Privacy Policy
This policy covers the Bearly app for iPhone, the web version at bearly.gojansson.com/app and this website. Bearly is made by David Jansson, Sweden, who is responsible for it.
The short version: everything you put into Bearly stays on your iPhone. The iPhone app has no accounts, no servers that store your data, no analytics, no trackers and no ads. We cannot see your goals, moods or notes.
What Bearly stores, and where
Bearly saves the following only on your device, in the app's own storage:
- Your first name, if you gave one, and which bear talks first.
- What you picked when you started: what has felt heavy lately (such as sleep, stress, worry, feeling low, loneliness, focus, motivation, feeling worn out, self-worth or body image) and what you want to grow.
- Your goals and what you did with them each day: done, skipped or snoozed.
- Your check-ins: the weather inside (stormy to sunny), the time, and any topics you tagged (work, love, sleep, body, friends, family, money or nothing special).
- Your paw notes and goodnight notes: the text, the prompt and the date.
- Postcards and letters from the bears. A letter can quote a line from one of your recent paw notes.
- Honey, warmth, cabin items you own, cozy nights, your promise, snow days, tuck-ins and how many warm paws you have sent.
- Settings: sounds, haptics, the Calmer cabin setting, daily nudges and the nudge time.
- Whether you have Bearly Plus, and whether it is yours for life. The app reads this from Apple (see Purchases below).
- A few counters that keep the app running smoothly, such as when you first opened it and when the rating prompt was last requested.
Nothing on this list is sent to us or to anyone else. It is included in your normal iPhone backups (iCloud or computer) if you use them, which Apple handles. We keep none of it, so there is nothing for us to retain: the data lasts until you delete it. Deleting the app deletes it, and Me → Start over clears it at any time and cancels any scheduled reminders. In the web version the same data is kept in your browser's storage for this site, and clearing the site data removes it.
What we collect
Nothing from the app. Bearly does not collect, transmit, sell or share personal data. The iPhone app contains no third-party analytics, advertising or tracking code, and it does not use the advertising identifier. The website counts anonymous page views, see below.
Purchases and Bearly Plus
Bearly is free to download. Bearly Plus is optional: a yearly or monthly subscription, or a one-time purchase that is yours for life. Apple handles every purchase, free trial, renewal, cancellation and refund through your Apple ID, under Apple's Privacy Policy. We never see your name, email address, payment details or purchase history.
To know whether to switch the Plus extras on, the app asks Apple on your iPhone (through Apple's StoreKit) which Bearly Plus products your Apple ID owns. It keeps only the answer, on your device: whether you have Plus, and whether it is for life. That answer is never sent to us or to anyone else. If a subscription ends, the extras switch off and everything else in the app stays as it was.
Offer codes are redeemed through Apple's own code sheet or redemption link, so the code and your Apple ID go to Apple, not to us. Honey and cabin items are earned in the app and cost no real money.
This website
This website (bearly.gojansson.com), including the web version at /app, counts anonymous page views with Cloudflare Web Analytics, so we know roughly how many people visit. It uses no cookies, does not identify you and does not follow you to other sites. It never sees your goals, moods or notes, and it is not included in the iPhone app. See Cloudflare's privacy policy.
Notifications
Bearly only sends notifications if you allow them. They are all local notifications, planned by the app on your iPhone. There is no server and no push service. With daily nudges on, Bearly can send:
- A gentle nudge at the time you picked (8:30 or 20:30), planned a few days ahead, and skipped on days you have already done something kind.
- A quiet hello about a week later, in case you have been away.
- A reminder when a goal you snoozed is due again, an hour later. It shows the goal's name. Snooze reminders are not sent between 22:00 and 07:00.
- A note when the bears are home from an adventure.
If you decline permission, nothing is sent. You can turn nudges off in Me → Daily nudge or in iOS Settings → Notifications → Bearly, and that cancels the reminders that are already planned.
Ratings
Now and then, after a happy moment such as a kept promise or a new postcard, Bearly may show Apple's own rating prompt. It is never shown within three days of a stormy or rainy check-in. Apple runs the prompt and decides whether it appears, and Bearly never learns whether you rated the app or what you wrote.
Warm paws
When you send a warm paw, Bearly opens the standard iOS share sheet (in a browser without sharing, it copies the note so you can paste it). The note is sent by the app you pick, such as Messages or Mail, to the person you choose. It never passes through us, and Bearly keeps no copy beyond a count of paws sent.
Links to other websites
The app links to a helpline directory (findahelpline.com), this policy, the support page and Apple's terms. Buying, restoring, redeeming a code and managing a subscription open Apple's own screens. Those sites open in Safari and have their own privacy practices.
Who Bearly is for
Bearly is made for teens and adults. It is rated 4+ in the App Store because it has no objectionable content. It has no accounts, chat or sharing with strangers, and it does not collect information from anyone, including children.
Health information
Bearly is a self-care habit companion, not a medical device or a substitute for professional care. Your check-ins, topics and notes never leave your device. If you are struggling, the app points you to findahelpline.com. If a note or goal you write sounds like you might be in crisis, the bears answer gently and show that link. The check happens only on your device and nothing is sent. A goal can keep a small mark, on your device, so the bears stay quiet about it.
Your rights and legal basis
Website page views are counted on the basis of our legitimate interest in knowing roughly how many people visit, and Cloudflare processes them on our behalf. If you email us, we use your address and message only to reply, and we delete the conversation within 12 months. You can ask for access to, correction of or deletion of any data we hold about you. You can also object to the page-view counting, ask us to restrict processing, or ask for your data in a portable format. We answer emails on the basis of our legitimate interest in helping you. Cloudflare Web Analytics only keeps aggregated page-view statistics, not profiles of visitors. Cloudflare (USA) and Google, which hosts our email (USA), may process data outside the EU under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. You can complain to the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY, imy.se).
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.
Contact
Questions about privacy: email davis87@gmail.com or see Help & Contact.