Legal

Terms of Use

Last updated: September 25, 2026 — operated by Ilya Litau, contact [email protected]

These Terms of Use ("Terms") govern your use of the Lilu iOS app and lilu.litau.app (together, "Lilu" or "the Service"), operated by Ilya Litau ("we," "us," "our"). By downloading, installing, or using Lilu, you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the app.

1. What Lilu is

Lilu is a feed of short, real-world Mandarin Chinese video clips with a word-by-word synchronized transcript, tap-to-translate word lookups, a personal vocabulary list you build by saving words, and spaced repetition review — built to help you understand spoken Chinese the way people actually speak it.

2. App Store version

The Lilu iOS app on the App Store is published by Sergey Litau. Purchases made inside the iOS app — subscriptions and one-time purchases — are sold and billed by Apple through the App Store, and Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement (Standard EULA) applies to them. Refunds for purchases made inside the iOS app are handled by Apple, not by us — request one at reportaproblem.apple.com, or on your iPhone in Settings → your name → Media & Purchases → View Account.

Subscriptions and auto-renewal

The iOS app offers auto-renewable subscriptions and a one-time, non-consumable lifetime purchase. The price and billing period are shown on the purchase screen before you confirm. If Apple offers an introductory offer, its terms are shown before you buy. Payment is charged to your Apple ID when you confirm the purchase. A subscription renews automatically for the same period and price unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your Apple ID is charged for the renewal within the 24 hours before the current period ends.

How to cancel

Subscriptions are managed by Apple. To cancel or check your renewal date: open Settings on your iPhone → tap your name → Subscriptions → Lilu, and turn off auto-renew. (On older iOS versions: open the App Store app → your profile icon → Subscriptions.) Canceling stops the next renewal; it does not refund the current period, and you keep access until that period ends. We cannot cancel a subscription on your behalf — only Apple's own subscription management can.

Lifetime purchase

The lifetime purchase is a one-time, non-consumable purchase, not a subscription: it does not renew and there is nothing to cancel. It can be restored on any device signed in to the same Apple ID with the app's Restore Purchases option.

3. Purchases on this website

Our order process is conducted by our online reseller Paddle.com. Paddle.com is the Merchant of Record for all our orders. Paddle provides all customer service inquiries and handles returns.

This section applies only to purchases made on lilu.litau.app, not to purchases inside the iOS app (see §2). Website purchases are also subject to the Paddle Buyer Terms and Conditions and to the refund policy published on this website.

4. YouTube content, and what your payment actually pays for

We do not charge for, or sell access to, YouTube videos — they remain freely available on YouTube itself, to anyone, with or without Lilu. What your payment pays for is the learning layer we build around each clip: the synchronized, word-by-word transcript, tap-to-translate word lookups, your personal vocabulary list, spaced repetition review, and your learning plan. The transcript is made by automatic speech recognition run on the clip's audio. We keep only the resulting text and its timings; the audio itself is not stored or distributed. Transcripts can contain errors — see §7.

Your use of any embedded YouTube video is also governed by the YouTube Terms of Service.

5. Reporting a clip

Every clip has a Report option in the app. Using it sends the clip and your reason directly to [email protected] — we read every report and remove clips that shouldn't be in the catalog. You can also write to us directly with a link or a description.

6. Acceptable use

Lilu is for your own personal, non-commercial language learning. You agree not to:

• reverse-engineer, scrape, or bulk-extract the app's transcripts or catalog;
• attempt to bypass the paywall or any copy-protection of the app or its content;
• use the app in any way that violates YouTube's Terms of Service; or
• resell, sublicense, or redistribute access to Lilu or its content.

7. Content accuracy

Transcripts, translations, and pinyin in Lilu are produced with a mix of automatic speech recognition and human review, for the purpose of helping you learn spoken Chinese — they are a learning aid, not a certified or professional translation, and may occasionally contain errors or gaps. Don't rely on Lilu for anything where translation accuracy carries legal, medical, financial, or safety consequences.

8. Educational purpose, not a substitute

Lilu is designed to build listening comprehension and vocabulary through exposure to real spoken Chinese. It does not replace a teacher, a certified course, or a language proficiency exam, and we make no promise about how quickly you will reach any particular level.

9. Intellectual property

The Lilu app itself — its design, code, and the transcript-and-translation system we build around each clip — belongs to Ilya Litau. The video clips themselves belong to their original YouTube creators, as described in §4. Using Lilu gives you a personal, non-transferable license to use the app for its intended purpose; nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of anything to you.

10. Disclaimer of warranties

Lilu is provided "as is" and "as available." We don't guarantee it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or available forever — video availability on YouTube in particular is outside our control, and a clip can be removed or blocked by its owner or by YouTube at any time. To the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, about the Service.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of Lilu. Our total liability for any claim related to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim.

12. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms as the app changes. We'll update the date at the top of this page and, for material changes, the app's release notes.

13. Governing entity and contact

Lilu is a sole proprietorship operated by Ilya Litau. For anything about these Terms, write to [email protected].