Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 31, 2026

The short version

Pickles is built to need nothing about your child. The app runs entirely on your device. There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics, and no servers for it to talk to. We don't collect, see, store, or share your or your child's personal information, because we never receive it in the first place.

Who we are

Pickles ("the app", "we", "us") is a free app for iPhone and iPad that helps children in grades K–5 earn screen time by solving math problems. You, the parent or guardian, choose which apps to gate and how much math earns how many minutes. This policy explains how the app handles information.

Information we collect

None. Pickles does not collect, transmit, or store any personal information on our servers, because the app has no servers and makes no network connections. Specifically, the app does not collect:

  • Names, email addresses, phone numbers, or any contact details.
  • Account credentials: there are no accounts to create or sign in to.
  • Location data.
  • Advertising identifiers, device identifiers, or analytics.
  • Photos, contacts, or other content from your device.

Information stored on your device

For the app to work, it saves a few settings locally on your device. This information never leaves the device and is never sent to us or anyone else. It includes:

  • The parent PIN you set.
  • Your math settings (grade level, problem mix, round length, and minutes per correct answer).
  • How much screen time has been earned and banked.
  • Which apps you've chosen to gate.

You can erase all of this at any time using the in-app Reset option, which clears the PIN, the gated-app selection, the banked minutes, and your settings. Deleting the app from your device removes this data as well.

Screen Time & Family Controls

To gate apps, Pickles uses Apple's Family Controls and Managed Settings frameworks, the same system that powers Apple's built-in Screen Time. You grant this permission once, and then iOS handles the blocking. Because of how Apple designed these frameworks, the app receives only opaque tokens for the apps you pick; it cannot see which specific apps are on your list, and that selection never leaves your device.

Children's privacy

Pickles is designed for use by children, and we take that seriously. The app is fully compliant with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Apple's requirements for apps in the Kids category by the simplest possible means: it collects no personal information from anyone, including children.

There is no sign-up, no profile, no chat, no user-generated content, no third-party advertising, and no external links presented to the child during play. Nothing a child does in the app is transmitted off the device.

No third parties, no tracking

Pickles includes no third-party advertising, no analytics or tracking SDKs, and no social-media integrations. We do not sell, rent, or share any information, because we never collect any. The app does not use the Advertising Identifier (IDFA) and does not track you across apps or websites.

Data security

Because your information stays on your own device and is never transmitted, it benefits from the security protections built into iOS and iPadOS. We recommend keeping your device's operating system up to date and protecting it with a passcode.

Changes to this policy

If we update this policy, we'll revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and publish the new version here. Material changes will be released with a future version of the app. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how Pickles handles information, please get in touch through our support & feedback form.