Terms of Service
These terms are an agreement between you and Alice Turcanu ("we", "us"), the developer of BookNest, and govern your use of the BookNest app on iOS, watchOS, and their widgets. By using BookNest you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use the app.
1. License
We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use BookNest on Apple-branded devices that you own or control, as permitted by the App Store Terms of Service (including the Usage Rules there). This license is for personal, non-commercial use of the app. You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease the app, or reverse engineer it except where the law permits despite this restriction.
2. BookNest Plus (in-app purchases)
BookNest's catalog, reader and audiobook player are free to use. BookNest Plus is an optional paid upgrade that unlocks iCloud sync of your library, reading progress and preferences; importing your own DRM-free EPUB files; advanced reader customization; and data export. It is offered as a monthly or yearly auto-renewing subscription, or as a one-time lifetime unlock.
All purchases are made through Apple's In-App Purchase system. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically for the same period unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the current period ends. Prices are shown in the app in your local currency before you buy and may vary by territory.
You can view, manage and cancel a subscription, and turn off auto-renew, at any time in your Apple Account settings — cancelling stops future renewals and does not refund the period already paid for. The lifetime unlock is a single purchase and does not renew. Purchases can be restored on your other devices with the Restore button on the purchase screen, subject to Apple's Family Sharing and Apple Account rules. Refunds are handled by Apple under the App Store Terms of Service; we cannot issue them directly.
If your entitlement lapses, BookNest keeps your books and your reading data — Plus-only features simply stop until you renew.
3. The books and audiobooks
BookNest is a reading and listening client. The books and audiobooks it offers are not created, owned, or hosted by us. They come from third-party catalogs of public-domain works:
- Standard Ebooks — carefully produced public-domain ebooks;
- Project Gutenberg, accessed through the Gutendex catalog API;
- LibriVox — free public-domain audiobook recordings read by volunteers, hosted on the Internet Archive (archive.org).
Your use of content from these services is also subject to their own terms and licenses. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them.
4. Copyright status of the works
The works offered through these catalogs are in the public domain in the United States. Copyright terms differ by country, and a work that is public domain in the United States may still be under copyright elsewhere. If you are outside the United States, you are responsible for confirming that a work is free of copyright in your country before downloading or listening to it.
5. Standard Ebooks Patrons Circle
Browsing the full Standard Ebooks catalog inside BookNest requires a Standard Ebooks Patrons Circle membership, which is offered by Standard Ebooks directly and governed by their terms. BookNest simply lets you enter your patron email to access feeds your membership already entitles you to. You agree to use this feature only with a valid membership of your own.
6. Your imported books and the catalogs you add
BookNest can import EPUB files you already have. You are responsible for ensuring you have the legal right to the files you import. Imported books stay on your device (and your own iCloud, if you enable sync); we never receive them.
BookNest can also connect to OPDS catalogs you add yourself, including your own calibre-web, COPS, or Kavita server. We do not operate, review, endorse, or host any catalog you add, and we have no control over what it serves. You are responsible for choosing catalogs you are entitled to use, for complying with their terms, and for ensuring that anything you browse or download through them is lawful for you to obtain in your country. Do not use this feature to obtain copyrighted works without permission.
7. Acceptable use
You agree not to use BookNest to abuse the third-party services it connects to — including circumventing their access controls or authentication, scraping at excessive rates, or interfering with their operation — and not to use the app in violation of any applicable law.
8. Content advisory
The catalogs consist largely of classic literature. Some works reflect the eras in which they were written and may contain themes, language, or depictions that are outdated or offensive, or unsuitable for children. Works are presented as their authors wrote them; inclusion in a catalog is not endorsement of their contents.
9. Availability; changes to the app
The catalogs, downloads, and cover art depend on third-party services we do not control. Content may become unavailable, change, or move at any time, and we do not guarantee the availability, accuracy, or completeness of any catalog or work. We may update, change, or discontinue features of the app at any time.
10. Maintenance and support
We provide reasonable, best-effort support for BookNest at the contact address below. Apple has no obligation to furnish any maintenance or support for the app.
11. No warranty
BookNest is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, to the maximum extent permitted by law. In the event of any failure of the app to conform to an applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) you paid for the app; to the maximum extent permitted by law, Apple has no other warranty obligation with respect to the app.
12. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for loss of data, arising from your use of or inability to use the app or any content accessed through it. Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid for the app. Some jurisdictions do not allow certain exclusions or limitations, so parts of this section may not apply to you.
13. Product claims; legal compliance
You and we acknowledge that we, not Apple, are responsible for addressing any claims relating to the app or your use of it, including product liability claims, claims that the app fails to conform to legal or regulatory requirements, and consumer-protection or similar claims. You represent that you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo or designated a "terrorist supporting" country, and that you are not on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
14. Intellectual property claims
You and we acknowledge that, in the event of a third-party claim that the app or your possession and use of it infringes that third party's intellectual property rights, we, not Apple, are solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of the claim. If you believe content reachable through BookNest infringes rights you hold, contact us at the address below and we will review promptly; note that removal from the source catalogs themselves is up to their operators.
15. Apple as third-party beneficiary
You and we acknowledge that Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms, and that upon your acceptance, Apple has the right (and is deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these terms against you as a third-party beneficiary.
16. Termination
These terms apply until terminated. They terminate automatically if you fail to comply with them; upon termination, you must stop using the app. You may terminate at any time by deleting the app.
17. Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of Switzerland, without regard to conflict-of-law rules, and any disputes will be resolved in the Swiss courts, except where the law of your country of residence grants you mandatory rights or venue.
18. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms from time to time. The current version will always be at this page with its effective date above; material changes will be noted in the App Store release notes for the version that introduces them. Continuing to use the app after a change means you accept the updated terms.
19. Contact
Questions about these terms: alice.turcanu91@gmail.com