Terms of Use

Effective date: 12 July 2026 · Applies to: Obi beta builds distributed via Apple TestFlight

These terms are an agreement between you and Synqa Inc. ("Synqa", "we", "us"), a company incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, with its registered office at 2544 Weston Road, Unit 907, North York, Ontario, M9N 2A6, Canada, and an operating presence in Cape Town, South Africa. By installing or using the Obi beta, you accept these terms. Apple's TestFlight and App Store terms apply in addition to these terms (see section 11).

The Obi Privacy Policy (Beta) describes how information is handled and forms part of these terms. If anything in these terms conflicts with that policy on a privacy matter, the Privacy Policy governs.

1. What Obi is

Obi is a classroom observation and assessment tool for foundation-phase teachers. The beta version stores everything on your device: there is no account, no server, and Synqa has no access to anything you enter.

2. Who may use Obi

• Obi is licensed to teachers and school staff acting in their professional capacity, for learner observation and assessment record-keeping.
• You must be an adult (18 years or older). Obi is a professional tool used by teachers. It is not intended for use by children and is not directed at children.
• Beta access is by invitation through TestFlight. Synqa may end the beta, or any individual's access to it, at any time and for any reason, with or without notice.

3. Beta data rule: fictional learner data only

4. Your responsibilities

• Authority: you confirm your school authorises you to use Obi in your work, and that (once real data is permitted) your school's consent arrangements with parents and guardians cover the information you record.
• Consent status: record each learner's consent status honestly. The app pauses processing for learners without recorded consent (capture, group sessions, marks, report drafting, and suggestions), but the truthfulness of the status you set is your and your school's responsibility.
• Device security: keep a passcode or Face ID on your device, keep the operating system updated, and do not share the device profile Obi runs under. Obi's data is only as secure as your device.
• Exports: share exports (PDFs, learner summaries) only through channels your school approves. Once shared, an export is outside Obi's and Synqa's control.
• Professional content: enter only information appropriate to a formal school record, consistent with your school's observation and assessment practice.

5. Your data, and the risk of loss

• Everything you enter stays on your device (and in your device's own backup, if you use one). Synqa holds no copy and cannot recover your data. If you delete the app, or lose or reset the device without a device backup, your Obi data is gone.
• Make your own arrangements, a device backup or your own exports, for anything you cannot afford to lose. This is a beta: build updates are designed never to wipe data, but you should not rely on pre-release software as the only home of irreplaceable records.

6. AI-assisted features

Obi's notices and draft comments are suggestions generated on your device from your own entries, shown with their supporting evidence. They are aids, not assessments, and nothing is ever sent to parents or anyone else automatically. No suggestion is a decision made about a learner by automated means: you review, edit, or dismiss every suggestion, and you remain solely responsible for any assessment, report, or communication you produce using Obi.

7. Not a system of record

Obi is a working tool. Your school's official assessment records and statutory returns (for example, SA-SAMS) remain your school's responsibility. Verify any export before relying on it for official purposes. Synqa gives no warranty that Obi satisfies any statutory record-keeping requirement.

8. Acceptable use

You must not:

• use Obi for any purpose other than legitimate educational observation and assessment of learners you teach or supervise;
• enter information about identifiable children outside your professional remit, or enter real learner personal information during the beta (see section 3);
• attempt to extract, scrape, reverse-engineer, decompile, or repurpose the app or its data formats beyond the export features provided, except to the extent this restriction is prohibited by applicable law;
• use Obi in violation of POPIA, your school's policies, or Department of Basic Education requirements;
• resell, sublicense, rent, or otherwise make Obi available to anyone outside the licence in section 10.

9. Feedback

Feedback you give through TestFlight or directly may be used by Synqa to improve the product, without obligation or compensation, and you grant Synqa a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free licence to use it for that purpose. Do not include personal information about learners in feedback.

10. Intellectual property and licence

Synqa owns the Obi app and everything in it except your data. The information you enter belongs to you and your school. Subject to these terms, Synqa grants you a personal, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable licence to install and use the Obi beta on Apple devices you own or control, solely for the purposes described above and only for the duration of the beta. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

11. Apple and the App Store

Because Obi is distributed through Apple, the following apply and, where required, mirror Apple's standard terms for licensed applications:

• These terms are between you and Synqa only, not Apple. Synqa, not Apple, is solely responsible for the Obi app and its content.
• Apple has no obligation to furnish any maintenance or support for the app.
• To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple has no warranty obligation with respect to the app. Because the beta is provided "as is" (see section 12), any warranty claims are Synqa's responsibility as set out in these terms.
• Apple is not responsible for addressing any claims relating to the app, including product liability claims, claims that the app fails to conform to a legal or regulatory requirement, claims arising under consumer protection or privacy law, and third-party claims that the app infringes intellectual property rights. Such claims are governed by these terms and by applicable law.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and, on your acceptance of them, Apple has the right (and is deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce them against you.
• You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a comprehensive Canadian, United States, or other applicable government embargo, or designated on any prohibited or restricted-party list, and that you will comply with the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, applicable usage rules, and applicable export-control and sanctions laws.

12. Disclaimers and warranties

The beta is pre-release software provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Synqa does not warrant that the beta will be uninterrupted, error-free, secure, or fit for any particular purpose, or that it will preserve your data. Nothing in this section excludes or limits any right or warranty that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including mandatory provisions of the South African Consumer Protection Act, 2008, where they apply to you.

13. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law:

• Synqa is not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, loss of profits, or business interruption, arising out of or relating to the beta or these terms.
• Synqa's total aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the beta or these terms will not exceed one hundred Canadian dollars (CAD 100). The beta is provided free of charge, and this cap reflects the absence of any fee paid for it.
• In particular, Synqa is not liable for data loss where section 5 asked you to keep your own backup, nor for the consequences of exports you chose to share.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits Synqa's liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including under the South African Consumer Protection Act, 2008, where it applies to you.

14. Termination

You can stop at any time by deleting the app, which deletes its data from your device. Synqa can end the beta, or your access to it, at any time as described in section 2. On termination, the licence in section 10 ends and you must stop using the beta. Sections that by their nature should survive termination continue to apply, including sections 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, and 17, together with any rights or liabilities that accrued before termination.

15. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. This choice does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory laws of South Africa that apply to you, including POPIA and, where it applies, the Consumer Protection Act, 2008, and nothing in these terms limits your rights or Synqa's obligations under those mandatory laws.

Disputes arising out of or relating to these terms or the beta may be brought in the courts of Ontario, Canada. If you are an individual using Obi in South Africa and mandatory South African law gives you the right to bring proceedings in, or requires the application of the law of, South African courts, that right is preserved and is not excluded by this section.

16. Changes to these terms

Synqa may update these terms during the beta. Testers are notified of changes via TestFlight build notes and the in-app legal page. Changes take effect when posted, and your continued use of the beta after a change is notified is your acceptance of the updated terms. If you do not accept a change, stop using the beta and delete the app.

17. General

• Entire agreement: these terms, together with the Obi Privacy Policy (Beta) and any terms Apple requires, are the entire agreement between you and Synqa about the beta, and replace any earlier understanding about it.
• Severability: if any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in force, and the unenforceable provision applies to the maximum extent permitted by law.
• No waiver: a delay or failure by Synqa to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
• Assignment: you may not assign or transfer these terms. Synqa may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a reorganisation, merger, or sale of its business, on notice to you.
• Notices: Synqa gives notices through TestFlight build notes, the in-app legal page, or email. You can reach Synqa at the address in section 18.
• Language: these terms are drawn up in English, which governs their interpretation.

18. Contact