Privacy policy for Flock Off

The short version

Flock Off is a free game with no ads and no tracking. Your progress and settings stay on your iPhone. The app sends anonymous usage summaries to help improve the game, and you can turn them off in Settings. Optional services are run by Apple (Game Center, tips) and Google Firebase (online play). Playing against the computer works with no network at all.

What is stored on your iPhone

Flock Off saves these on your device with iOS's standard storage (UserDefaults):

• Your settings: sound effects, music and haptics switches, the chosen music, your herd, the last computer difficulty, whether you have seen the tutorial, and the display name you choose.
• Your progress: experience points, level, unlocked herds, and match stats (matches, wins, losses, draws, lanes claimed, animals sent, win streaks, per mode).
• Match history: for each finished match, the date, mode, result, lanes won and lost, length, and the other player's preset display name, herd and random player id (or the computer's difficulty). At most the last 500 matches.
• Tips: the verified App Store transaction ids of tips you have given and whether each was refunded, so a tip is never counted twice. Tips unlock nothing.
• Prompt timing: counts of finished matches and play days, and the dates of review requests and tip reminders, so the app asks rarely.
• Anonymous analytics, unless you turn them off: a random install id, the date analytics started on this device, and at most 64 summaries waiting to be sent.

None of this is uploaded, except the Game Center scores and analytics summaries described below. There is no account and no sign-up.

Match history

Flock Off keeps a ledger of your finished matches on your device so Scores can show your record against each friend. It stays on your iPhone and is never uploaded or sent to analytics. To tell rivals apart, each install creates a random player id. It is sent only to the other phone in a Nearby or Online match (and stored in the temporary Online room). It is not linked to your name, Apple Account or any other id.

Your display name

You pick a display name made of two preset words, for example "Jolly Goat". It starts as a random pick, and you cannot type your own. It is shown to the other player in a Nearby or Online match. It is not sent to analytics.

Playing on the same Wi-Fi (Nearby)

Nearby play finds other phones on your local network with Bonjour and connects to them directly over your Wi-Fi. iOS asks for Local Network permission first. Match moves and your display name go only to the other phone, never to the internet or to the developer.

Online play

Online matches use Google Firebase (Realtime Database and Authentication) to pair players and pass moves. When you first play online, the app signs in to Firebase anonymously. That creates a random id that is not linked to your name, Apple Account or email. A room holds the room code, both anonymous ids, both display names, both random player ids and the match moves. Room data is deleted after the match ends. Google processes this data under the Firebase privacy terms. If you never play online, nothing is sent to Firebase.

Game Center

Flock Off uses Apple's Game Center for four optional leaderboards: Total Wins (not counting Easy computer wins), Online Wins, Lanes Claimed and Hard Win Streak. If you are signed in to Game Center, these numbers are submitted after matches and when you sign in. The app checks your sign-in quietly at launch and never shows the sign-in sheet unless you open the leaderboards. Apple handles your Game Center identity under Apple's Privacy Policy.

Optional tips

Settings offers optional one-time tips through Apple's In-App Purchase. Apple processes the payment; Flock Off never sees your payment details. The app keeps only the verified transaction id on your device. Tipping changes nothing in the game.

App Store reviews

After a few days of play and a win, Flock Off may ask Apple to show its review sheet when you return to the main menu: at most twice a year, at least 120 days apart, and once per app version. Apple decides whether to show it. The app never learns your rating.

Analytics

Flock Off sends anonymous usage summaries to TelemetryDeck, a privacy-focused analytics service. Settings › Privacy › Share anonymous usage turns this off at any time. Turning it off deletes the install id and anything not yet sent.

What is sent:

• Rough session length and time in matches, in ranges such as "3-10 minutes".
• For each match: the mode, whether you won, lost, drew or left, how it ended, rough length, lanes won and lost, a rough count of animals sent, and your herd.
• Lobby results (connected, failed or cancelled) with a rough wait time.
• Your level when it goes up, the herd you pick, your sound, music and haptics settings, and whether you finished or skipped the tutorial.
• App version, iPhone model and iOS version.

Each summary carries a random id created on this device and hashed before it is sent. It is not your name, display name, Apple Account, Game Center or Firebase id, advertising id or vendor id. Room codes, names and free text are never sent. Nothing is linked to you or used for tracking or advertising. There is no crash reporting or advertising SDK.

Children's privacy

Flock Off collects no personal information from anyone, including children. Analytics are anonymous and can be turned off.

Deleting your data

Deleting Flock Off removes everything it stored on your iPhone. Turning off Share anonymous usage removes the analytics id and unsent summaries. Summaries already sent are anonymous and cannot be traced back to you. Online room data is deleted after each match. Game Center scores are managed in your device's Game Center settings or by Apple.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new "Last updated" date.

Contact

Questions? Open an issue at github.com/aagrawal207/flockoff-support.