Activating your License of Hookmark App for Mac

This web page explains the process for activating your Hookmark macOS app.

Background

Hookmark is purchased via the Hookmark buy page. Paddle.com is the “merchant of record” for the purchases of the Hookmark app. The Hookmark buy page checkout process interacts with Paddle.com.

In a nutshell: CogSci Apps does not issue license keys that you enter into software. Instead, Paddle.com sends you an email containing a license activation web link. Clicking on that link (as described below) activates your license.

Emails from Paddle.com

After purchasing Hookmark via its buy page, Paddle.com will send you two emails.

  1. Subject: Your order: Hookmark Pro or Your order: Hookmark Standard.
  2. Subject: Your Hookmark Pro Paddle.com Order or Your Hookmark Standard Paddle.com Order.

The first email contains the following hypertext (and more).

your Order confirmation # <followed by its number>
Thank you for your purchase!
View your invoice, where you add/edit your invoice address

and some other information. The “view your invoice” text is a hyperlink to Paddle.com where you can view your invoice.

The second email contains a License Key web link (URL). You can search your email client for emails from Paddle.com containing “License Key” and “hook” to find this.

If you did not receive the expected emails, it is likely because it has gone into a spam/junk mail filter. Please have a look.

License key activation

To activate your Hookmark license on the current Mac, click on the License Key web link in the email from Paddle.com. It has the form `https://hook.cogsciapps.com/activate?info=` followed by a long alpha-numerical string.

When you click on that web link, macOS will request your default web browser to open that link. In turn, your browser will then ask for permission to invoke Hookmark. Accept this.

Hookmark will connect to https://CogSciApps.com to authenticate the license. If successful, Hookmark will activate your license on the current Mac.

*Of course you need to make sure that your Mac is connected to the Internet to activate the license.

License activation assumptions

  1. You have purchased the license.
  2. Hookmark has been downloaded and installed onto the current Mac.
  3. You have not installed Hookmark on more Macs than your license allows (see Buy page for details).
  4. Your Mac is connected to the Internet when clicking on a Hookmark license URL.

Installing Hookmark on a new Mac

If you install Hookmark on a new Mac, be sure to reactivate your original license.

  1. Find your original license key email from Paddle.com containing “Hookmark license”.
  2. Click on the link on that Mac.
  3. Repeat this for your latest Hookmark Updates license (if any).

If you upgraded from Hookmark Standard to Hookmark Pro, you’ll need to click on the Hookmark Upgrade license URL in step 2, then continue with step 3 if it is relevant (i.e., in subsequent years).

Update licenses

If you have purchased a one-year software Updates license you’ll need to click on your latest Updates license URL.

On a new Mac first click on the original license, then click on the the latest Updates license URL.

Upgrade licenses

If you have purchased an Upgrade from Standard to Pro license, you’ll need to apply that license URL too.

License key email expiration (for valid licenses)

If your purchase of a Hookmark license was Hook 2.1 or later, then you can ignore this section. I.e., as of Hookmark 2.1, Hookmark license URLs do not expire.

The emails that Paddle sends which contain your license key (pre Hookmark 2.1) expire after one year. (Before version 1.8 of Hookmark, license activation links expired sooner.) That means that when you click on the email from Paddle that contains the old activation link,`https://hook.cogsciapps.com/activate?info=` (mentioned above), you might get a notice from Hookmark saying that the link has expired:

“The link you attempted to use to activate this license has expired. We will send a new activation link to you via the email you used to purchase this license.”

You will get an email from support@cogsciapps.com containing a new license activation link. (You might need to check your spam folder for it). Please note that is a CogSciApps.com email, not a Paddle.com email.

Please make sure your Mac is connected to the Internet during this process.

“Hookmark license is damaged” dialog box

If you see a dialog box saying “Hookmark license is damaged”, then simply re-apply your previous license. The message contains instructions:

The license information on this Mac is damaged. Please reactivate your license using
the link in the email you originally received from help@paddle.com (its subject contains
“Your Hookmark … order” and its body contains “License Key”). If you are (or were) told that
link expired, you
will be (or have been) sent a new link from support@cogsciapps.com
(its subject would contain “Your Hookmark License”).

If you cannot find the license email, please email support@cogsciapps.com with the
email address you used to purchase your Hookmark license.

so,

  1. Click on the the original Hookmark Standard or Hookmark Pro license link.
  2. Click on the latest “Hookmark Standard Updates” or “Hookmark Pro Updates” license link.

If you upgraded from Hookmark Standard to Hookmark Pro, you’ll need to click on the Hookmark Upgrade license URL in step 2, then continue with step 2 if it is relevant (i.e., in subsequent years).

Relaunch Hookmark

If after applying a Hookmark license, Hookmark still seems to be in BASIC mode, please quit and restart Hookmark. That should solve it.

Why use this license activation system?

While it takes a few paragraphs to describe this system. In fact, it typically involves fewer steps than traditional license activation schemes (which involve, selecting the license key, copying the license, finding the UI widget for the license key [not every app puts it the same place], interacting with it, and then pasting it). With our system, you can activate your license as soon as you receive the email with the link by simply clicking on that link. (And since Hookmark is all about links, using links makes sense 😉).

Also, you don’t need to store or record license keys. If you need to reinstall Hookmark, just search for your email(s) from Paddle.com containing “license key”. Another advantage is that this process is fully automated based on email. If you need to activate Hookmark on a new Mac, you won’t need to deal with a human. You get 24-hour service.

Contact us

If you have any questions please visit our support pages or email hook@cogsciapps.com.