Terms of Service

The rules for using Hearth, in plain language. By using the app you agree to them.

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Agreeing to these terms

These terms are an agreement between you and Sycamore Hill Studios LLC (“Hearth,” “we,” “us”), the developer of Hearth, for the Hearth app and website. By creating an account or using Hearth, you agree to them and to our Privacy Policy. If you don’t agree, please don’t use Hearth. You need to be at least 13 years old, and old enough to form a contract where you live, or have a parent’s permission.

Your account

  • Sign in with an email code or your Google account (or Apple, where it’s offered). Keep access to that account secure. You’re responsible for what happens under your login.
  • Give us accurate information, and tell us if you think someone else is using your account.
  • You can try parts of Hearth before creating an account. Your answers stay on your phone until you sign up.

Households

A household shares one meal plan, one grocery list, recipes, favorites and notes. When you invite someone, they’ll see and can change that shared content, and so can you. Only invite people you trust. Any member can leave at any time. On the free plan you can share with 1 other person. Larger households need Hearth Pro.

Hearth Pro and billing

  • Hearth Pro costs $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US. Eligible new subscribers get a 7-day free trial on the annual plan. Prices shown in the app come from Google Play and may vary by country or change over time. We’ll give you notice before a price change affects you.
  • Subscriptions are sold and billed through Google Play, and renew automatically at the end of each month or year until you cancel in Google Play (Play Store → your profile → Payments & subscriptions → Subscriptions). If you start a free trial, you’re charged when it ends unless you cancel before then. Cancelling stops future renewals, and Pro stays on until the end of the period you’ve paid for. Deleting the app or your Hearth account doesn’t cancel a subscription.
  • Payments and refunds are handled by Google Play under its terms and policies.
  • Hearth Pro benefits apply to everyone in the subscriber’s household while the subscription is active.
  • We may change what’s included in Free and Pro, including free-tier limits like the number of monthly imports. We won’t take away a feature you’ve paid for during your current billing period.

Your content and imports

  • You own your content. Recipes you write, notes, photos and plans are yours. You give us a limited license to store, process and display them only to run Hearth for you and your household. You can export everything at any time.
  • Imported recipes are for personal use. When you import a recipe from a website, cookbook or photo, it’s saved privately for your household so you can cook from it. Hearth keeps a link to the source when there is one. Don’t use Hearth to republish or sell other people’s recipes or photos, and respect the rights of the creators whose work you save.
  • If you believe content in Hearth infringes your copyright, email sycamorehillstudios@outlook.com with the details and we’ll respond promptly.

Our content

Hearth’s house recipes, photos, design and software belong to us or our licensors. You may use them for your own household’s cooking, and print or share a recipe with friends and family, but not copy them in bulk, resell them or use them to build a competing service.

Grocery stores

  • With Hearth Pro, you can connect a Kroger account and add items from your list to your Kroger cart. Kroger is an independent company with its own terms. You place, pay for and receive your order with Kroger, not with Hearth.
  • Product matches, sizes, prices and availability come from Kroger and can be wrong or change. Always review your cart before checking out.
  • Any list can also be shared as text or printed for whatever store you use.
  • Hearth doesn’t earn commissions from stores today. See the affiliate disclosure.

Food, allergies and nutrition

Hearth helps you plan and cook, but it isn’t medical, dietary or nutritional advice. Allergy filters and warnings depend on ingredient data that can be incomplete or wrong, especially for imported recipes and store products. Nutrition figures are estimates. Always read product labels, and talk to a doctor or dietitian about medical needs. Please read the full allergen disclaimer. Use common sense in the kitchen: follow safe food-handling practices and cook foods to safe temperatures.

Acceptable use

Please don’t:

  • break the law or infringe anyone’s rights using Hearth;
  • try to access other households’ data, probe or disrupt our systems, or get around limits and paywalls;
  • scrape, copy or resell Hearth or its content, or use automated tools that put unusual load on it;
  • use the import feature to collect content from sites in bulk;
  • upload anything unlawful, harmful or that you don’t have the right to use.

Ending your account

You can stop using Hearth and delete your account at any time. We may suspend or close accounts that seriously or repeatedly break these terms, and we’ll tell you why unless the law or safety prevents it. If we ever shut Hearth down, we’ll give you at least 60 days’ notice and a way to export your data.

Disclaimers and liability

We work hard to make Hearth reliable, but it’s provided “as is” and “as available.” To the extent the law allows, we disclaim implied warranties such as merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, and we aren’t liable for indirect, incidental or consequential damages, or for the actions of stores and other third parties. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the greater of what you paid us in the 12 months before the claim or US $50. Some places don’t allow these limits, so they may not apply to you. Nothing here limits rights you have under consumer protection law.

General terms

  • Changes: if we change these terms in a material way, we’ll tell you in the app or by email before the changes take effect. Continuing to use Hearth means you accept them.
  • Governing law: these terms are governed by the laws of the State of Indiana, United States, except that if you’re a consumer, you keep the protection of the mandatory laws of the place where you live and can bring claims in your local courts.
  • Google Play: Google Play’s terms also apply to how you download Hearth and buy Hearth Pro. Google isn’t responsible for Hearth or its support.
  • Contact: Sycamore Hill Studios LLC, 6315 Sycamore Hl, Indianapolis, IN 46220-4330, United States. Email sycamorehillstudios@outlook.com, or visit Support.