Pocket Cowbell privacy policy

This policy covers Pocket Cowbell for iPhone, iPad and Android, and the website pocketcowbell.com. Pocket Cowbell is published by HOLLINGSWORKS LLC (“Hollingsworks”, “we”, “us”), a small software studio in Michigan run by Jesse Hollingsworth.

What stays on your phone

Pocket Cowbell has no accounts, and we never ask for your name or email. These stay on your device and are never sent to us:

• Your bells and sounds: custom bells you draw, sounds you record with the microphone (iPhone and iPad), audio files you import, and photos you put on a bell, whether picked from your library or taken with the camera.
• Your progress and settings: ring counts, streaks, unlocked bells and sounds, purchases, and your preferences.
• Motion data. Pocket Cowbell uses your phone’s motion sensors to tell when you swing it. That’s worked out on the phone and never recorded or sent.

The app asks for the microphone only when you record a sound, the camera only when you take a photo for a bell, and notifications only if you turn on the daily reminder (a local notification on your phone). It never uses your location or contacts.

On Android, the phone’s own Google backup (if you’ve turned it on in Android settings) can include the app’s settings and your bell photo, so they come back if you restore your phone.

Usage statistics (Google Analytics for Firebase)

To understand which bells, sounds and screens people use, the app sends anonymous usage events to Google Analytics for Firebase: for example opening the app, choosing a bell or sound, reaching a ring milestone, unlocking something, opening a screen, sharing, finishing onboarding, a sample of rings (with the bell, sound and ring totals), purchases and restores, and when an ad is shown. These events include a Firebase app-instance ID, your device model, operating system, app version, language and an approximate location derived from your IP address (country or region). They never include your name, email, recordings, photos or anything you type.

Firebase also gives each installation an ID so it can deliver notifications and its other services.

Crash reports and performance (iPhone and iPad)

On iPhone and iPad, Firebase Crashlytics sends a crash report when the app crashes (what went wrong in the code, device model, OS version and the installation ID), and Firebase Performance Monitoring records anonymous app-start and screen timing. We use these only to fix bugs and keep the app fast.

Ads

Pocket Cowbell is free because of ads from Google AdMob: banners, short full-screen ads at breaks, and rewarded videos you choose to watch to unlock bells and sounds. To show and measure ads, Google receives your device’s advertising identifier (if allowed), IP address and approximate location, device and app information, and how you interact with ads. Google’s use of this data is covered by Google’s privacy policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.

• On iPhone and iPad, Pocket Cowbell asks before allowing ads to use your advertising identifier. If you choose Ask App Not to Track, ads still appear but aren’t personalized using your activity in other apps. You can change this in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking.
• Consent where it’s required. In the EEA, the UK, Switzerland and other places where the law requires it, Google’s consent form asks for your choice before personalized ads are shown. You can change it later from Privacy choices in the app’s settings. (Android version 3.4 and later; all iPhone versions.)
• On Android, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone’s Google settings.
• Pro removes ads.

Ads are limited to content suitable for a general audience (rated PG or lower) on Android.

Purchases

Pocket Cowbell Pro and sound packs are bought through the App Store or Google Play. Apple and Google handle payment; we never see your card details. The app only checks which items you own. Like every developer, we receive order details from Apple and Google (such as order number, date, product, price and country) and use them only for accounting, refunds and taxes.

Leaderboards

If you’re signed in to Game Center (iPhone and iPad) or Google Play Games (Android), the app submits your lifetime and daily ring counts and Time Trial results to their leaderboards and achievements. They’re shown to other players with your Game Center or Play Games name, under Apple’s and Google’s privacy policies. You can sign out of Game Center or Play Games at any time in your phone’s settings.

Notifications

The daily ring reminder is a local notification scheduled on your phone. The app also registers with Firebase Cloud Messaging so we can occasionally send an announcement about the app; on Android it subscribes to a general announcements topic. You can turn notifications off in your phone’s settings.

The website

pocketcowbell.com uses Google Analytics (through Firebase) to count visits, which sets first-party cookies and collects pages viewed, browser and device type, and approximate location from your IP address. You can block it with Google’s opt-out browser add-on. The website also loads fonts from Google Fonts. It has no ads or forms.

Earlier versions

Older versions of the iPhone app had a World Cup “fan counter” that sent the country you picked (no identifier) to a Google Firestore database, and used Firebase Remote Config to adjust how often ads appeared.

Sharing

We don’t sell your personal information for money. Showing personalized ads with Google may count as “sharing” or “targeted advertising” under some U.S. state laws: you can opt out with the tracking and Privacy choices settings above, or on Android by deleting your advertising ID. Otherwise we share data only with the service providers named above (Google Firebase, Google AdMob, Apple, Google Play), or when the law requires it.

How long we keep it

What’s on your phone stays until you delete it or remove the app. Google Analytics keeps event data for the retention period set in our Firebase project (no longer than 14 months); Crashlytics keeps crash reports for 90 days. Advertising data is kept by Google under its own policies.

Children

Pocket Cowbell is a general-audience app. It isn’t directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them. If you think a child has given us personal information, email us and we’ll delete it.

Your choices and rights

• Turn off ad tracking (iPhone) or reset your advertising ID (Android), and change your ad consent from Privacy choices.
• Delete custom bells, sounds and photos in the app, or remove the app to delete everything on the phone.
• Because there are no accounts, the analytics we hold aren’t linked to your name. If you want us to delete data tied to your device, email us and we’ll help.
• Depending on where you live (for example California, other U.S. states with privacy laws, the EEA or the UK), you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal information, to opt out of targeted advertising, to object to processing, and to complain to your local data protection authority. We won’t treat you differently for using them. We’ll answer within 30 days.

Changes

If this policy changes, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. Significant changes will also be noted in the app’s release notes.

Contact

HOLLINGSWORKS LLC, a Michigan limited liability company
Email: hello@hollingsworks.com