In one sentence: we don't collect your personal data. There is no account, no advertising, and no third-party tracking. Three optional online features exist — Invite Friends, Feature Wishes, and the Pro code campaign — and they send only a random install identifier, content you choose to submit, or your claim record (see section 11).
1. What we don't collect
- No sign-up, login, or personal profile.
- No name, email, phone number, location, contacts, photos, advertising identifier (IDFA), or system device identifier (IDFV/serial number).
- No third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking SDKs.
- No focus records, tasks, catches, outfits, or settings sent to a developer server.
- No access to your Screen Time history, and no knowledge of which specific apps you shield.
- Exception: if you use the optional Invite Friends feature, the app sends a random install identifier to our service; if you claim a Pro code, the app sends the App Store–signed app credential and we keep only a one-way hash of its transaction identifier plus the claim record. Neither is linked to your identity or used for tracking (see section 11).
2. Data kept only on your device
The following is used for the app's features, stays on your device by default, and is never used for advertising or profiling:
- Focus sessions, tasks, your fish book, outfits, achievements, and settings.
- Notes you write to yourself in drift bottles.
- Images created with the on-board camera (they leave the app only when you choose to save or share them through the system share sheet).
- Crash and hang diagnostics generated by Apple MetricKit (up to 10 reports; they leave the device only when you export and share them from Settings).
Widgets, Live Activities, and the Focus Lock extensions share necessary state on-device through an App Group (for example, the current timer and language). That state does not leave your device.
Health, Calendar, and Reminders (optional, off by default)
Settings → Health, Calendar & Reminders has three switches. Health and Calendar are write-only; Reminders reads back only the list the app itself created, so a checkmark on either side stays in sync.
- Health: each completed session is written to Health as a Mindful Session so you can see it next to your other mindful minutes. The app never reads Health data and never uploads it.
- Calendar: a completed session adds one event to a calendar named "航海的猫" that the app creates. The app does not read your existing calendars.
- Reminders: your own to-do items are mirrored into a reminders list the app creates; completion state is read back from that list only. Other lists are never read.
- Health and Calendar content stays in the system apps on your device. Turning a switch off stops further writes, and existing entries can be deleted in the system apps.
3. iCloud sync and backup (optional)
If you turn on Settings → Sync data to iCloud, this data is stored in your own iCloud account (Apple iCloud key-value storage) to keep devices signed in to the same Apple ID in sync.
If you turn on iCloud backup, backup snapshots are stored in your own iCloud Drive, in the app's container (iCloud.com.sea.sailingcat), so you can restore after an accidental deletion, a new device, or a data problem.
To merge saves from multiple devices, the app generates a random identifier and stores it with your save on this device and in your iCloud. It contains no device model, serial number, or advertising identifier, and cannot be used to identify you.
- This data is handled and encrypted by Apple's iCloud service; we cannot access, read, or restore it.
- You can turn sync or backup off at any time in the app's settings.
- You can also manage storage in iOS Settings → Apple Account → iCloud.
- Deleting the app does not automatically delete data in iCloud.
4. Screen Time (Focus Lock)
Focus Lock uses Apple's Screen Time (Family Controls) framework to shield the apps you choose.
- Your selection is stored on-device as opaque tokens provided by Apple; the app cannot see which apps they are and never reads your usage history.
- It is used only for focus sessions you set for yourself. It does not provide parental or third-party monitoring.
- You can revoke permission at any time in iOS Settings → Screen Time.
5. Motion sensors and notifications
Motion data is used on-device, in real time, to let deck items roll as you tilt your phone. It is never stored or uploaded.
Session-end and drift-bottle reminders are scheduled locally by iOS and do not pass through our servers. You can turn notifications off at any time in iOS Settings.
6. On-board camera and sharing
Photos and fish-rubbing cards are created on your device. The app does not read your photo library or upload images automatically; an image leaves the app only when you choose to save it to Photos or send it to someone through the system share sheet.
7. In-app purchases
Subscriptions and one-time purchases are processed by the Apple App Store. We never receive your card number, billing address, or other payment information.
We may receive aggregated sales and subscription-status data from Apple to understand product performance; it does not identify you. Subscriptions renew automatically and can be canceled at any time in iOS Settings → Apple Account → Subscriptions.
8. Children's privacy
The app does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. It is not specifically directed to children and contains no accounts, chat, advertising, or external social features.
9. Your rights and deleting data
- On-device data: open Settings → About Sailing Cat → Start Over in the app, or delete the app.
- iCloud sync data: when sync is on, Start Over also clears the synced iCloud data; you can also turn sync off.
- iCloud backups: delete individual backups in Settings → iCloud Backup.
- Developer-side data: because we do not collect personal data, there is generally no developer-side data to access, correct, export, or delete.
- Invite records: these contain only a random install identifier and an invite code and cannot be tied to your identity. Records are kept until the feature is retired or you ask us to delete them. To have a record deleted, email us the invite code shown in the app.
- Pro campaign records: these contain only a one-way hash of the transaction identifier, the claim time, the code, and the queue position, and cannot be tied to your identity. Records are kept until the campaign is retired or you ask us to delete them; benefits already redeemed to an Apple ID are managed by Apple and cannot be reclaimed by us.
- Feature wishes: these are suggestions you sent us. Wishes are shown publicly on the wish board (with a nickname you can change or omit entirely) and are kept until you ask us to remove them. To delete one, email us the nickname or the text you submitted.
- Online feedback: the message you choose to submit at /feedback, an optional contact (such as an email address), and—when opened from the app—the app version, iOS version, and device model. Feedback is never published; only the developer can read it, and it is used solely to investigate issues and reply to you. It is kept for up to 12 months after it has been handled. To delete it, email us with the ticket number or the email address you used.
If your jurisdiction (for example, the EU GDPR or California CCPA/CPRA) gives you rights to access, delete, correct, or restrict processing of personal data, you can still contact us; because we do not collect personal data, those rights generally have no data to act on. We do not sell or share your personal information.
10. Data security
On-device data is protected by the iOS sandbox and your device passcode; iCloud data is protected by Apple's encryption and account security. We do not sell, rent, or share your data, because we do not collect it.
11. Third-party services
- Apple App Store: processes in-app purchases.
- Apple iCloud: provides optional sync and backup.
- Railway (our invite, wish, and campaign service): hosts four optional features. (1) Invite Friends stores a random install identifier, an invite code, and an invite count to credit both sides; it is not linked to your identity and is not used for tracking. (2) Feature wishes store only what you choose to submit (plus the nickname you optionally provide) and display it publicly on the wish board. (3) The Pro code campaign can only be claimed in the app. The app sends the App Store–signed app credential (AppTransaction) so our server can confirm the app came from the App Store and give each Apple ID one code; we store only a one-way hash of its transaction identifier, the claim time, the code, and the queue position, and we never receive your Apple ID, name, email, payment details, or purchase history. Redemption is handled by Apple. For all four, your IP is used briefly for rate limiting and is not stored in the database. None needs an account, and none uploads your focus records, tasks, or health data. (4) Online feedback: stores the feedback you write, an optional contact, and the app version/OS/device the app attaches; it is not public and no IP address is recorded. The server uses IP addresses only in memory for rate limiting and for counting one wish-board vote per network per wish for up to 30 days (cleared whenever the service restarts); they are never written to the database.
- Our website: the support page, this privacy policy, and the wish board are hosted on a small Railway service, with a mirror of the same pages on GitHub Pages; neither receives app data. When you visit, the server sees your IP address and browser information as any website does; we use the IP only for brief rate limiting, never store it, and run no analytics (GitHub Pages keeps its own standard access logs under GitHub's privacy policy, which we do not control). When you switch language on the site, we set one small cookie (
lang) that stores only your language choice. It contains no personal identity information, is not used for tracking, and your browser can clear it at any time. The website no longer sets a claim cookie (the formersc_pro_idcookie is retired).
Other than these services, the app includes no third-party SDKs.
12. Changes and contact
When this policy changes, we update the effective date at the top of the page; material changes will be explained in the app or prominently on this page. Continuing to use the app means you accept the updated policy.
Developer: Xiaoxi Li
Support and privacy questions: support page · theiceocean@outlook.com
We'll reply as soon as we can.