Ivy Dictionary Terms of Service

Effective date: the date of first release
Developer: VNET LIMITED ("we", "us")
Contact: support@vnet.nz

Summary

Ivy Dictionary is an English–Chinese dictionary that runs offline on your device. You may use it under these terms; your word books and anything you import belong to you; dictionary content is for study and reference, and while we work hard on its quality we cannot promise it is error-free.

1. Accepting these terms

By downloading, installing or using Ivy Dictionary (the "App") you agree to these terms and to the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the App and uninstall it.

If you are under the age required by the law where you live, use the App only with the consent of a parent or guardian.

2. What the App provides

• The App is a local, offline dictionary: lookup, pronunciation, word books, review and the reader all run on your device.
• The App currently has no accounts and no server operated by us. The Android app does not request network access.
• Sync and export are started by you, and the files are stored where you choose; they never pass through us (see section 6).
• We may release updates through app stores or other channels to fix problems or improve or change features. We are not obliged to provide any particular feature or to keep releasing updates.

3. Licence

As long as you comply with these terms, we grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable licence to install and use the App on devices you own or control, subject to the rules of the app store you got it from.

The App — including its software, interface design, Ivy's own revisions of definitions and example translations, and the selection and arrangement of the dictionary — belongs to us or the respective rights holders. These terms do not transfer ownership of anything.

4. What you may not do

Unless the law expressly allows it, or an open-source licence listed in section 5 grants it, you may not:

• copy, sell, rent or distribute the App or its dictionary files, or offer them as part of another product or service;
• extract the App's dictionary content in bulk (including Ivy's own revisions and translations) to build or publish another dictionary, dataset or service;
• remove or alter copyright notices, licence notices or data-source attributions in the App;
• use the App unlawfully or to infringe anyone's rights.

5. Dictionary sources and open-source licences

The dictionary and some components come from third parties and are used under their own licences. The main ones:

• The full licence texts and copyright notices are in the App under Settings → About (关于 · 数据来源与署名) → Open-source licences (开源许可与版权声明), together with the licences of the other open-source libraries the App uses.
• We have revised some ECDICT definitions and added Chinese translations to some WordNet examples. These changes are our responsibility and do not represent the views of the original authors.
• CEFR levels shown in entries are estimated from word frequency and are not an official classification.
• Your rights under an open-source licence for the parts provided under it are not limited by these terms.

6. Your content

• Content you create or import in the App — word books, notes, context sentences, tags, review history, articles in the reader, and files you import such as TXT, CSV or Kindle vocabulary — belongs to you. It stays on your device; we do not receive it and claim no rights to it.
• Make sure you have the right to use what you import or paste into the App (for example, articles under someone else's copyright). The App processes it only on your device, for your personal study.
• You keep the sync key. Sync files are encrypted with it; we have no copy and cannot recover it. If the key is lost, sync files encrypted with it cannot be opened.
• Backups, sync files and any sync folder you choose are stored and moved by you. Back up important data regularly. Except where the law says otherwise, we are not responsible for data lost through a lost or damaged device, uninstalling, clearing app data, or a lost key.

7. For reference only

Dictionary content (definitions, phonetics, audio, examples, translations, exam tags, level estimates and so on) is provided for study and reference. It is compiled from public data, and some revisions and translations are still being reviewed (marked "draft" or "pending review" in the App), so it may contain errors, omissions or outdated information. Audio is synthesised by a speech model and may differ from natural speech.

Do not rely on the App as the only basis for legal, medical, financial, exam-grading or other professional purposes.

8. Disclaimer

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the App is provided "as is" and "as available". We make no express or implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or completeness of content, or uninterrupted or error-free operation.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss (including loss of data or profit) arising from using or being unable to use the App. The App is provided free of charge, and our total liability is limited to NZ$50.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits rights or liabilities that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including consumer protection law where you live.

10. Fees

The App is currently free, with nothing to pay for. If paid features are introduced later, their prices will be shown clearly in the App and these terms updated; payments made through an app store, including subscriptions and refunds, are handled under that store's rules.

11. Future features

If we later offer features that need network access (for example accounts or cloud sync), we will explain them in the App; they will come with their own supplementary terms and privacy notice, and we will ask for your consent before collecting any data. These terms are not a promise to offer such features.

12. Termination

You may stop using and uninstall the App at any time. If you seriously breach these terms, your licence ends automatically. Sections 4 to 9 and 13 survive termination.

13. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of New Zealand. Any dispute will first be discussed in good faith; if it cannot be resolved, it will be submitted to the courts of New Zealand. This does not affect any rights you have under mandatory law where you live.

14. Changes

We may update these terms. When we do, we will change the effective date on this page, and significant changes will be announced in the App or on its store page. Continuing to use the App after a change takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

15. General

• If any provision is found invalid, the rest remain in effect.
• These terms are published in Chinese and English with the same content; if they differ, the English version prevails.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: support@vnet.nz