Terms of Service

1. Acceptance

Tutor Chat is provided by Mike Fang, an individual operator with operations in China and Australia. “We” in these terms refers to that operator.

At registration, purchase, or a required terms update, read and accept these terms through the relevant confirmation process. If you disagree, you may stop using the service, export your data, or request account deletion. The privacy policy explains personal-information handling. Browsing a page, reading the privacy policy, or accepting these terms does not replace the specific notices and consent required for optional features, sensitive information, third-party sharing, or overseas processing.

2. Account and Eligibility

• Provide accurate, reachable account information and protect your account, password, and devices. Contact support promptly if you discover unauthorized access.
• Do not impersonate others, share unlawful content, bypass access restrictions, or interfere with system security.
• The service is not available to anyone under 14. Users aged 14 to 17 need a parent's or guardian's consent and supervision. You must also meet stricter age, region, and eligibility requirements imposed by your selected provider; Gemini API requires users to be at least 18. Do not evade restrictions with false age or location information.

3. Learning Content and AI Output

AI explanations, sample writing, speaking feedback, grammar analysis, vocabulary context, and question recommendations are for learning support and may be incomplete, inaccurate, or unsuitable for your exam goals. Use your own judgment and official exam materials. AI content does not constitute medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice.

We do not guarantee exam passes, score improvements, admissions, or learning outcomes. Mentioning an exam does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by its organizer.

AI output may resemble content received by others and may involve third-party rights. We do not guarantee exclusivity, copyright eligibility, or suitability for publication. Check facts, rights, and lawful use before sharing or publishing output.

4. User Content

You retain the rights you lawfully hold in content you enter, upload, or submit, and must have the rights or authorization needed to use it and process it for the requested feature. Providing a link, being able to play media, or accessing publicly available material does not automatically grant copying, transcription, redistribution, or commercial-use rights.

You grant us a non-exclusive license limited to operating the features you request, generating feedback, synchronizing learning records, providing support, and necessary security handling. Its scope and duration are limited to those purposes and the privacy policy's retention obligations. Necessary third-party processing follows the privacy policy and relevant authorization. These terms do not transfer your existing ownership or license us to sell your content.

If you believe content infringes your rights, contact 931284272@qq.com with its location, evidence of your rights, and contact details. We review the report, take action such as removal or restricted access as required by law, and consider explanations or appeals where permitted.

5. Membership, Payment, and Refunds

• PRO benefits, prices, currency, taxes, billing periods, automatic renewal, credit expiry, and features are described before purchase on the purchase page, Stripe/Z-Pay checkout, Google Play, or App Store. Promises made at purchase and rights that cannot be excluded by law also apply.
• Only a recurring subscription you choose and authorize renews and charges on its disclosed cycle until cancellation. We provide renewal and price-change notices as required by law and the purchase platform. One-time payments, credit packs, and permanent BYOK do not automatically become recurring subscriptions.
• Direct purchases on Web and the macOS direct-download app may use Stripe or Z-Pay. Stripe subscriptions can be managed or cancelled from the account page through the Stripe Customer Portal. Cancellation normally stops the next renewal while paid access continues through the current billing period; an offered immediate cancellation or legally required refund follows the applicable confirmation and statutory rights. After direct Android sales were retired, valid callbacks for existing orders remain supported, but new orders are not created.
• Google Play handles payments for membership and learning credits in the Google Play Android app. Subscription management, cancellation, and platform refunds use Google Play. A refund revokes the corresponding purchase's entitlements; for credit packs, only the unused balance is revoked. This balance-adjustment rule does not limit any statutory refund amount or remedy.
• Apple purchases are processed by Apple for payment, subscription management, and platform refunds. Platform refund requests normally use Apple or App Store channels. You may also contact support about service problems or obligations we must fulfill under law.
• Uninstalling the app or deleting an account does not guarantee cancellation across all channels; cancel through the purchase channel and check its confirmation. Google Play account deletion queues a request to stop future payments. Credits are not cash, and their grant, expiry, and consumption follow the terms disclosed before purchase. Cancelling renewal does not itself guarantee a refund and does not exclude statutory refund rights.
• Manual membership starts after an administrator verifies payment. If payment cannot be verified, we explain what information is needed and handle the review. If you have paid but we cannot supply the agreed service, remedies or refunds follow the purchase agreement and applicable law.
• Permanent BYOK is a one-time entitlement with a planned reference price of USD 24.99; the actual currency, tax, and transaction price are shown by Stripe Checkout or App Store. Before purchase, you must add a default LLM API and successfully verify it within the previous 24 hours. Restoring an existing purchase does not require entering a key first.
• The first permanent BYOK activation grants 3,000 learning credits once, with no recurring refill or cash redemption. Your own LLM, TTS, and ASR calls do not consume Tutor Chat learning credits but are billed by your API provider. System models, system ASR, system TTS, and speech evaluation still consume credits under product rules.
• “Permanent” refers to the account entitlement associated with this one-time purchase and does not include third-party API usage or service availability. Necessary provider or capability changes may occur for security, legal compliance, compatibility, or provider API changes. We do not convert a purchased permanent entitlement into recurring charges merely through a general terms update.
• If we plan to discontinue the service or materially reduce a purchased core entitlement, we give advance notice where reasonably possible, explaining the impact and available options. Urgent security or legal requirements may require immediate action. If we can no longer honor a purchased entitlement, we handle alternatives, termination, and refunds as required by purchase promises and applicable law; the word “permanent” or a third-party failure does not exclude our legal obligations.
• For direct-purchase refunds or payment disputes, contact 931284272@qq.com with the order identifier and issue; do not send full card details or account passwords. Platform purchasers may use platform channels and also contact support. Purchase-page rules, consumed credits, cancellation terms, or platform processes do not exclude mandatory consumer rights.

6. Third-Party Content and Services

The product may display or process content and links from YouTube, Bilibili, Apple, Podcast Index, podcast publisher RSS feeds, external audio hosts, AI providers, or other third parties. Third-party services are governed by their own terms and privacy policies. Podcast Index supplies directory search only; publisher RSS is authoritative for show and episode content.

The YouTube entry may show the YouTube website in the system WKWebView and play a selected video with YouTube's official embedded player. YouTube sign-in accesses YouTube and is not a Tutor Chat account login; Tutor Chat does not receive or store YouTube credentials. Your use of YouTube is subject to the YouTube Terms of Service and Google Privacy Policy.

You may import and use only public RSS feeds and audio that you are authorized to access. Do not bypass authentication, paywalls, geographic restrictions, or publisher controls, and do not use the playback proxy as a general downloader or open proxy.

When using third-party AI or BYOK, comply with the provider's applicable age, location, account, and data rules. Free and paid tiers may differ. A working connection alone does not establish eligibility or content authorization.

7. Acceptable Use

• Do not upload unlawful, infringing, fraudulent, malicious, harassing, or privacy-invasive content.
• Do not reverse engineer except where applicable law expressly permits it and does not allow that right to be excluded by contract. Do not scrape without authorization, bulk-abuse, attack, bypass paid access, or disrupt the service.
• Do not use AI output for cheating, misrepresenting your ability, violating exam rules, or other dishonest purposes.

8. Intellectual Property

The interface, code, design, brand, and content we lawfully own or license belong to us or their respective rights holders. You receive a limited, non-transferable license to use the service under these terms. Rights in third-party material, your content, and AI output are determined by the applicable rights, licenses, and law.

9. Suspension and Termination

For breaches, security risks, fraud, or payment irregularities, we may restrict, suspend, or terminate access in proportion to the risk and breach. Where lawful and compatible with urgent security action, we explain the reason and handling process and give you an opportunity to respond or appeal. Contact 931284272@qq.com.

You may stop using the service and request account and personal-data deletion through the account-deletion page or privacy email. Suspension or termination does not automatically exclude statutory export or deletion rights, remedies for paid services, or other consumer rights. Data handling and necessary retention follow the privacy policy.

10. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

Probabilistic AI, network interruptions, and third-party dependencies can affect service. We remain responsible under applicable law and the service promises we make. Learning outcomes and exam scores are not guaranteed; a third-party failure does not automatically exclude responsibility for our own conduct, purchased entitlements, or statutory duties.

These terms do not exclude or limit liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including, where Chinese law applies, liability for personal injury and property loss caused intentionally or through gross negligence.

Where the Australian Consumer Law applies, non-excludable consumer guarantees and remedies continue to apply. For a major service failure, you may terminate the contract and obtain a refund for the unused portion or compensation for reduced value, as well as compensation for reasonably foreseeable loss. Other problems must be remedied within a reasonable time, with termination or refunds available where required if they are not remedied. The precise rights and remedies follow applicable law.

11. Governing Law and Contact

The operator is Mike Fang, an individual operating in China and Australia. Applicable law and jurisdiction are determined under law by the transaction, business locations, your location, and other relevant connections. These terms do not impose an exclusive court or arbitration venue that removes your statutory rights, or prevent access to a competent court or regulator.

For a service or terms dispute, contact 931284272@qq.com with the issue and relevant order or account information so we can investigate and try to resolve it. This contact step does not prevent you from seeking a legal remedy directly.

12. Changes to These Terms

The revision date is shown above, and this revision takes effect on actual publication and completion of any required notice process. Material changes are notified in advance, or promptly as required by law, through in-product notices, email, or another means reasonably reaching you. Where law or the product process requires confirmation, we request confirmation of the new version.

An update must not unfairly reduce purchased entitlements or retrospectively exclude responsibility for events that have already occurred. Price, renewal, permanent-entitlement, and service-discontinuation changes follow Section 5 and applicable law. If you disagree, you may stop using the service and request export, deletion, or applicable payment remedies. Historical versions can be requested through support.