Privacy Policy
- We collect only what we need to run playtests and make our games better.
- We never sell your information. Playtests never show ads or use third-party analytics or ad trackers.
- Some released games are free with ads. Ads are personalized only if you opt in, and players under 13 and child accounts only ever see child-safe, non-personalized ads.
- Some released games sell extra content through the App Store or Google Play. They handle the payment; we never see your payment details.
- Screenshots and gameplay clips capture the game screen only, never your camera, microphone, files, or other tabs. A clip is only sent if you leave “Include a clip” ticked when you send feedback, and never from child accounts.
- A few apps use your device's microphone, motion sensor or photo library for one specific thing, listed below. Speech is recognized on your device and never saved or sent; tilt is used only to play; photos are only ever saved, never read.
- Beep, our answering machine for friends, records your voice only while you leave a message or greeting, keeps it only so your friends can hear it, and nobody at NguyenWare Studios can listen to it.
- Children can only take part through a parent or guardian's account, with the guardian's consent.
- Everything is deleted on a fixed schedule, and you can ask us to delete it sooner.
Who we are
NguyenWare Studios makes games and apps, including Motive, Be Kind Rewind, Card Rush: Rip & Flip, Tic Tac Gone!, John, Beep, Static, Numbers Station, Mystery Word, Circuit Bent, Spell Rhythm, Signal Repair Co., Schrödinger's Phone, Read-aloud Stage, Fold Kaleidoscope, Ink Blot, Password Journal, Peep Box, Craft & Bake, Pop-up Book, Fold Pinball, Tinker's Bench and Defuse. This policy covers our websites, our games on the web, iOS and Android, and our playtest program. Questions go to privacy@nguyenwarestudios.com.
What we collect and why
We collect information only when you sign up for a playtest, play a test build, or send us feedback. We don't collect your precise location, contacts, photos, camera input, voice, biometrics, payment details, or government ID. Beep records your voice only while you record a message or greeting (see “Beep” below); the other uses of your device's sensors are listed under “Microphone, motion and photos”, and none of them send us anything.
| Information | Examples | Why we use it | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account details | Email address, optional display name, optional TestFlight email, how you heard about us, which games you've earned a free unlock for (by playing during the prototype phase) and when | Sign you in with an emailed link, invite you to playtests, contact you about your feedback, honor your free unlocks | Until you delete your account, or 2 years after your last sign-in (1 year for child accounts) |
| Sign-in records | One-time sign-in links (stored only as a one-way hash), session tokens (hashed), browser user agent | Keep you signed in and protect your account | Sign-in links: 1 day after they expire. Sessions: 30 days after they expire or you sign out |
| Device details | Platform, operating system, browser, screen size, whether the screen is touch. In our iOS test builds: device model, iOS version, the app's version and build number, and whether the phone folds (has a hinge) | Reproduce bugs and check the game works on your device | Same as the play session or feedback it is attached to |
| Gameplay events | Session start and end, levels started, completed or failed, tutorial progress, game errors, and in test builds whether you opened the store screen and how a test purchase ended (bought, pending, cancelled, restored). Never prices, receipts or payment details | See where a game is confusing, too hard, or broken | 365 days (90 days for child accounts) |
| Feedback | Notes you write, the category you choose, a screenshot and an optional silent clip (up to 15 seconds) of the game screen only, the game state when you sent it. Clips come from adult accounts only | Fix bugs and improve the game | 2 years (1 year for child accounts) |
| Survey answers | Ratings such as fun, clarity and replay, and any written answers | Compare builds and games over time | 2 years (1 year for child accounts) |
We do not store your IP address. Our playtest site uses a small sign-in cookie to keep you signed in; it uses no advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. Ads and purchases in released games are covered separately below.
Microphone, motion and photos
Some of our apps ask for a device permission to do one specific thing. Your device asks you first where it requires permission, and you can turn any of them off in your device's settings. This is the complete list:
| Sensor or permission | Apps | What it's used for |
|---|---|---|
| Microphone and speech recognition | Read-aloud Stage, Password Journal (and Beep, described separately below) | Read-aloud Stage listens only during the child's turn to read; Password Journal listens only while you hold the clasp to say your passphrase (at most 5 seconds). Speech is recognized on the device with Apple's built-in speech recognition. The audio and the words recognized are never saved, logged, put in gameplay events or feedback, or sent to us or anyone else, and are thrown away as soon as they've been checked. The only thing downloaded is Apple's own speech model, from Apple |
| Keyboard dictation | Password Journal (and any app with a text field) | The microphone key on the keyboard is Apple's system dictation, not ours. Apple handles it under your Siri & Dictation settings and its own privacy policy, and it may send the audio to Apple. We receive nothing: what you type or dictate into your journal stays on your device |
| Face ID or Touch ID | Password Journal | Used to unlock the journal if you turn it on. Apple's system checks your face or fingerprint; the app only learns whether it succeeded. We never receive biometric data |
| Motion (tilt) | John, Fold Pinball, Fold Kaleidoscope | Which way the device is tilted, read live to aim (John), tilt the table (Fold Pinball) or move the beads (Fold Kaleidoscope). Readings are used on the device and never stored or sent. Gameplay events and John's leaderboard replay contain only the result in the game (such as where you aimed), never the motion readings |
| Photos (save only) | Ink Blot, Fold Kaleidoscope | Saves a picture you made to your photo library when you ask. These apps can only add pictures; they never see, read or upload your library. Ink Blot can also hand a picture to the share sheet (AirDrop, Messages) so you can send it where you choose. For children, saving and sharing sit behind a grown-up check, and Fold Kaleidoscope offers saving only to players 13 and older. We never receive the picture |
| Notifications and Live Activities | Craft & Bake, Peep Box, John | Reminders such as “Ready” or “about to burn” and a countdown on the Lock Screen (Craft & Bake, Peep Box), or an optional daily reminder to play (John), scheduled on your device. No push server: nothing is sent to us or anyone else. Off until you turn them on; for children, only a grown-up can turn them on, behind a grown-up check |
| Optional iCloud Backup | Password Journal | Off by default. A grown-up can turn it on behind a grown-up check so the journal is included in the family's own iCloud Backup, under Apple's terms. It goes to your Apple account, never to us |
John's daily leaderboard (Peederboard)
John has an optional daily leaderboard, the Peederboard, for players who tell the game's neutral age screen that they're 13 or older. Younger players never see it, and nothing about them is sent. It isn't part of the playtest site and needs no account.
- On your device: a random ID the game makes up (not linked to any account, email or device identifier) and a nickname built from two word lists. You can re-roll the nickname but can't type a name.
- Sent once a day, only for the round that counts: the day, your aim mode and seat, a replay of your aiming (no motion readings), the random ID, your nickname and the score your game showed. Practice and “just for fun” rounds are never sent.
- What we keep: one entry per player per day with the day, aim mode, seat, nickname, the score we recalculate from the replay (and the score your game showed, to spot mismatches), the replay, and a one-way hash of the random ID instead of the ID itself. We don't store your IP address, device details or location.
- Who sees it: anyone can see the day's top 100 nicknames, scores, grades and seats. The hashed ID, replays and the score your game showed are never shown.
- How long: replays are deleted after 30 days and entries after 1 year, automatically. Clearing John's data on your device removes the random ID, after which your past entries can't be connected to you.
Beep
Beep is an answering machine for you and your friends: dial a friend's number, hear their greeting, and leave a voice message after the beep. It has its own sign-in at beep.nguyenwarestudios.com and keeps its information in its own database and storage, separate from the playtest program. Beep is for people 13 and older; it isn't available to child accounts.
- Your microphone, only while you record. Beep asks for the microphone when you open it so it can record without a prompt mid-call, and turns it off between recordings. It records only after the beep (or while you record a greeting), until you hang up or stop.
- Who hears your recordings. A message goes only to the mailbox you called, and only friends can leave each other messages: you ask, they accept. Your greeting plays to friends who call you. Nobody at NguyenWare Studios can play messages or greetings; our support tools show only that a message was sent, who to whom, when and how long.
- Blocking and reporting. You can block someone (they aren't told) and report a message. A report sends us who sent it, when and how long, never the recording.
- Deleting. You can delete a message or greeting yourself. Ask privacy@nguyenwarestudios.com to delete your Beep account, and we delete your mailbox, every message and greeting in it, the messages you sent, and the message log about you.
| Information | Examples | Why we use it | How long we keep it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beep account | Email address, display name, your mailbox's 4-digit number and name, your speed-dial buttons; sign-in codes (stored only as a one-way hash, used once) and sessions (hashed) | Sign you in with an emailed code, and let friends reach you by your number | Until you delete your account. Sign-in codes: a day after they expire. Sessions: when they expire or you sign out |
| Voice messages | What you record after the beep, who it's from and for, when and how long. Recorded only while you're leaving a message; the microphone is off otherwise | Deliver the message to the friend it's for | Grandma messages: until 60 days after everyone it was for has heard it (sooner if they delete it). Bro messages: 24 hours after they're sent, heard or not |
| Greetings | The greeting you record for callers to hear, and its label (home, away, vacation) | Play your greeting to friends who call you | Until you delete it or replace it (we keep your last 5 for each label), or delete your account |
| Friends, blocks and reports | Who you've asked or accepted as a friend, who you blocked, and messages you report (who sent it, when and how long, never the recording) | Only friends can leave you messages; blocks and reports stop unwanted ones | Friends and blocks: until you remove them or delete your account. Reports: 1 year |
| Message log | That a message was sent, from whom to which number, when, how long and whether it was heard. Never the recording | Answer support questions and spot abuse | 180 days |
| Machine details | Your machine's serial number, software version, when it last connected, and if you turn on alerts, the push address your browser gives it | Connect your machine to your mailbox and send it alerts | Until you remove the machine or delete your account |
| Beep waiting list | Your email address and where you signed up, if you join the list on beep.nguyenwarestudios.com | Send you one note when there's something to try | Until you leave the list (every email has a link) or we launch |
| Support records | Each time our support team looks at or changes your Beep account or machine, who did it and when | Keep staff access accountable | 1 year |
| Button presses and problems | Which button or screen you pressed and how long you held it (never the digits you dial or anything you type), and error names when something fails to play or record | Fix “I pressed it and nothing happened” | Button presses: 14 days. Problems: 30 days. Inside the playtest site, Beep logs no button presses of its own; the playtest's gameplay events stand in |
Beep never shows ads, uses no third-party analytics, and loads no fonts or scripts from other companies, apart from Cloudflare's human check (Turnstile) on its sign-in page. In the playtest site, Beep sends the same gameplay events as our games (calls placed, messages played, greetings saved), never names, numbers or recordings.
How we use it
We use this information only to run playtests, fix bugs, improve our games, and contact you about the program. We do not use it for advertising or share it with ad networks, we do not build marketing profiles, and we do not make automated decisions about you. We don't use your feedback or gameplay to train third-party AI models.
Who we share it with
We never sell or rent your information. We share it only with the service providers below, who process it for us under contract and may not use it for anything else:
| Provider | What for | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Hosting, database, screenshot and clip storage, sign-in protection (including Beep's human check, Turnstile), Beep's voice message storage | Everything listed above; your IP address passes through Cloudflare to deliver pages but we do not store it |
| Resend | Sending sign-in links and playtest invites, and Beep's sign-in codes, friend requests and waiting-list note | Email address and the message we send |
| Your browser's push service (Apple, Google or Mozilla), for Beep alerts only | Delivering a Beep machine's alert when a new message arrives, if you turned alerts on | An encrypted notification it can't read, and the push address your browser created |
| Apple (TestFlight), for iOS builds only | Delivering iOS test builds and collecting in-app feedback | Your TestFlight email and the feedback you send through TestFlight, under Apple's privacy policy |
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the safety of our players.
Ads in released games
Some of our games are free in the App Store, Google Play or on the web, paid for by ads. Ads appear only in those released versions. Playtests, test builds and the playtest site never show ads or load ad code.
- Your age first. A game with ads asks your year of birth once, on a neutral screen, before any ad code loads, and keeps the answer on your device. (Apps made for children follow stricter rules; see below.)
- Under 13 and child accounts: child-safe ads only. If you're under 13, or signed in with a child account, every ad request is marked as directed to a child. The ad network then shows no personalized or remarketing ads, receives no advertising ID, and (in our apps) shows only ads rated for general audiences. We never ask a player under 13 to allow tracking or to opt in to personalized ads.
- Personalized only if you opt in (13 and older). On iPhone and iPad we ask through Apple's “Allow tracking” prompt; elsewhere you can opt in from the game's settings. Players in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland see Google's consent form before any ad is shown. If you don't opt in, you see ads chosen from the game itself, not from your activity elsewhere.
- What the ad network receives. Your device and app details, your IP address (which it may use to estimate a rough location), and which ads you saw or tapped. If you're 13 or older, it may also receive your device's advertising ID (on iPhone and iPad only if you allow tracking) and use it to limit how often you see an ad and to measure ads, even when ads aren't personalized; it uses it to personalize ads only if you opt in. It never receives the advertising ID of a child (under 13 or a child account). The ad network handles this under its own privacy policy. We don't receive it, and we never give an ad network your account details, email address, playtest data or feedback.
- Cookies on the web. In web versions with ads, Google and other ad vendors it works with use cookies to serve ads, which can be based on your visits to our sites and other sites if you opt in to personalized ads. You can turn off personalized ads from Google at Google's Ads Settings, and from other vendors at aboutads.info.
- Change your mind any time in the game's settings or your device's privacy settings. Some laws (for example, in California) call personalized ads “sharing”; turning them off stops it.
| Ad network | What it receives | Its policy |
|---|---|---|
| Google (AdMob in our iOS and Android apps, AdSense H5 Games Ads on the web) | Device and app details, IP address, which ads you saw or tapped, and cookies on the web. For players 13 and over, the device's advertising ID too (on iPhone and iPad only if you allow tracking): used for limiting repeats and measuring ads even without personalized ads, and for personalization only if you opt in. Never for children (under 13 or child accounts) | How it uses this information |
Our games use only the ad networks listed here. We add a network to this list before any game shows its ads.
Apps made for children
Apps we make for children (in the App Store's Kids category, or for a children-only audience on Google Play) may show ads only on these terms:
- Contextual only. Ads are chosen from the app itself, never personalized or based on the child's activity anywhere else.
- Nothing that identifies the child. We send the ad network no advertising ID, no device or identifying information and no location, and we never show a tracking prompt. Like any website, the network can see the connection's IP address; it may use a shortened form only to deliver ads, estimate a rough country or region and limit repeats, never to identify, profile or precisely locate anyone.
- A grown-up check on ad taps. Tapping an ad in a children's app first asks a grown-up to solve a puzzle before anything opens.
- Never in the middle of play. In Craft & Bake, ads appear only between rounds, never while your child is pressing, baking or watching a reveal, and buying any pack removes them.
- People check every ad. We use only ad networks that publicly document their practices for children's apps, including human review of every ad for age-appropriateness.
- No ad SDK otherwise. Children's apps that don't show ads include no ad code at all, and no children's app ever shows ads in playtests or test builds.
| Ad network for children's apps | What it receives | Its practices |
|---|---|---|
| SuperAwesome (AwesomeAds), in Signal Repair Co. and Craft & Bake | Which ads were shown and how they loaded, plus what any connection carries: a shortened IP address, a generalized browser/device type and the app's name. SuperAwesome uses the shortened IP only to deliver ads, guess a rough country or region, and limit repeats, and discards it when the campaign ends or at month end, whichever comes first. No advertising ID, device ID, precise location or anything that identifies the child | Its Kids-category practices · Its privacy policy |
Purchases in released games
Some of our released games let you buy extra content, such as chapters or the full game. Purchases are made only in the released versions, through the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Google), using the store account on your device.
- The store handles payment. Apple or Google takes the payment under its own terms and privacy policy. We never see your card or other payment details, your name or your store account's email address.
- What the purchase service receives. To confirm a purchase and let you restore it on another device, the game sends the purchase receipt and a random, anonymous app ID to the service below. We never give it your account details, email address, playtest data or feedback, or your device's advertising ID.
- Parental controls apply. Because purchases go through the store, family settings such as Apple's Ask to Buy and Google Play's purchase approvals work as usual.
| Service | What for | What it receives | Its policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| RevenueCat | Confirming purchases with the App Store or Google Play and letting you restore them | The purchase receipt (what you bought, when, and the price and currency) and a random anonymous app ID created on your device | RevenueCat's privacy policy |
Our games use only the purchase services listed here. We add a service to this list before any game uses it.
Children
Children under 13 can only take part through a child account that a parent or guardian creates and manages from their own account. Before we collect anything from a child, we email the guardian a notice describing what we collect, how long we keep it and who receives it, and we collect nothing until the guardian confirms through the link in that email. We then send a second email confirming consent, so the guardian can withdraw it if they didn't give it. Child accounts have no email address of their own; their sign-in links go to the guardian. Guardians can:
- review what we have collected from their child,
- delete the child account and everything collected from it at any time from their account page, or by emailing us,
- allow collection without allowing any sharing beyond the service providers above.
For child accounts we keep gameplay events for 90 days and feedback and survey answers for 1 year, then delete them. If a guardian doesn't confirm within 14 days, we delete the pending child account. Child feedback is never copied outside our own systems, and children never need to share more than a game requires in order to play. Deleting a guardian account deletes every child account under it. If you believe a child has given us information without a guardian, contact privacy@nguyenwarestudios.com and we'll delete it.
Our released games don't need an account. Players who tell a game they're under 13 see only child-safe ads, as described under “Ads in released games”, never see John's leaderboard, and we don't collect anything from them ourselves. In apps made for children, speech recognition, tilt and saving pictures work entirely on the device, and sharing or saving a picture sits behind a grown-up check.
How long we keep it
The table above lists every retention period. An automated job runs every day and deletes anything older than those limits, including stored screenshots and clips. We keep a record of completed deletion requests for 2 years, containing only a one-way hash of the email address, so we can show the request was honored.
Your choices and rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- send you a copy of the information we hold about you,
- correct it,
- delete your account and everything linked to it,
- stop sending you playtest invites.
- stop personalized ads (you can also do this yourself, as described above).
Email privacy@nguyenwarestudios.com from the address on your account. We'll respond within 30 days. Depending on where you live (for example, the EU, the UK or California), you may have additional rights, including the right to complain to your local data protection authority. We rely on your consent, which you can withdraw at any time, and on our legitimate interest in making our games work well.
Security
Information is encrypted in transit. Sign-in links and session tokens are stored only as one-way hashes. Only the studio owner can open the admin dashboard, and that requires a separate sign-in.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the version and date above. If a change affects how we use information we already have, we'll ask you to accept the new policy the next time you sign in, and for child accounts we'll ask the guardian first.