Jell Privacy Policy

Effective: August 3, 2026

Jell is built by one person (hi, I'm Komei), and it's built so that your data stays with you. There is no Jell server: everything the app knows lives on your iPhone or in your own iCloud account. The only things that ever leave your device are the ones you deliberately choose to share with friends — and this page spells out exactly what those are.

Steps and distance (Apple Health)

Jell reads your step count and walking/running distance from HealthKit — nothing else from Health. It uses them on your device to compute how charged your screen-time battery is. Your health data is never sold and never sent to third parties. The only time any of it goes anywhere is if you turn on stat sharing with friends, described below.

Screen Time (Family Controls)

If you authorize Screen Time access, Jell monitors your total usage and shields (blocks) the apps you select when the battery runs out. Apple designed this framework (Family Controls, DeviceActivity, ManagedSettings) so that apps like Jell cannot see which specific apps you use or any content — Jell only receives opaque tokens for your selections and a total usage time, computed on your device. Even I can't see what you blocked or what you browse.

Sign in with Apple

Jell uses Sign in with Apple so you can have friends features without creating an account. It stores only the anonymous user identifier Apple provides — no email is ever collected. If Apple shares your given name and you allow it, it's used as your display name; you can change it.

iCloud storage (CloudKit)

Jell uses your iCloud account in two distinct ways:

• Private database — your backup. Your settings and your Jell collection are backed up to your own private iCloud database, so a new phone or a reinstall can restore them. This lives in your personal iCloud account under Apple's security. Jell has no servers, so this backup is invisible to me — only you and your devices can read it.
• Public database — friends features. If you set up a username, the public database stores your chosen unique @username and display name so friends can find you. If you turn on “Share Stats with Friends”, it also publishes today's steps and screen-time minutes, plus cosmetic data about your Jell collection. If you additionally turn on “Show All Time Stats”, your all-time totals are published too. Turning either toggle off zeroes out what is published — off means off.

Inviting friends

Invites go out through the iOS share sheet or the system contact picker. Your contacts are never uploaded or stored — the picking happens inside iOS, and Jell only sees the invite you chose to send.

Purchases

Jell offers one small consumable purchase ($0.99), handled entirely by Apple's StoreKit. The app never sees your payment details — Apple processes everything.

Notifications

All notifications (low-charge warnings, Jell hatches, unlock celebrations) are local — generated on your device. There is no push server. You can turn them off in iOS Settings.

Analytics

To understand what's working, Jell counts anonymized feature-usage events — which screens and buttons get used, which permissions are granted. These may be processed via Google Analytics for Firebase. There is no advertising, no cross-app tracking, no App Tracking Transparency tracking, and your data is never sold. The events are counts of what features are used, not who you are or what you do elsewhere.

Deleting your data

• In the app, you can change your username, turn off stat sharing (which zeroes what's published), and leave any friend groups. To remove your username entirely, email me and I'll delete it.
• Deleting the app and its iCloud data (Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Storage) removes everything.
• For anything else, email komeiw222@gmail.com and I'll take care of it.

Children

Jell is not directed at children under 13, and I don't knowingly collect information from them.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this URL with a new effective date.

Contact

Questions about any of this: komeiw222@gmail.com