Terms of Service

Version tos-v4.4 · Last updated October 4, 2026

1. What Grandkins is

Grandkins is a family app for video calls and messages that are translated live between languages. It includes one-to-one and group video calls, translated voice, video and text messages, a shared family room, Read together (reading a children's picture book together on a call), and a private family archive called Memories. It is operated by Webiske LLC (Louisville, Kentucky, USA). Grandkins is an app for iPhone and Android, and it also works in a web browser at app.grandkins.com. By creating a family, joining one, or otherwise using Grandkins, you agree to these Terms.

2. Your family, your account, and signing in

• The organizer. One adult starts the family and is its organizer. The organizer adds and removes members, decides who can call whom, and manages the plan, billing, privacy settings and deletion. You must be an adult to start a family.
• Signing in. The organizer signs in with an email address and a one-time 6-digit code we email to them. A password is optional. Keep access to your email safe — it is the key to your account.
• Confirming it's you. Before sensitive steps — adding a child under 13, downloading your family's data, billing, or deleting the family — we ask the organizer to confirm it's them again, with their password or with a fresh code sent to their email.
• Invite codes. The organizer invites each family member with a personal 6-letter code, sent by text, WhatsApp, or any other way. A code works once and expires after 7 days. The person who uses it joins your family on their own phone; they do not need an email address or a password. Send each code only to the person it is meant for. You are responsible for who you invite, and these Terms apply to everyone who uses Grandkins as part of your family.
• Guest links. Someone on a call can invite a guest by link. The guest joins that one call from a web browser, without the app. Anyone who has the link can use it while the call is going, so share it only with the person it is for.
• English screens. The app's screens, notifications and notices — including the notices about translation and Memories that each person sees before their first call — are in English. What is translated is what your family says to each other: calls and messages.

3. Children

Children cannot sign up for Grandkins themselves. A parent or legal guardian adds each child to the family. For a child under 13, the parent gives explicit parental consent and confirms it's them (with their password or a code we email them) (COPPA). A parent may send a child an invite code so the child can use Grandkins on their own device, inside the family only. The parent is responsible for the family's use of Grandkins and can review or delete a child's information at any time in Settings.

4. Live translation — what to expect

• Translation is done by artificial intelligence in real time. AI translation is very good, but it is not perfect — words can be missed, softened, or translated incorrectly, especially names, jokes, and regional phrases. Do not rely on it for medical, legal, financial, or safety-critical communication — for those, use a qualified human interpreter.
• The translated voice you hear is a synthetic (computer-made) voice. Normally it is a standard voice. If a person turns on "Sound like me" themselves, the translation of their words is made to sound like their voice, and the people listening are shown that it is. We never make a voice sound like someone without that person's own yes, and they can turn it off at any time in Settings. "Hear their real voice" plays the speaker's own recording, not an imitation.

5. Not for emergencies

Grandkins is not a phone service and cannot be used to call 911 or any other emergency service. Always keep a phone or another way to reach emergency services.

6. Calls, Memories, and messages

• Calls are not recorded. Live audio is processed in the moment to translate it. The written words of a call (a transcript) are kept in your family's Memories, and a short video moment is kept only when someone on the call chooses to save one. Everyone is told this in a notice before their first call and again when they join a call, and joining means they agree. Anyone on a call can turn Memories off, and then nothing from that call is saved. If someone on the call has not agreed, nothing is saved.
• Messages. Voice, video, text and photo messages, and posts in the family room, are stored in your family's private archive together with their translations. For voice and video messages we keep the original recording, so your family can hear the real voice.
• Who sees it. Your family's archive is visible only inside your family. The organizer can delete any call from Memories.
• Answering calls automatically. The organizer, or the person themselves, can turn on "Answer calls automatically" for a family member. When it is on and the app is open, a family call connects by itself after a 10-second countdown, as if they had tapped Answer. Turn it on for someone else only with their agreement. Each person can always turn it off for themselves.
• Read together. The picture books in Read together come from StoryWeaver by Pratham Books and are shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. We do not own them; each book keeps its own credits. A book's words are shown in each person's language only where that book has been published in that language.
• You are responsible for making sure your family members are comfortable with the features you use, and for complying with any recording-consent laws that apply to you.

7. Your content

Your family's moments, messages, and transcripts belong to you. You give us only the permission we need to run Grandkins for you — to transmit, translate, transcribe, store, and show your content to the family members you choose. We never use your family's content to train AI models, and we never use it for advertising.

8. Plans, translation minutes, and billing

• Free trial. A new family gets a free trial of 14 days, which includes up to 60 translated minutes. When the trial ends, you need a plan to start new calls and send new messages.
• Translated minutes. Each plan includes a number of translated minutes each month, shared by the whole family. Calls and voice and video messages use the same minutes. A call uses minutes only while translation is on and at least two people are connected, counted once for the call (not once per person) and by the second. A translated voice or video message uses its length. Calls and messages without translation do not use minutes. Unused monthly minutes do not carry over to the next month. Current plans, prices and minutes are shown in the app and at grandkins.com.
• Running out. If a call had minutes left when it started, it keeps translating for up to 15 more minutes at no extra charge. After that, and for calls that start with no minutes left, you can still see and hear each other, but without translation. A message sent with no minutes left is delivered without translation. The organizer is warned when minutes run low.
• Top-ups. You can buy extra minutes as a one-time purchase. Top-up minutes are used only after the month's plan minutes run out, the ones that expire soonest first, and they expire 12 months after purchase. Top-up minutes you have already bought keep working even if your plan ends.
• Founding period. Families who join during our founding period use Grandkins free, without a minute limit, until the founding period ends. Usage is still counted and shown to the organizer. Nothing is charged unless the organizer chooses a plan.
• Where you pay. In the iPhone and Android apps, plans and top-ups are bought through Apple's App Store or Google Play and billed to your store account under their terms; we use RevenueCat to keep track of those purchases. On the web, payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your card number.
• Renewal. Plans renew automatically (monthly or yearly, as you chose) until you cancel. You confirm the renewal terms when you buy. For yearly plans, we email you a reminder 15–45 days before each renewal, with the renewal date, the price, and how to cancel.
• Cancelling. If you bought in the app, cancel in your App Store or Google Play subscription settings. If you bought on the web, cancel in Settings → Plan → Manage billing. Your plan then runs to the end of the period you already paid for.
• Refunds. Refunds for App Store and Google Play purchases are handled by Apple and Google under their policies. Web payments are non-refundable, and we do not give partial-period refunds, except where the law requires otherwise.
• Your archive is never locked. Everything already saved stays available to your family even if your trial or plan ends.

9. Acceptable use

Use Grandkins only for lawful, personal, family use. Don't harass, impersonate, or harm others; don't try to break, probe, or overload the service; don't access other families' data; don't resell access or share your plan outside your family; don't use Grandkins to violate recording or privacy laws.

10. Ending things

• Nothing auto-deletes. The organizer can delete the entire family in Settings (type the family name, then confirm it's you); after a 7-day grace period all data — saved moments, transcripts, messages, everything — is permanently erased.
• Any other member can delete their own account in Settings at any time. Their sign-in, photo, messages and posts, and their words in saved call transcripts are erased straight away. The rest of the family's conversations stay, and consent records are kept without their name as a legal record.
• We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or the law. If we ever discontinue Grandkins, we will give you notice and time to export your archive.

11. Service quality

Call and translation quality depend on things partly outside our control — your internet connection, your device, and our AI providers. We work hard on reliability but do not promise uninterrupted or error-free service.

12. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

GRANDKINS IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ACCURACY OF TRANSLATION. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, WEBISKE LLC WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOSSES ARISING FROM TRANSLATION ERRORS, AND OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE SERVICE IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF $100 OR THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you.

13. Changes to these Terms

If we make material changes, we will give you reasonable advance notice (for example by email or in the app) and the opportunity to review them before they take effect. Price changes are announced at least 30 days in advance and never apply retroactively to a period you already paid for. Continuing to use Grandkins after changes take effect means you accept them.

14. Resolving disputes — talk to us first

Before starting any formal dispute, email hello@grandkins.com with your name, a description of the issue, and what you'd like us to do. We'll try to resolve it within 60 days — most issues never need to go further.

15. Arbitration and class-action waiver

IF WE CAN'T RESOLVE A DISPUTE INFORMALLY, YOU AND WEBISKE LLC AGREE TO RESOLVE IT THROUGH BINDING INDIVIDUAL ARBITRATION administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, rather than in court, except that either party may bring an individual claim in small-claims court. Arbitration will take place in Louisville, Kentucky, or remotely by video or phone at your choice, and the Federal Arbitration Act governs this section. AAA's consumer fee schedule applies — for most claims your filing fee is capped and we pay the rest. YOU AND WE EACH WAIVE THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION, CLASS ARBITRATION, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING — claims may be brought only in an individual capacity. Opt-out: you can reject this arbitration section, without affecting anything else in these Terms, by emailing hello@grandkins.com within 30 days of first accepting them, with your account email and the words "arbitration opt-out." If this section is found unenforceable, or you opt out, disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Jefferson County, Kentucky, and each side waives any objection to that venue.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules.

Grandkins · Webiske LLC, Louisville, KY · hello@grandkins.com · Privacy Policy