AuthorPingAuthorPing Terms of Use
Effective date: 8 October 2026
These terms are an agreement between you and Hardbox (ABN 89 488 283 502), Victoria, Australia ("we", "us") about your use of the AuthorPing app and website. By using AuthorPing you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use the app.
What AuthorPing does
AuthorPing lets you follow book series, authors and books, and notifies you when a release date is announced and when a book comes out. Release information comes from Hardcover (hardcover.app), a community-maintained book database. We do our best to be accurate, but release dates change, and the catalogue can be incomplete or wrong. Please don't rely on AuthorPing for anything where a missed or incorrect date would cause you loss, such as a purchase deadline.
Your use of AuthorPing
- You must be at least 13 years old.
- Use the app only for personal, non-commercial purposes.
- Don't try to disrupt the service, get around its limits, access other people's accounts, copy the catalogue in bulk, or use automated tools against it.
- You're responsible for keeping access to the email address on your account, because that's how you sign in.
Accounts
An account is optional. It backs up your lists so you can sign in on another phone. You can delete it at any time in the app. We may suspend or remove accounts that break these terms.
Free and Premium
Following, release-date alerts and release-day alerts are free. Premium adds extra features, such as advance reminders, author alerts, calendar sync and personalised recommendations. New users get a free trial of Premium, with no payment details needed. We may change which features are free or Premium. The core promise, being told when a book you follow gets a date and when it comes out, stays free.
Paying for Premium
- Who takes the payment. Premium is a subscription bought through the App Store (iPhone and iPad) or Google Play (Android). Apple or Google charge your account when you confirm the purchase, under their own terms as well as these. We never see your card or bank details.
- Price. The price is shown in the app, in your own currency, before you buy. It is set through Apple and Google and may include tax.
- Renewal. Premium is monthly or yearly and renews automatically at the end of each period, at the price shown when it renews, until you cancel. If we ever raise the price, Apple or Google will tell you first, following their rules.
- Cancelling. Cancel any time in your App Store or Google Play subscription settings (the app links to them), at least 24 hours before the next renewal to avoid being charged for it. You keep Premium until the end of the period you have paid for. Deleting your AuthorPing account does not cancel a subscription.
- Refunds are handled by Apple or Google under their refund policies; ask them first. Nothing in these terms limits your rights under the Australian Consumer Law or other consumer laws that apply to you.
- More than one phone. If you're signed in to an AuthorPing account, Premium applies on every phone signed in to it. Use "Restore purchases" on a new phone that uses the same Apple ID or Google account.
Content and copyright
Book information, cover images and author photos come from Hardcover and remain the property of their owners. Cover images and author photos are uploaded by Hardcover's users. If you believe something shown in AuthorPing infringes your copyright, see our Copyright Policy.
The AuthorPing name, logo and app are ours. You may not copy or reuse them without permission.
Feedback
If you send us feedback or ideas, we may use them to improve AuthorPing without owing you anything for it.
No warranty
AuthorPing is provided "as is". We don't promise it will always be available, error-free or that every notification will arrive. Notifications depend on Apple, Google and your phone's settings, which are outside our control. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law or other laws that can't be excluded.
Limitation of liability
To the extent the law allows, we aren't liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss caused by missing, late or incorrect release information.
Ending
You can stop using AuthorPing and delete your account at any time. We may change or stop the service. If we shut AuthorPing down, we'll give reasonable notice where we can, so you can export your library.
Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. If a change matters, we'll say so in the app before it takes effect. Continuing to use AuthorPing after that means you accept the new terms.
Governing law
These terms are governed by the laws of Victoria, Australia.