1. Agreement to these terms
These Terms of Use (“Terms”) are an agreement between Mohamed Hegab, an individual developer (“we,” “us,” or “the Developer”), and the adult who downloads, installs, or uses Small Pause (“you”). Small Pause is designed for a young child to use only after a parent or legal guardian has completed the grown-up setup.
By downloading or using Small Pause, you confirm that you are legally able to agree to these Terms for yourself and authorize the child’s use. If you do not agree, do not use the app.
2. What Small Pause provides
Small Pause provides timed, Montessori-inspired digital activities with calm animation, optional spoken prompts, gentle sounds, and haptics. It includes parent controls, a parent gate, and guidance for using Apple Guided Access.
All included story worlds and activities are currently provided without ads, purchases, trials, or subscriptions. No account is required.
3. Grown-up responsibility
You are responsible for:
- deciding whether Small Pause is appropriate for the individual child;
- choosing the session length and activity set;
- configuring the device, volume, display, and accessibility settings;
- protecting any parent PIN;
- deciding whether to enable Guided Access and confirming it is active before hand-off;
- providing supervision appropriate to the child, environment, and device; and
- ending the session when continued screen use is not appropriate.
Small Pause is intended to offer a brief pause for a grown-up. It is not a substitute for attentive caregiving, supervision, childcare, a babysitter, or a safety-monitoring service. Do not leave a child in an unsafe environment because the app is running.
4. Guided Access and parent gates
Guided Access is an Apple system feature, not a Small Pause feature. A normal App Store app cannot turn on or guarantee Guided Access. Small Pause can explain the setup and read the system’s active-status signal, but a grown-up must enable, configure, start, pause, and end Guided Access.
The Small Pause parent gate is an additional in-app control. It does not block iOS system gestures, hardware buttons, notifications, device shutdown, accessibility shortcuts, operating-system behavior, or every possible route out of the app. A randomized adult math challenge or optional parent-created PIN is intended to reduce accidental child access; it is not high-security access control.
You are responsible for testing the hand-off on the device you use. Guided Access may affect access to emergency features; review Apple’s current instructions before enabling it.
5. Wellness and safety disclaimer
Breathing visuals, sensory play, calming language, and quiet sounds are recreational activities. Small Pause does not provide medical advice, mental-health advice, occupational therapy, diagnosis, treatment, developmental assessment, or emergency assistance.
Do not rely on the app to address a medical, developmental, behavioral, sensory, or sleep concern. Seek advice from an appropriately qualified professional when needed. Stop using the app if the child appears uncomfortable, distressed, dizzy, overstimulated, or unwell.
Follow device-manufacturer guidance for safe handling, charging, sound levels, viewing distance, and screen time. Keep cables, accessories, and damaged devices away from children.
6. Limited license
Subject to these Terms and Apple’s applicable usage rules, we grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to install and use Small Pause on Apple-branded devices you own or control for personal, non-commercial family use.
Small Pause is licensed, not sold. Except where applicable law does not allow a restriction, you may not:
- copy, distribute, rent, lease, sell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the app;
- reverse engineer, decompile, attempt to extract source code, or bypass technical protections;
- modify the app or create derivative works from its protected content;
- use the app unlawfully or in a way that harms the app, another person, or a device; or
- misrepresent ownership of the app, characters, illustrations, sounds, name, or other content.
7. Ownership
The app and its original software, characters, illustrations, animation, text, audio, designs, trademarks, and other content are owned by or licensed to the Developer and are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. These Terms do not transfer ownership to you.
Apple, iPhone, iPad, and Guided Access are trademarks or features of Apple Inc. Small Pause is not sponsored or endorsed by Apple.
8. Privacy
Our Privacy Policy explains how Small Pause is designed without child-data collection, advertising, tracking, or third-party analytics and describes the limited information that may be handled when a grown-up contacts support or visits the legal website. The Privacy Policy forms part of these Terms.
9. Availability, updates, and compatibility
We may improve, update, replace, suspend, or discontinue part or all of Small Pause. Features may vary by device model, operating-system version, language, region, accessibility configuration, or Apple service availability.
We do not promise that the app will always be uninterrupted or error-free. You are responsible for maintaining a supported device, installing appropriate updates, and backing up the device as you consider necessary.
10. Apple and third-party terms
Your use of the App Store and Apple devices is governed by your agreements with Apple. These Terms supplement the Apple Standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement where it applies. If a provision conflicts with mandatory Apple terms, the mandatory Apple term controls to the extent of the conflict.
Apple is not responsible for providing maintenance or support for Small Pause except as required by law. Apple has no obligation to investigate or settle claims relating to the app beyond obligations that cannot legally be excluded.
11. Disclaimer of warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Small Pause is provided “as is” and “as available.” We disclaim implied warranties and conditions, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, quiet enjoyment, accuracy, and non-infringement.
We do not warrant that Small Pause will hold a child’s attention for any duration, create a particular calming or educational result, prevent access to other apps or device functions, or be suitable for every child. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain warranty exclusions, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
12. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Developer and its contributors will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or loss of data, use, opportunity, goodwill, or profits arising from Small Pause.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot legally be excluded, including liability for fraud, willful misconduct, or injury caused by negligence where applicable law prohibits that limitation. Consumer rights that cannot be waived remain unaffected.
13. Ending use
You may end these Terms at any time by stopping use and deleting Small Pause. Your license ends automatically if you materially violate these Terms. Provisions that by their nature should continue—such as ownership, disclaimers, limitations, and governing law—survive termination.
14. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by applicable law, without requiring you to give up mandatory consumer protections available where you live. Nothing in these Terms selects a location that overrides rights that cannot legally be waived.
Before starting a formal claim, please contact us and provide a reasonable opportunity to resolve the concern informally. Nothing here limits a consumer’s right to use a regulator, consumer-protection body, small-claims process, or court when that right cannot be waived.
15. Changes to these terms
We may update these Terms to reflect app, legal, or operational changes. We will post the revised terms, update the effective date, and provide additional notice where required. Continued use after an update takes effect means acceptance only to the extent permitted by applicable law.
16. Contact the Developer
Questions about Small Pause or these Terms can be sent by a grown-up to: