Privacy policy
Effective 7 October 2026
In short: everything stays on your phone.
- No account, no sign-up.
- No ads, no analytics, no tracking.
- Which apps you use, and for how long, never leave your phone.
- The only thing that goes online is buying Sandscreen Pro, which Google Play handles.
This policy explains what the Sandscreen app for Android does with information on your phone. Sandscreen is an independent app made in New Zealand ("we").
What Sandscreen keeps on your phone
To work, Sandscreen saves these in its own private storage on your phone, where other apps can't read them:
- Your limits and groups: which apps, and how long each day.
- How long you've used each limited app today, how often you opened it, and time earned back; how often you opened each blocked app, and how many of those you skipped.
- Up to 120 days of daily totals, for This week, Progress and the monthly report.
- Your blocks, hard mode, sand settings and choices.
- Pictures you choose for photo sand. Sandscreen keeps its own copy, chosen through Android's photo picker, so it never sees the rest of your photos.
- Whether you have Sandscreen Pro, or are in your free week of it.
None of this is sent to us or anyone else. We have no servers that receive it, and Sandscreen's data isn't included in Android's cloud backup.
Permissions, and why
| Permission | What it's for |
|---|---|
| Usage access | To tell which app is open, so time counts against the right limit and a blocked app pauses. Sandscreen reads app names and times only, on your phone. |
| Display over other apps | To draw the sand over a limited or blocked app. |
| Notifications | Time left, a blocked app's countdown, and a reminder about your free Pro week. Optional. |
| Accessibility (optional) | Only if you choose solid sand. The service draws sand you can't tap through, and notes which app is in front (its name only). It cannot read what's on your screen or what you type, and it never taps, swipes or changes anything. |
| Run at start-up, foreground service, alarms | To keep your limits working after a restart, and to apply hard mode's waiting changes on time. |
| Internet and Google Play billing | Only to buy Sandscreen Pro, and to check with Google Play that you have it. |
Buying Sandscreen Pro
Purchases and subscriptions are handled entirely by Google Play. We never see your card or payment details. Sandscreen asks Google Play only whether your Google account owns Pro, so it can unlock it. Google's use of payment information is covered by Google's privacy policy. You can manage or cancel a subscription in Google Play at any time.
Sharing
Sandscreen shares nothing on its own. If you tap Share on a monthly sand report, it hands a picture to the app you pick. The picture shows time totals only, never which apps.
Deleting your data
Everything Sandscreen keeps is on your phone. Uninstalling Sandscreen, or clearing its storage in Settings › Apps › Sandscreen, deletes all of it. Daily history older than 120 days is deleted automatically. We hold no copy, so there's nothing for us to delete.
Children
Sandscreen isn't directed at children under 13, and it doesn't knowingly collect anything from anyone, of any age.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new effective date. If Sandscreen ever needs to send any of your information off your phone, it will ask you first.
Contact
Questions about privacy: hello@sandscreen.app