FAQ

The questions that come up most often. Not here? Write to hello@affordancedesign.in — we read every one.

• How does PagePulse know what a book will do to me?

  For public-domain works, the analysis reads the actual text chapter by chapter. For in-print books, it works from careful inference — title, themes, reviews, the author's wider corpus — to produce the same emotional fingerprint shape. Either way you get the chapter-level chart, pulse, darkness, hope, complexity, and a verdict card before chapter one.

• How accurate is the emotional fingerprint?

  It's a directional read, not a science. Two careful human readers wouldn't agree on a book's pulse score to one decimal place, and PagePulse doesn't either. What it does well: surface emotional shape, flag what you're about to feel, and find adjacencies in your library. Treat it like a literate friend who has read everything — opinionated, sometimes wrong, always useful as a starting point.

• Is my data private?

  Your library, analyses, and reading patterns live in Google Firebase under your Google account. We never sell user data, never share it with advertisers, and the app contains no ads. AI providers receive book content for analysis but not your account or library. Camera images for Shelfie scans are processed in memory only and never stored. Full details at thepagepulse.com/privacy.

• What does the Shelfie scan need to work?

  A bookshelf with at least three or four spines visible, decent lighting, and a steady frame. PagePulse reads each spine, looks the titles up against a live catalogue of millions of books, and pulls in real covers and ISBNs and metadata as it goes. Best results when spines are vertical, text is readable, and you're close enough that spines fill at least a third of the frame.

• What if PagePulse misidentifies a book on my shelf?

  Tell us. The Books API search isn't perfect — substring matches sometimes win over exact ones. After a scan, every detected book appears in your library; tap any wrong one and remove it. If you see the same misidentification pattern repeatedly, email hello@affordancedesign.in with the spine description and what got returned — that's how the ranking heuristic improves.

• Can I use PagePulse offline?

  Reading your existing library — yes. Browsing your patterns, opening a book detail you've already analysed, looking at recommendations — yes. The two things that need a connection: Shelfie scans (computer vision runs server-side) and book analysis (also server-side). The app surfaces a clear offline prompt when these are attempted without a network.

• How do I import my Goodreads or StoryGraph library?

  Library tab → Import CSV. Goodreads: Account → Export Library → download the CSV. StoryGraph: Settings → Export → download CSV. Either file works as-is — PagePulse reads it, looks every title up against the catalogue, and queues analysis for each book. A library of 200 books typically completes its initial analyses overnight.

• How often are For You recommendations updated?

  Once daily, generated around midnight UTC based on your library state at that moment. Pulse, persona, and recent additions all feed in. If you add 30 books today, you'll see noticeably different recommendations tomorrow morning.

• What happens when I delete my account?

  All your library, analyses, recommendations, and persona data are removed from our servers permanently within seven days (usually within minutes). The Firebase Auth record goes too. The app on your device clears its local cache and returns to the sign-in screen. Books in the shared catalogue stay — those aren't personal data.

• Is there an iOS version?

  Not yet. We're Android-first because Capacitor + Google Sign-In + Play Store Billing was the cleanest first launch. iOS is on the roadmap, dependent on Apple Sign-In and App Store reviewer scheduling. If you're an iOS reader who wants early access, email hello@affordancedesign.in.

• Refunds?

  Google Play handles refunds — not us. Within 48 hours of purchase you can request a refund directly through the Play Store (Play app → My orders → tap the order → Refund). Up to 7 days you can request via Google Support. Beyond that it's Google's discretion. We can't intervene either direction.