The short version: no ads, no advertising trackers, no accounts. The app uses Google Firebase Analytics to collect anonymous, aggregated usage data (which features get used) so we can improve it — with the advertising identifier disabled. It collects no name, email, contacts, precise location, or advertising ID. Everything else stays on your device.
1. Who we are
Hourglass (also referred to by its project name, Clepsydra) is published by Michał Daniel Dobrzański ("we", "us"). Contact: dobrzanskioscillator@gmail.com.
2. Data we collect
The Android app uses Google Firebase Analytics to collect anonymous, aggregated usage data that helps us understand how the app is used and improve it. This covers app-interaction events — for example: a timer was started, paused, finished, or reset; a duration was set; a setting was changed (theme, sound, vibration, gravity mode, zen mode, language). Alongside these, Firebase automatically collects a randomly-generated app-instance identifier and basic technical context (device model, operating-system and app version, and an approximate region derived from your IP address by Google).
We have disabled the advertising identifier (AD_ID), so this data is not tied to an advertising profile and is not used for advertising. We do not collect your name, email address, contacts, precise location, or the contents of anything you do in the app beyond the event names above. We do not sell or share this data, and we use no advertising SDKs.
This processing is in our legitimate interest in maintaining and improving the app. Firebase Analytics acts as our processor; Google processes the data under its own terms (see Firebase privacy and Google's Privacy Policy). The current iOS build contains no analytics SDK; if that changes we will update this policy first.
3. Data stored on your device only
To function as a timer, the app stores a small amount of data locally (Android: app preferences; iOS: user defaults):
- your chosen timer duration and the timer's current state (including the time it is due to finish);
- your preferences: sand color theme, sound, vibration, and keep-screen-awake settings.
This data never leaves your device. It is removed when you uninstall the app (on Android it may be included in your device's standard encrypted backups, controlled by your device settings).
4. Permissions and system features we use, and why
| Permission / feature | Why the app needs it |
|---|---|
Notifications (Android POST_NOTIFICATIONS, iOS notification
authorization) |
To alert you when the timer finishes while the app is in the background. Optional — the timer still works if you decline, but you will only see the alert inside the app. |
Exact alarms (Android USE_EXACT_ALARM) |
So the finished-timer alert fires at the exact moment your countdown ends, even in battery-saving modes. This permission exists specifically for alarm and timer apps. |
Run at boot (Android RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED) |
To re-arm a running timer's alarm if your device restarts before the timer ends. The app does not otherwise run at startup. |
Vibration (Android VIBRATE, iOS haptics) |
For the vibration alert when the timer finishes (can be turned off in settings). |
| Time-sensitive notifications (iOS) | So the finished-timer alert can break through Focus modes, as a timer is expected to. |
The app uses no location, camera, microphone, contacts, storage, or any other sensitive permission.
5. Children
The app is suitable for all ages but is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. The analytics described above is anonymous and not used to build profiles of individuals.
6. Third parties
We use one third-party service: Google Firebase Analytics, as described in section 2, which processes the anonymous usage data on our behalf under Google's privacy terms. We bundle no advertising services and share no data for advertising. If you downloaded the app from Google Play or the Apple App Store, those stores process your purchase/download under their own privacy policies, independently of us.
7. Your rights
The usage analytics we hold is anonymous and not linked to your identity, so we cannot single out your records to access, correct, or export them. You can stop new analytics collection at any time by clearing the app's data or uninstalling it; Google also lets you reset the underlying app-instance identifier by clearing app data. All on-device data (section 3) is removed by uninstalling the app. If you have questions about your rights under GDPR, CCPA, or similar laws, contact us at the address below.
8. Changes to this policy
If a future version of the app ever changes what data it handles, we will update this policy first and note the change prominently here, with a new effective date, before shipping that version.