Lou

Effective: October 27, 2026

Lou Terms of Service

These Terms govern your use of Lou, a podcast player with AI-powered detection and skipping of ads and other segments. By creating an account, continuing through Lou's welcome screen, or using the service, you agree to these Terms.

Who may use Lou

You must be at least 13 years old to use Lou. If the law where you live requires a higher minimum age or parental consent, you must satisfy that requirement. You may use Lou only if you can legally enter into these Terms.

The service

Lou lets you find, follow, import, export, download, and play podcasts, including shows you add by their feed link; save listening activity and preferences; and request automated detection and skipping of ad breaks and other segments. Features may change as the service is developed, and some features depend on your device, network, podcast publisher, or third-party services.

Accounts

Lou may create a guest account after you accept the welcome notice. You can later add a sign-in method to back up that account. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping your credentials and verification codes secure. Tell us promptly at support@withlou.co if you believe someone has accessed your account without permission.

You can delete a guest or backed-up account in Settings. Deletion is subject to the limited retention described in the Privacy Policy.

Free listening and Lou Plus

In versions that offer Lou Plus, the free plan includes automatic ad skipping on 10 episodes per 30-day cycle. A cycle starts when an episode first counts toward the allowance. An episode counts after an automatic ad skip that was not undone within 30 seconds, once you finish the episode or reach at least halfway through it. Scanning, ordinary playback and Tap to skip remain available after the allowance. Lou may provide courtesy skips.

Lou Plus adds unlimited automatic ad skipping, controls for other segment kinds, per-show skipping settings and expanded Scan ahead. Lou Plus is an optional auto-renewing monthly subscription. The US price is $4.99 per month; the App Store price shown before purchase applies, including any applicable local pricing and taxes. No free trial is included at launch.

Payment is charged to your Apple Account when you confirm the purchase. Your subscription renews each month unless you cancel in your Apple Account settings at least 24 hours before renewal. Manage or cancel it in iOS Settings > your name > Subscriptions, or use Manage subscription in Lou. Cancellation stops future renewals; access normally continues through the paid period. Deleting Lou or your Lou account does not cancel the Apple subscription. Refund requests are handled by Apple at https://reportaproblem.apple.com, subject to Apple's policies and applicable law. Restore purchases in Lou if you need to recover a purchase.

If you receive a complimentary Plus grant, it is not a paid subscription and does not renew or charge you. Back up a guest account with an email or Apple sign-in before reinstalling or changing phones to keep access tied to that account.

Scans and information you provide

When you ask Lou to scan an episode, the app transcribes the audio on your device and sends the transcript text, audio fingerprints, and the scan request to Lou. The audio itself stays on your device. You keep any rights you have in information you provide to Lou. To operate the service, you give Lou a limited, worldwide, non-exclusive license to host, copy, transmit, process, and analyze that information, including the transcript text and fingerprints your device produces from episodes you ask Lou to scan, and to share the transcript text with the classification provider named in the Privacy Policy. This license is only for providing, securing, maintaining, and improving Lou, and ends when the material is no longer needed for those purposes, subject to normal backup, security, and legal retention.

You may direct Lou to scan an episode only when you have the right to play it. Do not submit unlawful, infringing, malicious, or privacy-violating material. Lou may remove material or restrict processing when reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect the service, or respect third-party rights.

Feed links you add

You can add a show by its feed link or import feed links from a file. Some feed links are private: a membership or subscription service gives each member a link that works like a password. If you add a private feed link, you must have the right to use it under the terms of the service that issued it, and you are responsible for keeping it private, including in any file you export from Lou that contains it. Lou uses the link only to fetch that feed for you, as described in the Privacy Policy. Lou is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Patreon or any other podcast host or membership service, and your access to a private feed is between you and the service that issued it.

Acceptable use

You may not:

  • use Lou in violation of law or another person's rights;
  • interfere with, overload, probe, or bypass Lou's security or usage limits;
  • use automated means to scrape or access Lou except through interfaces we provide;
  • introduce malware or attempt unauthorized access to accounts, systems, or data;
  • resell or commercially exploit the service without our written permission.

Podcasts and third-party services

Podcast feeds, artwork, descriptions, and audio are provided by publishers and other third parties, not by Lou. Their terms may apply to your access and use. Lou does not control or endorse that content and is not responsible for its availability, accuracy, or legality. Publishers may change or remove content at any time.

Automated results

Segment detection is automated and may miss ads or other segments, label audio as the wrong kind, or place skip boundaries incorrectly. You can turn automatic skipping off in Settings. Lou does not guarantee that any episode will be scanned or that results will be complete or accurate.

Lou's rights

Lou and its software, design, branding, and service features are protected by intellectual-property laws. Except for the limited right to use the service under these Terms and Apple's applicable license agreement, no rights are transferred to you. Feedback may be used without restriction or compensation to you.

App Store license

If you download Lou from Apple's App Store, your license to the app is also governed by Apple's Standard End User License Agreement. These Terms govern Lou's services and supplement that license.

Suspension and termination

You may stop using Lou and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate access if you materially breach these Terms, create risk or legal exposure, or threaten the security or operation of Lou. When practical, we will give notice and an opportunity to address the issue.

Service changes

Lou may add, change, suspend, or discontinue features. We will try to provide reasonable notice before a material change that substantially reduces the service, but Lou may act immediately for security, legal, or operational reasons.

Disclaimers

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Lou is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation, preservation of data, or the accuracy of podcast metadata or automated results. Nothing in these Terms limits rights that cannot lawfully be waived.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Lou will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business interruption arising from the service. Lou's total liability for all claims relating to the service will not exceed the greater of the amount you paid Lou in the 12 months before the claim or $50. These limits do not apply where prohibited by law.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of California, excluding its conflict-of-laws rules. Courts located in California will have jurisdiction, except where the law where you live gives you the right to bring a claim elsewhere or requires different governing law. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as Lou changes. We will update the effective date and provide additional notice when a change is material. Your continued use after the updated Terms take effect means you accept them; if you do not agree, stop using Lou and delete your account.

Contact

Questions about these Terms can be sent to support@withlou.co or through Lou Support.