you.

14.3 No class actions

To the extent the law allows, you and we each bring claims only for ourselves, and not as a plaintiff or class member in a class, collective or representative action. An arbitrator may not combine the claims of more than one person, or give relief to anyone other than the person who brings the claim. If a court decides that this section cannot be enforced for a claim, that claim goes to court and not to arbitration. 

14.4 No jury trial

If a dispute goes to court, you and we each give up the right to a trial by jury, to the extent the law allows. A judge decides the dispute.

15. General

Apple's EULA and these terms are the whole agreement between you and us about Methodux. If a part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest stays in force. If we do not enforce a part, we have not given it up. We may transfer these terms to a successor to our business. You may not transfer your rights under these terms.

16. Contact

DF Venture Experts LLC

• Email: support@methodux.app

• Web: https://www.dfventureexperts.com/methodux