Terms of Use

Last updated: 2026-11-01 · Effective: 2026-11-01

Hook & Hour is a focus timer: sit one full line, catch one sea creature. These are the terms for using it, kept as short as we can.

1. Scope

These terms are an agreement between you and Inchfield Technologies Limited ("we") about your use of the Hook & Hour app (一竿 in Chinese; its Home Screen name follows your system language: Hook & Hour in English, 一竿 in Chinese; "the app"). Because you get the app from the App Store, Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement also applies; where the two differ on matters between you and Apple, Apple's agreement governs. How we handle information is described in the Privacy Policy.

2. License

We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to install and use the app on Apple devices you own or control, under the App Store rules. Please do not reverse-engineer, extract or resell the app's content or assets, except where the law allows it.

3. Content and intellectual property

• The atlas, portraits, text, voices, films, music, interface and code belong to us or their respective owners unless stated otherwise. The atlas takes the Qing-dynasty bestiary Haicuo Tu as its root and is our own original re-creation.
• Some images, voices and motion were made with AI and then retouched by hand; see the AI-generated content notice.
• You may share your own catches through share cards for non-commercial purposes without further permission.
• The old accounts and modern notes in the atlas are for learning and enjoyment, not professional advice.

4. Screen Time and bait

• Bait is optional. It uses iOS Screen Time to shut apps you picked yourself while a session runs. It is a tool for managing yourself, not parental control, and must not be used to control someone else's device.
• Shields are lifted by iOS when the session ends, sometimes a few dozen seconds late; you can also end a session at any time by long-pressing Leave. A Deep Water member's Strict line cannot be ended by long-pressing, but it always has an emergency exit that lifts the shields at once.
• Emergency SOS is not affected by the app. Do not put on the hook any app you may need at a moment's notice (for example for on-call work, navigation or caring for someone).

5. Seals, trading, fish letters and shared ponds from V1.2

• People can only send each other content built from fixed phrases and word lists; fisher names and pond names are built the same way.
• A trade is a one-for-one exchange both people agree to on the spot; the fish you give belongs to the other person afterwards. Your atlas records are never changed by a trade.
• Do not pressure or trick anyone into trading or exchanging seals, and do not use a modified client to forge fish cards. Forged histories never count toward any progress.
• Shared ponds rely on Apple's iCloud, whose availability depends on Apple's terms and your iCloud settings.

6. Deep Water membership and purchases

The core of the app is free. The optional paid items, Deep Water and Deep Water Lifetime, are sold as In-App Purchases through the App Store:

These are base prices in US dollars. In the five regions where the app is first available, the App Store prices set on 2026-11-01 are below. Prices may change with exchange rates or taxes; the price shown on the in-app purchase page and at App Store checkout is always the one that applies.

• What membership includes: a stronger guard (up to 5 named bait lists, scheduled sessions, Strict mode), every voice (all dialogue audio, the qin and future soundscapes), deeper looks (focus patterns, monthly and yearly logbooks, high-resolution long images, share templates, an editable gazette) and pond arrangement (place things you have found in your pond, keep 3 pond layouts). The purchase page is authoritative.
• Payment and auto-renewal: payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period; your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period.
• If a renewal payment fails: there is a 16-day grace period during which membership keeps working; please check your payment method in Settings. If payment still has not gone through after that, membership ends as described under "When membership ends".
• Free trial: only the yearly plan has a 7-day free trial, for first-time subscribers only; the monthly plan and Lifetime do not. Under Apple's eligibility rules the trial is available once per Apple Account. If you do not cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends, you are charged the yearly price. Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited when you buy another subscription.
• Manage or cancel: in Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions on your iPhone, also reachable from the in-app purchase page. After you cancel, you keep membership until the end of the period you paid for, and it does not renew. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.
• Restore purchases: on a new phone, after reinstalling, or on another device with the same Apple Account, tap Restore Purchases on the purchase page or in Settings.
• Buying Lifetime while subscribed: your subscription is not cancelled automatically; cancel it yourself in Settings to avoid being charged again.
• What Lifetime includes: all Deep Water benefits available on the day you buy it, forever, plus the core tool-type benefits added later (such as soundscapes, pond arrangement and look-back features); in-house content already released on the day you buy it stays available forever. It does not include separately priced future Outer Sea volumes, licensed IP or brand collaborations, or printed products.
• What you always keep without paying: focusing, fishing, the reveal, your atlas and your pond; the creatures of the main atlas can all be earned by focusing, at odds that never depend on payment; one bait list, the whitelist, the Shortcut whole-screen mode and leaving at any time; all text and subtitles; the water and rain soundscapes; your full history and raw data export. We sell no odds, no speed-ups and no make-up days, and show no ads.
• When membership ends: the creatures you have caught, your notes, portraits, saved water notes, history, the basic pond and every free feature stay. Dialogue audio and member soundscapes no longer play; all your bait lists stay on the phone but only the first can be used, the rest return when you renew; scheduled sessions pause and no longer start lines; Strict mode turns off; a line already in the water finishes with the settings it was cast with, and iOS still lifts the shields at the end, so an expiry never leaves shields on your phone. Focus patterns go back to the free data pages, and long images you exported and gazettes you saved remain; the most recent pond layout stays visible, the others are kept on the phone and come back when you renew.
• Refunds: handled by Apple under its policies. After a refund the related benefits are removed; creatures you have caught stay.
• Separate versions: purchases and membership in Hook & Hour and in the mainland China version 一竿专注 do not carry over between them.

Subscriptions and purchases are also covered by Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement and these terms. No purchase affects what you catch; the app sells no random items or odds.

7. No health claims

Hook & Hour is a productivity tool. It does not give medical, psychological or health advice or diagnoses. If you are struggling with focus, sleep or phone use, please talk to a professional.

8. Disclaimer and limitation of liability

The app is provided as is. To the extent the law allows, we do not guarantee it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we are not liable for indirect losses from using or being unable to use it. Your data lives on your device, so please keep backups. Nothing here limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

9. Changes and termination

When these terms change we will update this page with the date; significant changes will be announced in the app. You can stop using and delete the app at any time.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Disputes will first be settled through good-faith discussion, and otherwise by the courts of Hong Kong, without prejudice to mandatory consumer protections where you live.

11. Contact

Email: [email protected]