Terms of Service

Agreement and eligibility

These Terms govern your use of the Chivoc app, website, and related services. By creating an account or using Chivoc, you agree to these Terms. You must be legally able to enter this agreement. If local law requires parental or guardian consent, you may use Chivoc only with that consent.

Accounts

You must provide accurate account information, protect your password and device, and promptly notify us of suspected unauthorized use. One person may use multiple supported sign-in methods linked to the same Chivoc account. You are responsible for activity performed through your account unless applicable law provides otherwise.

License and acceptable use

Chivoc grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to use the service for lawful personal learning.

You may not copy or resell substantial parts of the service, bypass access controls, scrape content at scale, interfere with operation, introduce malicious code, misuse another person's account, or use Chivoc in a way that violates law or third-party rights.

Learning content

Chivoc provides vocabulary, grammar explanations and structures, translations, pronunciation, pinyin audio, examples, Sentence Builder and grammar exercises, downloadable handwriting workbooks, and progress tools for educational purposes. Sentence Builder may arrange example-sentence words, punctuation, pinyin, translations, and audio into guided or listening practice and may keep progress and mistake-review information locally on the device. Chivoc independently compiles and organizes its grammar curriculum into Chivoc levels and categories. Grammar Learning may present level-based lessons, examples, fill-in and reading exercises, multilingual translations, and AI-generated example audio, and may keep the local progress described in the Privacy Policy. Language, grammar, translations, pronunciation, and learning materials can vary by context and may contain errors. Chivoc does not guarantee any examination score, certification, or specific learning outcome.

Handwriting feedback checks stroke order, direction, and approximate position. It is not handwriting recognition, identity verification, or a professional calligraphy assessment.

HSK names and related marks belong to their respective owners. Chivoc is an independent learning product and is not endorsed by or affiliated with the official HSK examination authorities unless expressly stated.

Learning games

Chivoc may provide a pinyin chase game and timed word-connection, matching, and word-wall games for optional practice. Game groups, prompts, and distractor words may be selected or arranged randomly, so difficulty and repetition can vary.

Unless a game screen expressly states otherwise, game choices, scores, completion, and failures are not recorded as synchronized learning progress and do not affect your HSK level, daily goal, streak, or entitlement. Games are educational practice tools, not examinations, competitions for prizes, or guarantees of learning results.

Downloaded learning materials

Free samples, Premium handwriting workbooks, grammar learning packages, pinyin audio, and other downloadable Chivoc materials are licensed for your personal, non-commercial learning only. You may save, print, and use an authorized workbook for your own study.

You may not resell, publicly redistribute, republish, remove ownership notices from, or use substantial parts of the materials to create a competing product. Files saved outside Chivoc are your responsibility to secure and delete.

Handwriting technology notices

The handwriting feature uses open-source Hanzi Writer-compatible software under the MIT License. Character stroke data is derived from Make Me a Hanzi and is provided under the Arphic Public License. Those projects and contributors do not endorse Chivoc.

Purchases and subscriptions

Chivoc Premium may be offered as an automatically renewing monthly, six-month, or annual subscription. Price, billing period, renewal terms, and included features are shown before purchase. An eligible new subscriber may receive a seven-day introductory trial with the annual plan. Unless cancelled before the trial ends, the applicable store charges the displayed annual price and the subscription renews automatically until cancelled.

You can manage, cancel, or restore eligible store purchases through Apple App Store or Google Play. The applicable store processes the payment and applies its cancellation and refund rules. Premium covers the App features identified on the purchase screen. The pinyin keyboard, wheel, chase game, and audio package are free learning tools. A free account may obtain up to 100 unique HSK vocabulary words in total across supported levels and may continue reviewing those words in vocabulary practice, handwriting practice, games, and Sentence Builder. Attempting to obtain additional words may require Premium; Premium unlocks the full available HSK vocabulary while the entitlement is active. Sentence Builder uses the example sentence associated with each word in this shared free pool, for up to 100 free sentences in total across supported HSK levels. Premium unlocks all available HSK example sentences in Translate and Listen modes while the entitlement is active. A free Grammar Learning account may open 20 unique grammar points in total, selected from any available level, and may review those opened points. Premium unlocks all 605 available grammar points while the entitlement is active. Premium includes access to the full handwriting workbooks identified in the App while your entitlement is active. If your entitlement later expires, access to Premium-only in-app content may be restricted, while mandatory consumer rights remain unaffected. You may continue personally using workbook PDFs that you already saved, but you cannot request new Premium workbook downloads until access is restored. Premium does not include separately sold future mini-courses, foundation courses, intensive courses, or one-to-one tutoring. Mandatory consumer rights remain unaffected.

Service changes

We may improve, add, remove, or discontinue features, vocabulary, language support, or technical infrastructure. We will provide reasonable notice when a material change adversely affects a paid service, where feasible and required by law. Temporary interruptions may occur for maintenance, security, or events beyond our control.

Intellectual property

Chivoc, its software, interface, branding, original content, and related rights are owned by Chivoc or its licensors. These Terms do not transfer ownership. Feedback may be used to improve Chivoc without an obligation to compensate you, while personal information remains governed by the Privacy Policy.

Suspension and account deletion

You may stop using Chivoc and delete your account through the app. We may restrict or suspend access when reasonably necessary to protect users, investigate fraud or security issues, enforce these Terms, or comply with law. Where appropriate, we will provide notice and an opportunity to appeal by contacting us.

Disclaimers and liability

To the extent permitted by law, Chivoc is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties not expressly stated here. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation.

Chivoc is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive loss to the extent such exclusions are permitted. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability or remedies that cannot legally be excluded, including mandatory consumer protections.

Law, changes, and contact

These Terms are governed by laws applicable to the Chivoc operator, while any mandatory rights available in your country remain unaffected. We may update these Terms as the service changes. Material updates will be communicated appropriately, and continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance where permitted by law.

Questions can be sent to [email protected].