Privacy Policy

PetNotes ("the app", "we", "our") is built to run mostly on your device. This page explains, plainly, what data the app handles, where it lives, and what — if anything — leaves your device and why.

The short version

• No account or sign-up is required to use PetNotes.
• All pet data is stored locally on your device by default.
• Nothing is sold, and there is no advertising or ad tracking of any kind.
• iCloud is used only if you turn on Family Sharing, Friends, or gallery sharing.
• Location is used only to search for pet services near you, on demand.
• The only payment is an optional one-time tip — there's no subscription and nothing is gated behind it.

Information you provide

When you add a pet or an event, PetNotes stores the information you enter: names, species, breed, birth date, weight, notes, microchip / animal ID numbers, event details, locations you attach, and any photos or videos you add. This data is stored locally on your device using Apple's on-device data framework (SwiftData) and, for anything you choose to share (see below), synced through your own iCloud account.

Family Sharing (household)

Creating or joining a family household generates an invite code. Once shared, your pets, diary events and photos sync between the devices in that household through Apple's iCloud (CloudKit) service, using your own iCloud account — PetNotes does not operate its own servers or database.

Friends & walks

Adding a friend uses a separate friend code from family sharing. Friends you add can see only the walks you choose to plan — their date, time and place — nothing else about your pets, diary, or photos.

Photo & video galleries

Each pet's gallery stays local unless you explicitly turn on sharing for that pet, which generates its own gallery code and uploads that pet's media to iCloud so a friend with the code can view it. Sharing a photo or video to Instagram Stories or any other app happens only when you tap Share, and only sends that one item — PetNotes has no access to your Instagram account.

Location

The Nearby tab asks for your location, only while using the app, so it can search for veterinarians, pet stores, groomers and dog parks around you and show distances. Location is used on-device for that search and is not stored by us or sent anywhere beyond the map search itself.

Camera & photo library

Camera and photo library access is requested only when you choose to take or pick a photo or video for a pet profile or gallery. PetNotes does not scan, analyze or upload media beyond what's needed to display it and generate a thumbnail.

Notifications

Reminders are scheduled locally on your device using Apple's notification system. PetNotes does not use push notifications from a server and has no way to send you a notification remotely.

Purchases

PetNotes offers one optional, one-time tip to support development — nothing in the app is locked behind it. Purchases are processed by Apple's In-App Purchase system through RevenueCat, a subscription and purchase management service. RevenueCat may process transaction-related data (such as your anonymized purchase and device identifiers) to validate purchases; see RevenueCat's privacy policy for details. We do not receive your payment information.

What we don't do

• We don't run analytics or tracking SDKs.
• We don't show ads or share data with advertising networks.
• We don't track you across other apps or websites.
• We don't sell or rent your data to anyone.

Third-party services

PetNotes relies on the following services, each only for the purpose described above:

• Apple iCloud (CloudKit) — family, friend and gallery sharing
• Apple MapKit — the Nearby map, place search and directions
• Apple StoreKit and RevenueCat — the optional tip
• Apple Image Playground — optional AI-generated invitation artwork, processed on-device on supported hardware

Your control over your data

You can edit or delete any pet, event, photo or invitation at any time from within the app. Leaving a family household or disabling gallery sharing stops further syncing of that content. Deleting the app removes all data stored locally on your device. If you'd like help removing shared data left in iCloud after leaving a household, contact us using the details below.

Children's privacy

PetNotes is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the "Last updated" date above. Significant changes will be reflected here before they take effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your data? Reach us at support@pocketmates.app.