Terms of Service

These Terms govern your use of Hearthly, a registered fictitious name of Dunn Studios LLC, a Florida limited liability company.

Effective date: June 18, 2026 (last revised June 18, 2026)

Contact: legal@gethearthly.app · Mailing address: 6503 Welle Ct., Saint Cloud, FL 34771

Please read these Terms carefully. They include a binding individual-arbitration agreement and a class-action waiver in Section 17. By using Hearthly, you agree to resolve most disputes through individual arbitration instead of in court before a jury. You can opt out of arbitration within 30 days of first using Hearthly — Section 17.6 explains exactly how.

1. Who We Are and What Hearthly Is

Hearthly is a shared care journal and family-coordination app for people who are caring for a loved one through a serious or ongoing illness. It is a place to write things down: medications given, meals, mood, symptoms, appointments, day-to-day notes, and the story of who your loved one is. It also helps a family stay coordinated through a shared “care circle.” Hearthly is operated by Dunn Studios LLC, a Florida limited liability company (“Dunn Studios,” “Hearthly,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).

Hearthly is a journal, not a medical service. Legally, Hearthly is in the same category as a paper notebook you keep about a loved one’s care — not an electronic health record system. Hearthly is not a medical device, clinical tool, diagnostic service, healthcare provider, pharmacy, or a “covered entity” or “business associate” under HIPAA. Nothing in Hearthly — including your notes, any pattern detection, summaries, provider-prep reports, or any AI-generated content — is medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and none of it should be relied on as such.

In plain terms: Hearthly helps you keep track of care and stay organized with your family. It does not replace a doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or your loved one’s official medical records. For any medical decision, talk to a licensed professional.

In an emergency, do not use Hearthly. Hearthly is not for emergencies and does not contact emergency services. If you or your loved one may be experiencing a medical emergency, or if you are worried about someone’s immediate safety, call 911 (or your local emergency number) or go to the nearest emergency room right away.

2. Accepting These Terms

By creating an account, accessing Hearthly, or using any feature, you agree to these Terms of Service (“Terms”) and to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. If you do not agree, please do not use Hearthly.

These Terms are a binding agreement between you and Dunn Studios LLC. If you accept these Terms on behalf of someone else or an organization, you confirm you have authority to do so.

3. Who Can Use Hearthly

To create a Hearthly account you must be at least 18 years old. By using Hearthly, you represent that:

You are at least 18 years old and can enter into a binding agreement;
You are located in, or are a resident of, the United States; and
Your use of Hearthly complies with the laws that apply to you.

Children do not create accounts, but they may appear in your records. Hearthly accounts are for adults. A minor may, however, be the subject of a care circle (for example, a grandchild a family is helping care for) or may be listed as a family member. If you enter information about a minor, you are responsible for having the authority to do so under Section 5, and you should enter only what is appropriate for the care you are coordinating. We do not knowingly let anyone under 18 create an account.

4. Your Account

You are responsible for keeping your login details private and for activity that happens under your account. Please:

Keep your password and login credentials confidential;
Not share your account or let others log in as you;
Tell us promptly at support@gethearthly.app if you think someone has accessed your account without permission.

Inviting people into your care circle (Section 5) is different from sharing your login — each circle member should have their own account. We may suspend or close accounts that are used in violation of these Terms.

5. Care Circles — Recording Information About a Loved One

A care circle is a shared space where you and the people you invite can keep notes about one person you are caring for (the “loved one”). Most often, the loved one is not the one using Hearthly — a family caregiver records information on their behalf. We know that many loved ones live with conditions such as Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia and may not be able to give the kind of “informed consent” a healthy adult could. These Terms are written with that reality in mind.

5.1 Your authority to record

If you create or manage a care circle, you confirm that at least one of the following is true:

You are the loved one, recording your own information; or
You are a legally authorized representative of the loved one — for example, a guardian, an agent under a power of attorney, or a designated health-care surrogate or proxy; or
You are a family member or caregiver acting in good faith in the loved one’s interest, in a situation where the loved one is unable to manage their own care, and your recording of this information is consistent with the laws that apply to you.

5.2 Treating the loved one with respect

You agree to use the care circle to support the loved one’s care and wellbeing — not to surveil, exploit, or harm them or anyone else. To the extent you know the loved one’s wishes, please honor them. If the loved one objects to information being kept about them, or regains the ability to direct their own care and asks you to stop or to remove information, you agree to respect that, and you can delete the relevant content at any time.

5.3 Inviting members and roles

You decide who joins your circle and in what role (such as admin, family, aide, or helper). Different roles can see and do different things. You are responsible for choosing the right role for each person and for making sure each person understands the access you are giving them. You can change roles or remove a member at any time from your settings.

5.4 Your responsibility, and ours

Because Hearthly is a private journal, we do not verify family relationships, capacity, or legal authority, and we do not mediate disputes among circle members or family. You are responsible for the accuracy, lawfulness, and appropriateness of what you enter about another person, and for your decisions about who can see it. Dunn Studios LLC is not responsible for information that is entered, shared, or accessed without proper authority by you or anyone you invite. If a dispute arises between you and another circle member, it is between the two of you.

In plain terms: Caregivers often have to act for a loved one who can’t speak for themselves. We don’t ask you to prove that — we ask you to act honestly and in your loved one’s interest, the way you would with a notebook on the kitchen counter. You’re in charge of who sees it.

6. Your Content

6.1 You own what you write

You keep ownership of the notes, entries, photos, Life Story answers, questionnaire responses, and other content you and your circle add to Hearthly (“Your Content”).

6.2 The permission you give us

To run Hearthly for you, you give Dunn Studios LLC a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, copy, process, display, and transmit Your Content — but only as needed to provide, secure, back up, and improve the service for you and your circle, and to do the things described in our Privacy Policy (such as sending text to our AI providers when you use AI features). This permission ends when you delete the content or your account, except for backups that age out on our normal schedule and copies we must keep by law. We will never sell Your Content or use it to show you ads.

6.3 Your promises about content

You confirm that you have the rights needed to add Your Content, that it does not break the law or violate anyone’s rights, and that you have the authority described in Section 5 for any information about another person.

6.4 Content standards

Please don’t add content that is unlawful, abusive, harassing, defamatory, fraudulent, or that invades someone’s privacy. We may remove content that violates these Terms, though we don’t routinely monitor what you write.

7. Community Conduct — Zero Tolerance for Objectionable Content

Hearthly includes pseudonymous community support groups and daily brain games with a global leaderboard. These are care-focused spaces, and we have zero tolerance for objectionable content or abusive behavior in them.

By posting, commenting, reacting, sending messages, choosing a display name or alias, or otherwise contributing in the community or games, you agree that you will not post or share content that is:

harassing, bullying, threatening, or that targets another person;
hateful, discriminatory, or that attacks people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, disability, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic;
sexually explicit, sexually suggestive about minors, or that sexualizes caregiving or health situations;
graphically violent, gory, or that glorifies self-harm, suicide, or violence against others;
promoting or facilitating illegal activity, dangerous products, regulated goods (drugs, weapons), or scams;
spam, advertising, solicitation, phishing, malware, or content designed to manipulate other members;
impersonating another person, a clinician, Hearthly, or any organization;
doxxing or attempting to identify, contact, or expose another member outside the app;
medical, legal, or financial advice presented as professional guidance — community is peer support, not professional advice;
otherwise objectionable, abusive, or harmful to the safety of this community.

These spaces are also designed so you don’t reveal who you are or who you care for:

You participate using an alias you choose, not your real name.
Please do not post real names, photos, or identifying details about yourself or your loved one in community or games spaces.
Anything another member says is their personal opinion, not guidance from Hearthly or a professional.

Reporting and enforcement. Every post and comment can be reported from inside the app. Reports are reviewed by Hearthly, and we act on violations — typically within 24 hours of receiving a report, and faster for serious safety issues. You can also block other members at any time to immediately hide their posts, comments, and reactions from your view; from Settings → Privacy you can review and manage everyone you’ve blocked.

Consequences. When content or behavior violates this section, we may, at our discretion and without prior notice: remove the content, hide it pending review, restrict your ability to post, suspend or terminate your community access, suspend or terminate your account, and — for serious or repeated violations — permanently ban you from Hearthly. For unlawful content we may also preserve and disclose information to law enforcement as required by law.

We may moderate, remove content, reset leaderboard entries, or suspend access to keep these spaces safe and fair. Game scores and leaderboard standing have no cash value.

8. Subscriptions, Trials, and Payments

8.1 Free trial

Hearthly starts with a 7-day free trial that includes full access and does not require a credit card. We will not charge you when the trial ends, because we don’t have your card. To keep adding new entries after the trial, you choose a paid plan.

8.2 What happens after the trial or after you cancel

If your trial ends or your paid plan lapses, your account becomes read-only: you and your circle can still open and read everything already saved, and you can export your data, but you cannot add or edit entries until you start (or restart) a paid plan. Your data is not deleted just because a plan ends.

8.3 Plans and billing

We offer a single core paid plan, Hearthly, billed monthly or annually. We may also offer optional paid add-ons — for example, additional care circles for managing more than one loved one. Current prices for the plan and any add-ons are shown in the app and on our website before you subscribe or add them.

Auto-renewal. Paid plans and add-ons renew automatically at the end of each billing period (monthly or annual) at the then-current price, using your saved payment method, until you cancel.

8.4 Canceling

You can cancel anytime in your account settings. Cancellation stops the next renewal; your paid features stay active until the end of the period you already paid for, and then your account becomes read-only. Canceling does not delete your account or data — to do that, see Section 16.

8.5 Refunds

All purchases are final. Paid fees are non-refundable except (a) where required by applicable law, (b) where Hearthly chooses to issue a refund at its discretion, or (c) as described below.

If you believe a charge was made in error, contact us at support@gethearthly.app within 7 days and we’ll review it. Discretionary refunds are decided case by case; a request is not a guarantee.

If we terminate your paid subscription without cause under Section 16, we will refund the unused portion of fees you have already paid for the current billing period. This refund right does not apply when an account is terminated for cause (including any violation of these Terms, nonpayment, abuse, or safety concerns).

8.6 Complimentary access, promotional pricing, and First Circle benefits

Hearthly may offer complimentary access, promotional pricing, beta program participation, extended free trials, or other incentives from time to time. All recipients of these benefits — including First Circle members — are subject to the same Terms of Service as every other member.

...

Revoke the incentive only (for example, removing beta access or other incentives), while your account otherwise remains active and subject to standard pricing.

Hearthly determines which response is appropriate based on the circumstances. Revocation of a complimentary benefit under this section does not entitle you to a refund of any amounts already paid.

Outside of a Terms violation, Hearthly may also discontinue any complimentary program (such as ending the beta period) on reasonable notice. Doing so is not a revocation of benefits for cause and is not a refund-triggering event.

8.7 Price changes

We’ll give you at least 30 days’ notice before a price increase takes effect. If you keep using a paid plan after that, the new price applies. If you don’t want the new price, you can cancel before it takes effect.

8.8 Failed payments

If a payment fails, we may pause your paid features (returning the account to read-only) until the balance is resolved.

8.9 Purchases through app stores (Google Play and Apple)

If you subscribe through a third-party app store — such as the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store — rather than directly through our website, that store processes your payment and your subscription is also governed by that store's billing, auto-renewal, cancellation, and refund rules, which may differ from the rules in this Section 8. In that case:

You manage and cancel your subscription through that store's account settings (for example, the Subscriptions area of Google Play or the App Store), not through Hearthly's in-app settings, and cancellation takes effect according to the store's rules.
Refunds for store purchases are handled by the store under its policies. Our discretionary refund process in Section 8.5 applies only to purchases made directly through Hearthly; for a store purchase, direct your refund request to the store.
The store, not Hearthly, is your merchant of record for that transaction, and the store's terms control the payment relationship.

Where the store's rules conflict with this Section 8 for a purchase made through that store, the store's rules govern that purchase. All other parts of these Terms continue to apply to your use of Hearthly regardless of where you subscribed.

8.10 Voluntary contributions

Hearthly may offer a way to make a voluntary one-time contribution to support our work (for example, through a "Support Us" page). Contributions are optional, are not required to use any part of Hearthly, and unlock no features, plans, benefits, goods, services, or membership of any kind. Please keep the following in mind before contributing:

Hearthly is a for-profit company. Dunn Studios LLC is not a charity or a tax-exempt organization, and contributions are not tax-deductible. Nothing on the contribution page is intended as tax advice.
Contributions are final and non-refundable, except where required by applicable law or where we choose, at our discretion, to issue a refund. If you believe a contribution was made in error, contact us at support@gethearthly.app within 7 days and we will review it.
A contribution creates no obligation on our part and grants you no rights — no equity, ownership, profit-sharing, influence over the product, or claim against the company — and it does not change these Terms in any way.
Contributions are processed by Stripe (or, if offered through an app store, by that store) on the same basis as other payments described in this Section 8. We never see or store your full card details.

8.11 Storage limits and fair use

Hearthly is built for the photos, documents, and notes a family naturally creates while caring for a loved one. To keep the service fast, affordable, and available for everyone, paid accounts include generous storage allowances rather than truly unlimited storage:

A limit on the number of photos per care circle;
A limit on the number of documents per care circle; and
A limit on total file storage (measured in gigabytes) per care circle.

The specific allowances are shown in the app and on our pricing page and are set comfortably above what ordinary family care use requires. We may adjust these allowances over time; if we reduce an allowance in a way that would affect data you have already stored, we will give you reasonable notice and a chance to export or manage your files first.

Fair use. Hearthly is for personal and family caregiving use. It is not a general-purpose backup service, media library, or commercial archive. You agree not to use Hearthly to store content unrelated to your loved one's care, to host or distribute files for others, or to upload material in a way that is abusive, automated, or designed to circumvent the allowances above. If your usage greatly exceeds what is typical for family care, we may contact you, ask you to reduce usage, or apply reasonable limits, as described in this Section and Section 10.

In plain terms: Save all the care photos and documents your family needs — the limits are set high on purpose. Just don't use Hearthly as a place to back up your entire video collection or store files that have nothing to do with caregiving.

8.12 Changes to Features and the Service

We're continually improving Hearthly, and we may add, change, limit, or discontinue features — or change how the service works — at any time. We don't guarantee the continued availability of any particular feature, including shared calendars, brain games, or community spaces. If we make a change that materially reduces a feature included in your paid plan, we'll give you reasonable advance notice, and you may cancel before the change takes effect and receive a prorated refund of the unused portion of your current billing term. Routine changes, improvements, and the discontinuation of free or complimentary features are not material adverse changes for this purpose.

9. Our Intellectual Property

Everything that makes up Hearthly other than Your Content — the software, code, design, look and feel, the Hearthly name and logo, the Life Story prompts, and other platform content — belongs to or is licensed by Dunn Studios LLC and is protected by intellectual-property law. Please don’t copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from any part of Hearthly without our written permission. If you send us feedback or ideas, you allow us to use them to improve Hearthly without owing you anything.

Copyright complaints (DMCA). We respect intellectual-property rights and expect users to do the same. If you believe content on Hearthly infringes your copyright, send a written notice to legal@gethearthly.app that includes: your contact information; identification of the copyrighted work; identification of the allegedly infringing material and where it is located; a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized; a statement, under penalty of perjury, that your notice is accurate and that you are the owner or authorized to act for the owner; and your signature (physical or electronic). We will respond to valid notices as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, may remove the material, and may disable or terminate accounts of repeat infringers.

10. Things You Agree Not to Do

To keep Hearthly safe for caregivers, you agree not to:

Use Hearthly for any unlawful purpose;
Enter another person’s information without the authority described in Section 5;
Treat Hearthly as a substitute for professional medical, legal, or financial advice;
Impersonate anyone or misrepresent your connection to a person or organization;
Try to access accounts, data, or parts of the platform you’re not authorized to access;
Reverse-engineer, decompile, or try to extract our source code, except where the law says you may;
Scrape or use bots or automated tools on Hearthly without our written permission;
Upload malware or anything that could harm the platform or other users;
Interfere with the platform’s performance or security;
Manipulate, tamper with, reverse-engineer, or attempt to falsify game scores, leaderboard standings, app state, points, or any usage or activity data; or
Resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit Hearthly without our written permission.

11. Third-Party Services

Hearthly relies on trusted third-party providers to function — for example, for database and file storage, hosting, payment processing, email and message delivery, push notifications, AI features, sign-in, local weather, and music previews. Our current providers, and what each one does, are listed in our Privacy Policy, which we keep up to date as our providers change. When you use those parts of Hearthly, the relevant provider’s own terms and privacy practices also apply. We are not responsible for the practices, availability, or content of third-party services. Our Privacy Policy explains what information goes to whom and why.

About music. Hearthly’s Music Moments use the Deezer public API to play short (about 30-second) previews. Hearthly is not a music-streaming service and does not grant music licenses; previews are provided by Deezer under Deezer’s terms. Music Moments are for calm and comfort and are not music therapy or any form of treatment.

11.1 Notifications, text messages, and push

Hearthly can send you reminders and notifications by email, SMS text message, and mobile push, using providers such as Twilio (SMS) and Firebase Cloud Messaging (push).

Text messages (SMS). SMS reminders are opt-in: you turn them on, and provide your mobile number, in your settings. By enabling SMS, you consent to receive recurring automated text messages from Hearthly (such as medication and appointment reminders) at the number you provide. Consent to texts is not a condition of using Hearthly — every reminder is also available in-app and by email. Message frequency depends on your settings. Message and data rates may apply. You can stop texts at any time by turning SMS off in settings or by replying STOP to a Hearthly text; reply HELP for help. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. If you change or give up your mobile number, please update your settings so reminders don’t go to someone else.

Push notifications. If you enable push notifications, notification text is delivered through your device’s operating system and its push provider. You can turn push off in your device or app settings at any time.

12. Health-Related Features and AI

12.1 These features are informational, not medical

Some Hearthly features touch on health, and we want to be clear about what they are and are not:

Provider-prep reports are PDF summaries of what you logged, made to help you prepare for an appointment. They are a convenience, not a medical record.

12.2 How AI is used, and what it sees

Hearthly uses artificial intelligence to create things like morning orientation summaries, pattern notes, provider-prep reports, and an in-app help chat. You agree that:

AI content is generated only from what you and your circle have entered, and is shown only inside your Hearthly account;
To create AI content, relevant parts of your entries are sent to our AI providers, as described in our Privacy Policy. Our current AI providers, and what each one receives and why, are listed there; if we change providers, we will update the Privacy Policy accordingly;
AI content can be incomplete or simply wrong, and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or clinical judgment;
You can turn AI features off in your settings, which stops your entries from being sent to AI providers for those features; and
Dunn Studios LLC is not responsible for decisions you make in reliance on AI-generated content.

12.3 AI-powered logging & insights

Hearthly may include a small set of optional AI helpers built into the daily log and respite tools — for example, gentle reflection prompts, panels that surface your own similar prior notes, summaries of what has helped you before, and draft talking points to help you prepare for an upcoming appointment. The specific helpers available may change over time. Whatever helpers are present:

Only use information from your own circle (the loved one you're logging about, and your own caregiver entries);
Are advisory and dismissible — nothing they suggest is required, scored, or treated as a medical assessment;
Use plain caregiver language ("I've noticed…") and intentionally avoid clinical interpretation, diagnosis, or thresholds; and
Route through our AI providers exactly as described in Section 12.2 and the Privacy Policy, and can be turned off in settings.

You agree that these helpers are convenience features, not professional advice, and that you are responsible for what you choose to share with healthcare providers or family members. In particular, any appointment talking points or other summary output is an unverified, automatically generated reorganization of your own notes. Hearthly does not review, validate, or stand behind its accuracy or completeness, it is not a medical record or clinical summary, and you alone are responsible for checking it and deciding what, if anything, to share with a clinician or anyone else.

13. Disclaimers

We work hard to make Hearthly dependable, but we have to be clear about the legal limits below. Please read them — they’re written in capital letters because the law asks us to make them stand out.

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, DUNN STUDIOS LLC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT; ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE; AND ANY WARRANTY ABOUT THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, COMPLETENESS, OR SUITABILITY OF ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING AI-GENERATED CONTENT. YOU USE THE SERVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK. HEARTHLY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL CARE OR FOR YOUR LOVED ONE’S OFFICIAL MEDICAL RECORDS.

14. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, DUNN STUDIOS LLC — AND ITS OWNER, MEMBERS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS — WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, DATA, OR HEALTH OUTCOMES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE HEARTHLY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

DUNN STUDIOS LLC’S TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR YOUR USE OF HEARTHLY WILL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100).

Some states do not allow certain limitations, so some of the above may not apply to you. Where that is the case, our liability is limited to the smallest amount the law allows. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

15. Indemnification

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Dunn Studios LLC and its owner, members, agents, and service providers from claims, damages, losses, and reasonable attorneys’ fees arising out of: your use of Hearthly; Your Content; your breach of these Terms; your violation of any law or of anyone’s rights; including your authority to record information about a loved one under Section 5; or a dispute between you and another member of your care circle. We may take over the defense of any claim subject to this section, and you agree to cooperate with us if we do.

16. Suspension and Termination

16.1 By you

You can delete your account anytime in your settings. Deleting your account starts the data-deletion process described in our Privacy Policy.

16.2 By us

We may suspend or close your account if you materially breach these Terms, fail to pay, or to protect Hearthly, our users, or someone’s safety. Except where a delay would be harmful or impractical, we’ll give you reasonable notice and a chance to fix the problem. If we close a paid account without cause, we’ll refund the unused portion of fees you already paid (Section 8.5). Before any closure that we initiate, we’ll give you a reasonable opportunity to export your data unless the law or a safety concern prevents it. Where an account holds First Circle status or other complimentary benefits, termination under this Section also ends those benefits; see Section 8.6 for the relationship between Terms violations and incentive revocation.

16.3 What survives

Sections 5.4, 6.1, 6.2, 9, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 19.5, and any payment amounts already owed, continue to apply after your account ends.

16.4 If Hearthly shuts down (service discontinuation)

We hope Hearthly is around for a long time. But if we ever have to discontinue Hearthly — in whole or in part — we will try to wind down responsibly:

Notice. We will give you reasonable advance notice by email and in-app — at least 30 days where practical — before the service or your access ends, except where a shorter period is forced by law, a safety concern, or circumstances beyond our control (such as sudden insolvency).
Export your data. During the notice period we will keep accounts in a state that lets you and your circle export your data, and we will tell you how. We strongly encourage you to download anything you want to keep before the window closes.
Billing stops. Once we decide to wind down, we will stop new charges and will not renew subscriptions or add-ons.
Refunds for prepaid time. If we discontinue Hearthly and you have prepaid for a period you can no longer use (for example, the remaining months of an annual plan), we will refund the unused, prepaid portion, to the extent we are able and except where prohibited or limited by law or insolvency. For purchases made through an app store, refunds follow that store's process (Section 8.9).
First Circle members. Free beta access and the First Circle member designation end when the service ends, because there is no service left to apply them to.
Deleting data. After the export window closes, we will delete user personal data on the schedule described in our Privacy Policy, except records we must keep for legal, tax, or accounting reasons. Our Privacy Policy explains what happens to your data if Hearthly is wound down, sold, or transferred — including in a bankruptcy.
Insolvency. If the shutdown results from insolvency or bankruptcy, some of the steps above (especially refunds) may be limited or controlled by a court or by applicable law. Even then, we will aim to give you a chance to export your data before access ends.

17. Disputes — Arbitration and Class-Action Waiver

Please read this section carefully — it affects your legal rights, including your right to sue in court and to a jury trial. This section is governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.

17.1 Talk to us first

Most problems can be solved quickly. Before starting arbitration, please email us at legal@gethearthly.app with a short description of the issue and what you’d like, and give us 60 days to try to resolve it. This step is required before either of us starts an arbitration, except for the exceptions in Section 17.4.

17.2 Agreement to arbitrate

Except for the exceptions below, you and Dunn Studios LLC agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms, the Privacy Policy, or your use of Hearthly will be resolved by final and binding individual arbitration rather than in court.

17.3 How arbitration works

The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, which are available at adr.org. The arbitration will be held in Osceola County, Florida, or — at your choice — by phone, by videoconference, or based only on documents. An arbitrator can award the same individual relief a court could.

17.4 Exceptions

Either of us may bring an individual claim in small-claims court if it qualifies, and either of us may ask a court for an injunction to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property or to prevent irreparable harm while arbitration is pending.

17.5 Class-action waiver

YOU AND DUNN STUDIOS LLC AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, MASS, OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S CLAIMS OR PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF CLASS PROCEEDING.

17.6 How to opt out of arbitration

You can opt out of this arbitration agreement — and keep your right to go to court — by emailing legal@gethearthly.app within 30 days of first using Hearthly. Put “Arbitration Opt-Out” in the subject line and include your full name, the email on your account, and a clear statement that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out won’t affect anything else in these Terms, and we won’t hold it against you.

17.7 Who decides questions about arbitration

Disputes about whether a claim must be arbitrated are for a court to decide. Everything else about how the arbitration runs is for the arbitrator.

17.8 If part of this section fails

If any part of this Section 17 other than the class-action waiver is found unenforceable, that part is removed and the rest stays in effect. If the class-action waiver in Section 17.5 is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court, and the rest of Section 17 still applies to all other claims.

18. General

Governing law and venue. These Terms are governed by Florida law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. The Federal Arbitration Act governs Section 17. For any dispute that goes to court rather than arbitration, you and Dunn Studios LLC agree to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Osceola County, Florida.

Entire agreement. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the entire agreement between you and Dunn Studios LLC about Hearthly and replace any earlier agreements on this subject.

Severability. If a provision is found unenforceable, it will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary, and the rest stays in effect.

No waiver. If we don’t enforce a provision once, we can still enforce it later.

Force majeure. We are not responsible for any failure or delay in providing Hearthly caused by events beyond our reasonable control — including internet or hosting outages, failures of third-party providers, natural disasters, power failures, labor disputes, acts of government, or other emergencies.

Assignment. You can’t transfer your rights under these Terms without our written consent. We may transfer ours in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of our business, and we’ll let you know if that happens.

Changes to these Terms. We may update these Terms. If a change is material, we’ll let you know by email or in-app notice at least 14 days before it takes effect. If you keep using Hearthly after that, the updated Terms apply; if you don’t agree, you can stop using Hearthly and delete your account.

Changes to Hearthly. Hearthly evolves over time. We may add, change, improve, or remove features, and we may set or adjust limits, as part of running and improving the service. We’ll try to avoid removing features you rely on without reasonable notice, and a full discontinuation of Hearthly is handled under Section 16.4. Changing individual features is not, by itself, a refund-triggering event.

Contact. Questions or legal notices: legal@gethearthly.app.

19. Beta Testing & First Circle Membership

This section applies if you participate in Hearthly's closed beta or have been designated a Hearthly First Circle member. It sits alongside — and does not replace — the rest of these Terms.

19.1 The beta program

By joining the beta, you agree to use the pre-release version of Hearthly, to share feedback and report bugs, and to keep beta-specific details confidential unless we say otherwise. The beta version is provided "as is," without warranty of any kind, and may contain errors, missing features, or performance issues. Participation is at your own risk. We may collect additional usage data and technical information during the beta to improve Hearthly; that collection is covered by the Privacy Policy.

19.2 What First Circle membership is

First Circle member is an honorary, complimentary designation for beta testers who meet our participation requirements. It is personal, non-transferable, and exists solely to thank you for helping us build Hearthly.

First Circle members receive:

Free access to the closed beta during the beta period.
Optional public recognition on our public Friends of Hearthly page after the beta concludes (opt-in; you can decline or be removed at any time).
An in-app avatar identifier (a distinctive ring on your profile avatar) marking you as a First Circle member.

19.3 What First Circle membership is not

To be clear and to avoid any confusion: First Circle member status confers no financial stake, equity, ownership, intellectual property rights, profit-sharing, employment, partnership, board seat, voting rights, or any other entitlement in Hearthly, Dunn Studios LLC, or any affiliate. It does not create a claim on company revenue, valuation, or sale proceeds, and it does not give you any claim against us in the event of acquisition, merger, restructuring, liquidation, or bankruptcy. The benefits listed in Section 19.2 are the complete compensation for beta participation.

19.4 Recognition, removal, and removal from the program

At the end of the beta, we will invite First Circle members to be listed on a public Friends of Hearthly page. Listing is optional and opt-in; you can decline or ask to be removed at any time by emailing legal@gethearthly.app.

We may remove someone from the beta program for violating these Terms, abusive conduct, unauthorized disclosure of confidential beta information, or misuse of the platform. In most cases removal ends free beta access but preserves the First Circle member designation; in cases of serious violation, the designation and benefits may also be revoked.

19.5 Feedback license

When you give us feedback, bug reports, or suggestions, you grant Dunn Studios LLC a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, modify, and incorporate that feedback into Hearthly and related products. This license is about ideas and feedback only — it doesn't change who owns your account data (see the Privacy Policy) and it doesn't create any equity or financial entitlement.

19.6 Changes to First Circle terms

We may modify how First Circle member benefits are delivered (for example, the format of public recognition or the design of the avatar identifier) and we may update this section as Hearthly evolves, with reasonable notice in line with Section 18 ("Changes to these Terms").