Short version: your catalog stays on your phone. Pocket Catalog has no account and no ads, and never sells or shares your data. The developer never receives your catalog. Only three things can leave your phone, and none of them contain what's in your catalog unless you choose a backup:
- Crash reports, which say what went wrong in the app. On unless you turn them off.
- Backups to your own Google Drive, only if you turn that on.
- Basic technical data from Google's QR scanner, only when you scan a label.
What stays on your phone
Collections, folders, items, notes, tags, custom fields, links between items and photos are stored only in the app's private storage on your device. The developer can't see them.
Photos are copied into the app and saved again as new images, without their original metadata, so location (GPS) data and other camera details in your photos are removed.
Android's own device backup and phone-to-phone transfer don't include Pocket Catalog's data. To move your catalog to a new phone, use the app's own backup (below).
Crash reports (on unless you turn them off)
If the app crashes or stops responding, it sends a report to Google Firebase Crashlytics. You can turn this off at any time in Settings › Privacy & data › Send crash reports.
A report contains technical details only: the error and where in the code it happened, the app version, the device model and the Android version, and a random ID for this installation of the app. It never contains your items, notes, tags, photos, names or file names. Reports are used only to find and fix bugs. Turning the setting off deletes reports that haven't been sent yet and takes effect the next time you open the app. Google keeps sent reports for up to 90 days.
The app doesn't include Google Analytics or any other analytics or advertising service, and it doesn't use your advertising ID.
Scanning QR labels
The scan button uses the Google code scanner that is part of Google Play services on your phone. The app doesn't need the camera permission for this, and it only receives the code on the label, which holds no names or other details from your catalog. Like other Google ML Kit features, the scanner sends Google basic technical data so Google can monitor and improve it: for example the device model and Android version, the app's name and version, a per-installation identifier, and performance and error information. It doesn't send the camera image or your catalog. Google handles this data under Google's Privacy Policy. If you don't scan labels, nothing is sent. Opening a label with your phone's own camera app works the same way from the app's side: the app only receives the code.
Backups
A backup is one file with your whole catalog, including photos. You can save one anywhere you choose (for example your phone's storage, a USB drive or a cloud folder you pick), and the app itself sends nothing anywhere. Backup files aren't password-protected, so keep them somewhere only you can open.
If you turn on Back up to Google Drive, the app saves backup files in your own Google Drive, after you allow it on Google's sign-in screen. It asks only for access to files it creates (Google's "drive.file" permission), so it can't see anything else in your Drive. The backups are private to your Google account unless you share them yourself. Backups are sent encrypted (HTTPS) straight from your phone to Google Drive; they never pass through a Pocket Catalog server, because there isn't one.
Once Drive is connected, the app can also back up automatically, only on Wi-Fi: daily (the default) or weekly while your phone is charging, or about five minutes after you stop making changes. You can also choose Off. It keeps your 5 newest backups in Drive and moves older ones to your Drive's trash. Turning Drive off stops all of this. Backups already in your Drive stay there until you delete them, and you can remove the app's access in your Google Account at any time.
Restoring a backup replaces the catalog on your phone with the one in the backup.
Permissions
- Photos: the app uses Android's photo picker, so it only sees the photos you pick. It has no access to the rest of your photo library.
- Camera: when you choose to take a photo, your phone's camera app takes it and hands the picture to Pocket Catalog. The app itself doesn't hold the camera permission.
- Internet: used only for crash reports, Google Drive backup if you turn it on, and Google's QR scanner when you use it.
Children
Pocket Catalog is a general organizing app and isn't directed at children under 13.
Deleting your data
- On your phone: delete items, folders or collections in the app. Deleted items go to Settings › Trash first, where you can restore them or delete them permanently. Uninstalling the app, or clearing its storage in Android's settings, removes everything on your phone.
- Google Drive backups: delete them in Google Drive, and remove the app's access in your Google Account if you no longer want to use Drive backup.
- Crash reports: Google deletes them after 90 days. To ask for sent reports to be deleted sooner, email the address below. Because reports don't contain your name or email, it helps to tell us roughly when the crash happened and on which phone model.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version is published on this page with a new date.
Contact
Questions or requests: apps@zoewilpon.dev