Privacy Policy
HolyMode is built for a private struggle, so it is built to keep that struggle private. This policy explains exactly what stays on your iPhone, the little that leaves it, the services we use, and what you can delete.
1. What stays on your device
The core of HolyMode never leaves your iPhone. The following is stored locally and is never uploaded to us or to anyone else:
- Your streak, your check-ins, your relapses and your recovery history
- The shields you have unlocked and your progress toward the next one
- Which apps, categories and websites you chose to block
- Any notes or reflections you write in the app
- Your app settings and preferences
This data is removed from your device when you delete the app. If you use iCloud device backup, Apple may include it in your own encrypted backup; that backup belongs to you, not to us.
2. Screen Time data
Blocking works through Apple's Screen Time frameworks (Family Controls, Managed Settings and Device Activity). When you pick apps or websites to block, iOS hands the app opaque tokens rather than names. HolyMode cannot read which apps you selected, cannot see your usage statistics, and could not transmit that information even if it wanted to. The selection is stored on your device and used only to apply the block.
Nothing derived from Screen Time is sent anywhere — not the apps you chose, not how many of them there are, not when the shield stopped you. Apple’s terms for these frameworks forbid sharing that data beyond you and your device, and forbid it being used for advertising or handed to a data broker. We do neither.
3. Accounts and the community
HolyMode does not require an account. Everything above works while signed out.
The community feature is optional. If you choose to sign in, we store the email address associated with your account and the posts, replies and display name you choose to publish. Community posts are visible to other signed-in members, so please do not put anything there you would not want another member to read. We do not link community content to your streak or recovery data — that data never reaches our servers.
4. Purchases
Subscriptions are sold by Apple. Apple processes the payment; we never see your card details. We use RevenueCat to check whether your subscription is active, which involves your anonymous purchase identifiers and receipt information from Apple.
5. Analytics and crash reports
We measure how many people install the app, roughly where in the world they are, which device and app version they are on, and how far through the setup flow they get before they stop. That is the whole of it. It tells us whether the app works and whether the first five minutes make sense.
What we deliberately do not measure: your streak, your relapses, your notes, your prayers, which apps you blocked, how many you blocked, or anything the shield did. None of that is ever sent anywhere.
We also collect crash reports, so a bug that closes the app on you is a bug we can find. A crash report describes the code that failed and the device it failed on, never what you were doing in your recovery.
Both are handled by Google Firebase and are not linked to your name or email. They are not used for advertising. There are no advertising networks, no ad trackers and no data brokers in HolyMode, we do not sell your data, and we do not track you across other companies’ apps or websites.
6. Third-party services
Three, and only three:
- Firebase (Google) — Authentication and Firestore for the optional community; Analytics and Crashlytics for the measurements in section 5.
- RevenueCat — used solely to manage and validate subscription purchases.
- Apple — payments, and the Screen Time frameworks that do the blocking. Apple’s own privacy policy governs what they hold.
7. Notifications
If you allow notifications, they are scheduled locally on your device for your daily verse and streak reminders. Their content is generated on the device.
8. Deleting your data
You can delete your account and everything associated with it from inside the app, in Settings. Doing so removes your community content and your account record from Firebase. Deleting the app removes the local data described in section 1. You may also email us and we will help.
9. Children
HolyMode is intended for adults and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.
10. Changes
If this policy changes we will update this page and the effective date above, and note material changes in the app.
11. Contact
Questions about privacy, or a request about your data: support@getholy.app.