Privacy Policy
ChinesePal has no accounts and no sign-up. Your learning progress stays on your device and in your own iCloud — we cannot see it. A small amount of data goes to the services listed below. Free users see ads from Google AdMob; iOS asks your permission before any tracking (see Ads).
What stays with you
- Your learning progress. Words studied, review ratings, quiz results, starred words, streaks and settings are stored on your device and, if iCloud is on, synced through your personal iCloud account (Apple CloudKit private database). That storage belongs to you; we have no access to it and run no servers of our own.
- Your handwriting. Strokes you draw are checked on the device, in the moment, and then discarded. Nothing you write is uploaded or saved.
- Pronunciation. Words are read aloud by the speech engine built into iOS. Nothing is recorded; the app never uses the microphone.
- Widgets, Siri and reminders. The widget, Siri answers and the daily reminder read a small summary (such as how many words are due) that stays on your device.
Purchases — RevenueCat
Pro subscriptions and the lifetime purchase are processed by Apple. We never receive your name, email, card number or billing address. To confirm your purchase on each of your devices, the app sends your Apple purchase receipt to RevenueCat, our subscription service, together with a random anonymous identifier. RevenueCat sees your purchase history and that identifier — nothing else about you.
Ads — Google AdMob
Free users see two kinds of ads, both served by Google AdMob. First, you can choose to watch a short rewarded video in exchange for 10 extra new words; it plays only when you tap to watch one. Second, after your first 3 days with the app, a small banner sits below the content on the Learn, Quiz and Progress home screens — never during study, quizzes or handwriting. There are no pop-up ads and no video that plays on its own. Pro users see no ads at all. The first time you choose to watch a rewarded video, iOS asks whether ChinesePal may track you. It never asks at launch or while you study. If you allow it, AdMob receives your device’s advertising identifier (IDFA) and may combine it with data from other apps and websites to show more relevant ads and measure them. If you decline, AdMob does not receive the IDFA, and the ads and the reward work the same. Either way, to serve an ad, measure it and prevent fraud, AdMob receives an app-specific device identifier and information such as your device type, operating system, approximate location derived from your IP address, and how you interacted with the ad. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google’s consent form asks first. You can change the tracking choice any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. See how Google uses information from apps that use its services.
Analytics and crash reports — Google Firebase
To learn which features are used and to fix problems, the app sends anonymous usage events (for example, that a study session was completed), app performance data and crash reports to Google Firebase (Analytics and Crashlytics). These are tied to a random app-installation identifier, not to your name, email or Apple Account, and contain nothing you write or study. Firebase App Check uses Apple’s App Attest to confirm that requests come from a genuine copy of the app. This data is not used for advertising.
Children
ChinesePal is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from them. It has no chat, no user-to-user content and no social features.
Your choices and rights
- Delete the app to remove everything on your device. To remove synced progress, go to Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Manage Account Storage and delete ChinesePal’s data.
- Manage or cancel a subscription in Settings › [your name] › Subscriptions.
- Wherever you live — including California, Virginia, Colorado, the EU, the UK and Canada — you can ask about, or ask us to delete, the anonymous analytics data associated with your installation. Write to the address below; we do not sell or share personal information.
Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Material changes will also be noted in the app’s release notes.