Terms of use – Cloudlit

1. Provider and scope

The provider of the Cloudlit app is Christian Hermann & Martina Hermann GbR, An Rainen 3, 72525 Münsingen, Germany, email apps@bitbeans.de.

These terms apply to the use of the app and to purchases in the app (monthly and yearly subscription). Download and billing run through Apple's App Store or Google Play; their terms apply in addition. For purchases in the App Store, Apple's Standard End User License Agreement applies.

2. Scope of service

The app offers a catalog of read-aloud children's stories with reading help. Three stories per language can be used without a purchase; all other stories in the catalog are available with a subscription.

We keep adding to the catalog. There is no entitlement to a certain number or selection of new stories, to particular languages or to a particular release schedule. Stories are downloaded to the device for reading; this requires an internet connection.

With a subscription, parents can have their own stories created from picture cards in the Story Workshop. The workshop is available each calendar month within an allowance that the app shows in the parents' area; unused stories expire at the end of the month and do not carry over. The workshop relies on third-party text and voice services and is part of the service under section 6, including the change of providers. If their costs or availability change significantly, we may adjust the allowance appropriately with at least 30 days' notice; stories already created are not affected. If a reduction impairs your use more than insignificantly, your rights under section 6 apply. To prevent abuse, we may limit orders that are clearly not for private use within the family.

3. Children and parents

The app is made for children, but contracts are concluded by parents. The purchase page, purchases, settings and feedback can therefore only be reached behind a parental gate. By purchasing, parents confirm that they have read these terms.

Whether a purchase can be shared with other household members through Family Sharing depends on the rules of the respective store.

4. Subscription, price and cancellation

There is a monthly subscription and a yearly subscription. The price shown by Apple or Google before the purchase always applies.

A subscription renews automatically for the chosen period unless it is canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to the store account when the purchase is confirmed, and renewal within the last 24 hours before the period ends. A subscription can only be canceled and managed in the subscription settings of the Apple or Google account; we cannot cancel a subscription for you. After cancellation, the stories stay unlocked until the end of the paid period; after that, only the three free stories per language can be used again. Favorites are kept.

Apple and Google handle refunds of a purchase under their own rules; our own refunds under sections 6 and 7 remain unaffected. If a store confirms a refund, the unlock ends with the next check.

5. Right of withdrawal

Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal. The contracting party for the purchase is the respective store, so you address a withdrawal to Apple or Google. Under section 356 BGB, early expiry of the right of withdrawal requires, among other things, your express consent to the immediate start of performance and your acknowledgement that you are aware of this; the store handles these steps in its purchase flow.

6. Changes to and discontinuation of the service

We may change or discontinue the service in whole or in part – for example the catalog on the server or individual languages – for good cause, for instance if operation becomes economically unreasonable, third-party providers cease or substantially change their prices, the law changes or security reasons require it.

We announce a discontinuation at least 90 days in advance in the app and in the store description. Stories that have already been downloaded remain usable on the device as far as technically and legally possible.

We choose the services we use to run the app – such as servers and third-party text and voice services – ourselves and may change providers at any time. In doing so, we keep the function essentially equivalent for you, in particular in quality, languages and child protection. If that is not possible because a service ceases or its costs or terms change significantly, we adjust the affected part appropriately and announce this in the app at least 30 days in advance. For as long as we offer the app, we provide the updates needed to use it as agreed (section 327f of the German Civil Code, BGB). If a change impairs your use more than insignificantly, we inform you in advance on a durable medium (for example with a notice in the app that you can save) about the nature and timing of the change and about your rights; you then have the statutory rights, in particular under section 327r BGB (ending the contract and a proportionate refund).

7. Consequences of a discontinuation

Running subscriptions end when the paid period expires and no longer renew.

For periods paid in advance: if a paid subscription period extends beyond the end of the service, we refund on request the share of the price attributable to the remaining time. An email to apps@bitbeans.de with the order number from Apple’s or Google’s purchase confirmation is enough; we refund directly. Further statutory rights remain unaffected.

8. Content and rights of use

The stories retell public-domain fairy tales in our own words. We review texts, pictures and narration voices before publication.

You receive a simple, non-transferable right to use the app and the unlocked stories privately on the devices of your store account. Our adaptations, pictures, narrations and the design of the app are protected by copyright. Passing on or publishing the downloaded packages, reselling, renting, circumventing technical protection measures and reverse engineering are not permitted unless allowed by law.

Workshop stories are created automatically from the selection made; our server checks them automatically, but we do not read each one beforehand. That is why the app releases a new workshop story to the child only after a parent has viewed and released it in the parents' area; with "Report a story" you can tell us about an unsuitable story. Workshop stories are for private use within the family only and are not shared with anyone. In case of abuse or repeated justified reports, we may block the workshop for an installation; stories already created remain usable. We delete the server copy after 30 days; the copy on the device stays until you delete it and remains usable even if the workshop is discontinued.

9. Liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, for fraudulently concealed defects and under the German Product Liability Act.

In the case of simple negligence, we are only liable for the breach of essential contractual obligations, meaning obligations whose fulfillment makes the proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance you may regularly rely; in this case, liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for the contract. Any further liability is excluded.

10. Changes to these terms, governing law and contact

We may amend these terms with effect for the future, for example if the law changes or new features are added. We announce material changes to your disadvantage during a running subscription in the app; you can then end the subscription in the store. We change the scope of purchases already paid for only under section 6. The version in force is always on this page.

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Mandatory consumer protection provisions of the country in which you have your habitual residence remain unaffected.

We answer questions about these terms at apps@bitbeans.de. We are neither willing nor obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.