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Terms of Use
The short version: every deletion is your decision. Files go to the Trash and can be undone; the two things the Trash cannot hold — simulator runtimes and Docker images — record the command that fetches them again. The one thing Latent does on its own is move a quarantined item on to the Trash when the observation window you chose runs out.
What matters most, in one paragraph. Latent is a tool you operate — it is not an agent that cleans your Mac on its own. It never moves a file unless you selected it and confirmed. Everything it moves goes to the macOS Trash with a record that can restore it, and Latent never empties the Trash out from under you. It can discard from the Trash only items it placed there itself, only where those items can be re-downloaded or rebuilt, and only when you ask for that at the time. Permanent deletion of anything else is always a separate act that you perform yourself. The final authority over what is deleted from your Mac is, and remains, yours. Because of that, you are also responsible for reviewing what you confirm and for keeping your own backups.
1. Who these terms are between
These Terms of Use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and FatTail Labs ("we", "us"), the developer of the macOS application Latent (the "Software") and the operator of latentmac.com (the "Site"). By downloading, installing, or using the Software, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, do not install or use the Software.
If you are using the Software on behalf of an organization, you confirm that you are authorized to accept these Terms for that organization.
2. Free use and your license
Without a license, Latent is a viewer. Scanning, analysis, charts, growth history, the activity log and the uninstaller's inventory are free, with no time limit. Removing files requires a license. Recovery features — undo, quarantine restore — always work, licensed or not: the Software never withholds a way back.
Latent is sold as a one-time purchase. Subject to these Terms and to payment, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to install and use the Software on up to three (3) Macs that you own or control, for personal or business use.
You may not: resell, rent, sublicense, or redistribute the Software or your license key; circumvent or tamper with license validation; remove or alter ownership or legal notices; or use the Software to build a competing product from our code. You may not decompile or reverse-engineer the Software, except to the extent that applicable law expressly permits it despite this restriction.
We retain all rights, title, and interest in the Software. This is a license, not a sale of the Software itself.
2.1 Trial and beta licenses
We may issue trial or beta license keys free of charge, for evaluation and testing. Such a key unlocks the same features as a purchased license, but: it is time-limited or revocable at our discretion, may be tied to a beta program that ends, and does not convert into a purchased license or create any right to one. When a trial or beta key expires or is revoked, the Software simply returns to the free tier described above — nothing you have is taken away: scanning keeps working, and every recovery feature (undo, quarantine restore, recorded re-fetches) remains available for everything removed while the key was active. Feedback during a beta is appreciated, never required. Trial and beta use is otherwise governed by these Terms in full, including the warranty disclaimer and liability limits below.
3. Deletion: your control, your final authority
Latent never deletes anything on its own initiative. Every removal requires an explicit action by you, and the decision to make any removal permanent is exclusively yours. Latent itself deletes permanently only in the expressly described cases below — a Recovery discard you request, and the two tool-owned surfaces — each with its own consent and recorded way back.
3.1 Nothing moves without your instruction
The Software does not run deletions in the background, on a schedule, or at startup, with one exception you choose in advance: an item you send to quarantine moves on to the Trash when its observation window ends, at whatever launch notices that the window is up. Everything else is moved only after you select it and confirm the action in the application. Closing the confirmation, or not responding to it, means nothing happens.
3.2 The Trash, not erasure
Items the Software removes are moved to the macOS Trash, and each run writes an undo record so the move can be reversed. The Software never empties the Trash wholesale, and never deletes a file it did not place there itself. Emptying the Trash is otherwise an action you take yourself in Finder, at a time of your choosing. Until you do, nothing the Software moved is unrecoverable.
One narrow disposal exists inside the app, offered on two surfaces and never without your explicit request at that moment: the Recovery tab, for any qualifying item; and the one-click Optimize screen, for the items that same run has just moved. On either surface the Software deletes from the Trash only an item with a surviving way back — a re-download command recorded at removal time, or verified evidence that the owning tool rebuilds the item on its own. Items without a recorded way back cannot be deleted this way, and neither surface can reach a file the Software did not move.
Two surfaces are the exception, and only with your consent each time: Docker images and build cache, and iOS simulator runtimes, live inside their tools rather than as ordinary files, and only those tools can remove one of them. That removal does not use the Trash and cannot be undone. Before it runs, the Software shows a confirmation that says so in those words, and it records what was removed together with the exact command that fetches it again — the record survives even though the bytes do not. Anything the owning tool reports as in use is refused.
Two consequences follow, and you should be aware of both: space is not fully reclaimed by the operating system until you empty the Trash; and once you do empty it, the undo record can no longer restore those items.
3.3 Verified items, unverified items, and locks
The Software labels items according to the evidence it has that they can be recovered. Items whose recovery is not proven are shown as unverified and are locked: they cannot be selected until you deliberately open the lock. A lock is our way of telling you that we cannot vouch for that item.
If you open a lock, you are making the decision, and you accept responsibility for that item. The Software will still route the item through the Trash and record an undo entry, but it makes no claim that the item can be re-downloaded, regenerated, or otherwise recovered from its source.
3.4 Package managers and uninstalls
When you remove a package (for example via Homebrew, pip, conda, or npm), the Software runs that tool's own uninstall command on your instruction. The behavior of those third-party tools, the contents they remove, and whether their registries still publish a given version later are outside our control. The Software records a reinstall command so the action can be undone, but a successful reinstall depends on that third-party registry being available at that time.
3.5 System-level leftovers
For installer package (.pkg) leftovers, which live in
administrator-owned locations, the Software does not delete anything at all.
It inspects what a package recorded, shows you what still exists, and can reveal
those files in Finder. Any deletion there is performed by you, in Finder, under
your own administrator authorization, and is entirely your decision.
3.6 Connected AI assistants
The Software can expose an interface (MCP) that lets an AI assistant read your disk overview and propose cleanups. This does not transfer deletion authority. Every deletion an assistant proposes raises a confirmation panel on your screen that only a human can approve. No response means no deletion. Assistants are restricted to items whose recovery is already verified, and cannot open locks, uninstall packages, or reach anything you have not verified.
3.7 Your responsibilities
- Review what is listed before you confirm, particularly any item you unlocked.
- Keep your own backups. Latent is not a backup product and is not a substitute for Time Machine or an equivalent backup strategy.
- Quit applications that are using the files you intend to remove, when the Software asks you to.
- Keep your license key confidential.
4. What the Software does not promise
We built Latent to be conservative, and we describe its evidence honestly. Even so, you should understand its limits:
- Proof is a check at a moment in time. When the Software verifies that something can be re-downloaded, it asks a third-party registry at that moment. A registry answering today is not a guarantee that it will answer, or serve the same version, tomorrow.
- Recovery may cost you time, bandwidth, or money. "Re-downloadable" does not mean instant or free.
- Safety guards reduce risk; they cannot eliminate it. The Software checks for running applications, open files, and recent writes before it acts, but a system in motion can always change between a check and an action.
- Sizes are measurements, not accounting. Hard links, APFS clones, sparse files, and snapshots mean the space actually reclaimed can be smaller than the size shown.
5. Disclaimer of warranties
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Software and the Site are provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Software will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that it will identify every recoverable file or correctly classify every item.
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits rights that cannot be excluded or limited under the law that applies to you as a consumer.
6. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, files, profits, revenue, or business, arising out of or related to your use of the Software — including any deletion you performed or authorized.
Our total aggregate liability arising out of or related to the Software or these Terms is limited to the amount you actually paid for the Software in the twelve (12) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.
These limitations do not apply to liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for intent or gross negligence, or to any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law — including mandatory consumer protections in your country of residence.
7. Purchase, payment, and refunds
Our order process is conducted by our online reseller Polar (Polar Software Inc.), which is the Merchant of Record for all our orders. Polar handles payment, invoicing, tax, and refund requests, and its buyer terms and privacy policy apply to the purchase transaction.
We offer a 14-day refund from the date of purchase. To request one, write to support@latentmac.com or contact Polar directly. Statutory withdrawal rights that apply to you as a consumer are in addition to this and are not affected by it.
8. Updates, changes, and availability
We may provide updates that fix defects, add features, or change how features work. We may also stop offering the Software or a particular feature. If we discontinue the licensing service, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that copies already licensed continue to work.
9. Privacy in brief
Latent runs on your Mac. The contents of your files are never uploaded to us — the Software has no feature that transmits file contents anywhere. The Software makes network requests in five user-initiated situations — registry proof before offering a deletion, licence activation (plus, on activated installs, a launch-time licence check carrying only the device identifier), update check, feedback you send, and Recovery re-fetches you press — including to third-party registries (for example Homebrew, PyPI, npm, Hugging Face, or Ollama), to check whether an item can still be downloaded again, using only package or model names; and to our licensing service, to activate or validate your license key, using your license key and a one-way hash of your Mac's hardware identifier. We do not sell personal data. Payment data is handled by Polar and never reaches us.
10. Third-party services
The Software interacts with third-party tools and services that you have installed or that host content you downloaded. We do not control them, and their own terms govern your use of them. Where the Software runs a third-party tool's own command (for example an uninstall command), it does so at your instruction.
11. Termination
You may stop using the Software at any time by uninstalling it. We may terminate this license if you materially breach these Terms — for example by redistributing the Software or circumventing license validation. Sections 4, 5, 6, and 12 survive termination.
12. Governing law and disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Korea, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Disputes will be brought before the courts of the Republic of Korea. If you are a consumer, this does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence, and you may also be entitled to bring proceedings there.
13. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms. The version published on this page, with the date shown at the top, is the current one. For material changes we will provide notice on the Site or in the application. Continuing to use the Software after a change takes effect means you accept the updated Terms.
14. Contact
FatTail Labs · support@latentmac.com
For anything about these Terms, write to us — we read everything.
15. Language
These Terms are drafted in English. Translations into other languages are provided for convenience only. If a translation and the English version disagree in meaning, the English version prevails.