The agreement between you and Podforge Ltd when you use Volumes.
These Terms and Conditions (the "Terms") govern your use of the Volumes mobile application (the "App"), which is operated by Podforge Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (the "Company", "we", "our" or "us").
By downloading, installing, accessing or using the App, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree with any part of these Terms, you must not use the App.
We recommend that you read these Terms carefully before using the App. You should also read our Privacy Policy, which sets out how we collect and use your personal data. The Privacy Policy is a separate document and forms part of the agreement between you and us.
These Terms were last updated on the effective date shown above. We may update these Terms from time to time in accordance with Section 19.
Company name: Podforge Ltd
Registered in: England and Wales
Contact email: support@podforge.co.uk
Podforge Ltd develops and publishes the Volumes application, a reading environment designed to help users read more effectively by measuring both reading speed and comprehension.
In these Terms, the following words have the meanings set out below:
"App" means the Volumes mobile application, including all updates and new versions.
"Content" means any text, data, documents or other material available through the App, including Curated Content and User Content.
"Curated Content" means the reading texts provided by us within the App, including public domain works with hand-crafted comprehension questions.
"eWPM" means effective words per minute, calculated as reading speed multiplied by comprehension score, expressed as a percentage.
"Free Tier" means the version of the App available to users at no charge, as described in Section 7.
"Premium Subscription" means the paid subscription service that provides additional features, as described in Section 7.
"The Circle" means the social reading feature of the App, available to users aged 18 and over.
"User Content" means any text, documents or other material that you import into the App for reading purposes.
"You" or "your" means the individual using the App.
The core reading features of the App are available to users of all ages. However, The Circle (our social reading feature) is restricted to users aged 18 and over. If you are under 18, you may use all other features of the App, but you will not be able to access The Circle.
If you are under 16, you should have the permission of a parent or guardian before creating an account.
To use certain features of the App, you will need to create an account using either an email address and password or a third-party authentication service (such as Google Sign-In). You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
You agree to provide accurate and complete information when creating your account and to update this information if it changes. You must notify us immediately if you become aware of any unauthorised use of your account.
You may only create one account per person. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that we reasonably believe are duplicates or have been created fraudulently.
Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to download, install and use the App on a device that you own or control, for your personal, non-commercial use.
This licence does not include the right to:
The App provides multiple reading modes, including RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation), Smart Chunking and Standard reading. These modes are designed to accommodate different reading preferences and needs, including those of neurodivergent readers. You may choose and switch between modes at any time.
The App includes a comprehension testing system that generates questions after reading sessions. These questions are generated using artificial intelligence (specifically, Anthropic's Claude API). The AI-generated questions are designed to measure your understanding of the material you have read.
Important: Comprehension questions are generated by AI and, while we take care to ensure their quality, they may occasionally contain inaccuracies, ambiguities or errors. The comprehension scores derived from these questions are intended as a personal reading tool and should not be relied upon as an authoritative assessment of your understanding of any material. They do not constitute educational certification, professional assessment or any form of accredited qualification.
Comprehension testing is always optional. You may skip any quiz without penalty, and the App will adapt to your preferences without pressure or guilt.
The App calculates effective words per minute (eWPM) as reading speed multiplied by comprehension score. This metric is central to the App's purpose and is designed to provide an honest measure of reading performance. Raw reading speed alone is never presented as the primary metric.
eWPM scores are personal performance indicators. They should not be compared between different users or across different types of reading material, as comprehension difficulty varies.
The App allows you to import content from various sources, including PDF files, web URLs and scanned text (via camera OCR). You are solely responsible for ensuring that you have the right to access and read any content you import into the App. We do not monitor, review or take responsibility for User Content.
The App includes Curated Content: public domain texts with hand-crafted comprehension questions, organised into reading pathways within The Reading Room. Curated Content is provided by us and forms part of the App's service. The underlying texts are in the public domain; the comprehension questions, thematic structure and editorial presentation are our original work.
The App includes accessibility features designed to support neurodivergent readers and users with visual or cognitive needs, including OpenDyslexic font support, Irlen-mode tinted overlays, adjustable reading speed, customisable display settings and gradual speed ramp-up after pauses. These features are provided as reading aids and are not medical devices or treatments. They do not constitute medical, therapeutic or educational advice.
The Free Tier provides access to the full reading engine (all three reading modes), AI comprehension testing, the first text in each curated reading pathway, accessibility features and basic reading statistics. Free Tier users will see non-intrusive advertising outside of reading mode.
Advertising is never displayed during active reading (that is, on any screen where text is displayed for consumption). This is a design commitment, not a temporary arrangement.
The Premium Subscription provides additional features, including: removal of all advertising, full access to all curated reading pathways, advanced analytics and cloud synchronisation. The specific features included in the Premium Subscription may change over time as we develop the App.
Premium Subscriptions are available in the following plans:
All subscription plans (except Lifetime) include a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. Prices are inclusive of VAT where applicable and may vary by region.
If you subscribe to the monthly or annual plan, you will receive a 7-day free trial. During the trial period you will have full access to Premium features at no charge. If you do not cancel before the end of the trial period, your subscription will automatically convert to a paid subscription and your chosen payment method will be charged at the applicable rate.
To avoid being charged, you must cancel before the trial period ends. You can cancel at any time through the Google Play Store subscription management settings on your device.
All payments for Premium Subscriptions are processed through Google Play Billing. By subscribing, you authorise Google to charge your chosen payment method at the applicable rate. We do not directly process or store your payment information.
Monthly and annual subscriptions renew automatically at the end of each billing period unless you cancel before the renewal date. You may be charged up to 24 hours before the start of the next billing period. The renewal price will be the same as the price you originally paid, unless we notify you of a price change in accordance with Section 8.5.
You may cancel your subscription at any time through the Google Play Store subscription management settings. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. You will continue to have access to Premium features until your current billing period expires. We do not provide partial refunds for unused portions of a billing period.
Cancelling your subscription does not delete your account or your data. You will revert to the Free Tier at the end of the billing period.
Refund requests are handled in accordance with Google Play's refund policies. You may also have statutory rights to a refund under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Nothing in these Terms affects your statutory rights.
We may change subscription prices from time to time. If we increase the price of your subscription, we will give you at least 30 days' notice before the new price takes effect. The increased price will apply from your next renewal date after the notice period. If you do not agree to the new price, you may cancel your subscription before the renewal date.
You retain all rights in any User Content that you import into the App. We do not claim any ownership interest in your User Content.
When you import content into the App, the text is processed locally on your device to enable the reading features (word tokenisation, display formatting and position tracking). If you choose to take a comprehension quiz, a portion of the text you have read (up to approximately 2,000 words) is sent to Anthropic's Claude API to generate comprehension questions. This is the only circumstance in which any part of your User Content leaves your device, and it occurs only when you initiate a comprehension quiz or when questions are pre-generated at the end of a reading session for assessment-eligible content.
We do not read, review, store, index or share your User Content beyond what is necessary to provide the reading and comprehension features you choose to use. We do not use your User Content for advertising, marketing, training AI models or any other purpose.
You are responsible for ensuring that any content you import into the App does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party. You must have the legal right to access and read any content you import. We accept no liability for any infringement arising from User Content.
The App, its design, source code, user interface, trade marks (including the VOLUMES word mark), logos and all original content (including comprehension questions, thematic structures, editorial presentation of Curated Content, and companion articles) are owned by Podforge Ltd and are protected by copyright, trade mark and other intellectual property laws.
Nothing in these Terms grants you any right in our intellectual property except the limited licence set out in Section 5.
The underlying texts in our Curated Content library are in the public domain. Our original contribution, including the comprehension questions, thematic structure, reading pathway design and editorial commentary, is the copyright of Podforge Ltd. You may not extract, reproduce or distribute our comprehension questions or pathway structures separately from the App.
The App may include content provided by third parties, such as texts available through The Bookshop (our partnership with Authors and Co). Such content is subject to the intellectual property rights of the relevant rights holders and any additional terms that may apply.
If you provide feedback, suggestions or ideas about the App (whether through the in-app feedback mechanism, email or any other channel), you grant us a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free licence to use that feedback for any purpose, including improving the App. This does not affect any personal data rights you may have under the UK GDPR.
You agree not to:
We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the App if we reasonably believe you have violated these terms of acceptable use.
The Circle is restricted to users aged 18 and over. This is a non-negotiable safety requirement. To access The Circle, you must verify your age by providing your date of birth. This date is stored locally on your device and is not transmitted to our servers. If you are under 18, you will not be able to access The Circle, but all other features of the App remain available to you.
The Circle allows you to join or create small reading groups (Text Circles and Book Groups) of up to 20 members. Communication within The Circle is text-only. There are no image uploads, voice messages, video, file sharing or external links. There are no private messages between users outside of a Circle context.
Within The Circle, you are identified by a reading name that you choose. Your reading name is visible to other members of Circles you join. Your profile may also include an optional reading biography, favourite genres and (if you choose to enable it) the title of the book you are currently reading.
Your reading performance metrics (eWPM, comprehension scores, reading speed) are never displayed on your profile or shared with other users. Your reading data remains private.
When using The Circle, you agree to comply with our Community Standards, which are available within the App. In summary, you agree to:
Circle creators act as moderators within their Circles. All users can report posts and block other users. We reserve the right to remove content, suspend social features for individual users, or close Circles that violate these Terms or the Community Standards. Our moderation decisions are at our reasonable discretion.
You retain ownership of the text you post in The Circle. By posting, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to display that content to other Circle members for the purpose of providing the social reading service. If you delete a post, it will be removed. If you delete your account, your posts will be anonymised (attributed to "Former member") to preserve discussion coherence.
Free Tier users will see advertising provided through Google AdMob. Advertising in Volumes is subject to the following constraints:
We use Google AdMob to serve advertisements. Google may use cookies and similar technologies to serve relevant advertisements. For details on how advertising data is collected and used, please refer to our Privacy Policy and Google's advertising privacy policies.
We believe in transparency about how the App works. The following features of the App use artificial intelligence:
AI-generated content (particularly comprehension questions) may contain inaccuracies, ambiguities or errors. We review and improve our AI prompts continuously, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy of every AI-generated output. Comprehension scores derived from AI-generated questions are personal reading tools and should not be treated as authoritative assessments.
We do not use AI to make automated decisions that produce legal effects or similarly significant effects on you. Comprehension scores do not affect your access to the App or its features.
For Curated Content, comprehension questions are hand-crafted by our editorial team rather than AI-generated. The App indicates which content uses curated questions and which uses AI-generated questions.
The App is a reading aid and performance tracking tool. It is not a medical device, therapeutic intervention, educational certification system or professional assessment tool. The reading techniques, accessibility features and comprehension measurements provided by the App are not substitutes for professional medical, educational or psychological advice.
If you have concerns about your reading ability, vision, cognitive function or learning needs, please consult a qualified professional.
We aim to make the App available at all times, but we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. The App may be temporarily unavailable due to maintenance, updates or circumstances beyond our control. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you of planned downtime where practicable.
The App relies on third-party services, including Google Play (for distribution and billing), Firebase (for authentication and cloud services), Anthropic (for AI question generation) and Google AdMob (for advertising). We are not responsible for the availability, performance or policies of these third-party services. Your use of these services is subject to their respective terms.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or any other applicable law that cannot be excluded or limited by contract. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the App (as digital content) must be of satisfactory quality, fit for a particular purpose and as described. If the App does not meet these standards, you may be entitled to a repair, replacement or price reduction.
Subject to Section 16.1, and to the fullest extent permitted by law:
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for:
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Podforge Ltd from any claims, losses, damages, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising from:
You may stop using the App at any time. You may delete your account through the Settings section of the App. If you have an active Premium Subscription, you must cancel it separately through the Google Play Store before deleting your account. Deleting your account does not entitle you to a refund of any subscription fees already paid.
We may suspend or terminate your access to the App, with or without notice, if:
On termination, your licence to use the App ceases immediately. We will delete your account data in accordance with our Privacy Policy. If you have data stored locally on your device, it will remain until you uninstall the App. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination will continue to apply, including Sections 10 (Intellectual Property), 16 (Limitation of Liability) and 17 (Indemnity).
We may update these Terms from time to time. When we make changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this document and notify you through the App (for example, via an in-app notification or a prompt to accept updated Terms).
For material changes that affect your rights or obligations, we will give you at least 30 days' notice before the changes take effect. If you do not agree with the updated Terms, you may stop using the App and cancel your subscription before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the App after the updated Terms take effect constitutes your acceptance of them.
We collect and process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which is a separate document. The Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, who we share it with and what rights you have.
Please read the Privacy Policy carefully. It forms part of the agreement between you and us.
These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising from these Terms or your use of the App shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. If you are a consumer, this does not affect any mandatory consumer protection rights that apply in the country where you reside.
These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any terms specific to your Premium Subscription, constitute the entire agreement between you and us in respect of your use of the App. They supersede all prior agreements, understandings and arrangements between us, whether written or oral.
If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, that provision shall be deemed severed from these Terms and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by us.
You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations under these Terms to a third party (for example, in connection with a sale or transfer of our business), provided that such transfer does not reduce the protection afforded to you under these Terms.
These Terms are between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms, whether under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 or otherwise.
We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performing our obligations under these Terms where such failure or delay results from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including (without limitation) natural disasters, pandemics, government actions, failure of third-party services, power outages or internet disruptions.
If you have any questions about these Terms, please contact us:
Email: support@podforge.co.uk
© Podforge Ltd 2026. All rights reserved.