Hearthling Privacy Policy

Effective August 28, 2026

Data stored on your device

Depending on the installed version and features you use, Hearthling stores companion names and kinds, care journal and needs, growth state, rooms and looks, trinkets or inventory, settings, and purchase-access state locally on your device. Version 3.0, if approved and installed, also stores the species you chose, First Resonance interaction result, Steady, Curious, or Bold facet, score, attunement, Bond progress, and keepsakes locally. The app does not send those records to a House Rhymaun server.

If you export a JSON backup, Hearthling creates it only at your request and presents Apple’s share or file interface so you choose its destination. Exported copies remain wherever you save or send them and are no longer controlled by Hearthling.

Widgets and local notifications

To display Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets, Hearthling shares a local snapshot with its own widget extension through the Apple app group group.com.rhymaun.hearthling. The snapshot can include the selected companion’s user-entered name, kind, current form and life or hatch state, mood, care needs and recommended care, badge count, room, look, trinket, and Bond level. It stays in the app’s local shared container and is not a public profile or cloud service.

If you explicitly start a bounded Lock Screen Live Activity, Hearthling gives Apple’s ActivityKit the companion name and current care snapshot needed to display that activity on your device. Hearthling uses no push token or House Rhymaun server for this feature, and ending the activity stops its in-app updates.

Optional care nudges are scheduled locally through Apple’s notification system only after you enable them. You can turn them off in Hearthling or iOS Settings. Hearthling does not use push-notification marketing or upload your companion data to schedule these reminders.

Purchases

Apple and StoreKit process Hearthling purchases. In public version 2.0, Extra Hearths is the one-time purchase offered for sale, and prior Caretaker purchasers can restore that retired entitlement. Care Club Monthly, Care Club Yearly, and Cozy Hearth Pack belong to version 3.0, which is pending App Review; they are not currently available for purchase.

Hearthling requests product information and reads Apple-signed product identifiers and verified entitlement status so it can provide purchased access. House Rhymaun does not receive your card number or full payment details. Food, care actions, and revival are not sold.

First Resonance, the first companion, Spirit Atlas, Living Chronicle, ordinary care, and revival do not require a purchase. First Resonance choices are not used for advertising, profiling outside the app, or automated decisions about you.

Retention, deletion, and your controls

Local companion data remains until you change it, replace it through an import, reset it using an in-app action, or delete the app. Deleting Hearthling removes its local app and widget data from that device, but any backups you exported remain at the destinations you chose. StoreKit ownership remains with Apple and may be restored separately.

You can review or change companion details and notification choices in the app, restore eligible purchases through Apple, export an eligible backup, and import a backup without transferring purchase ownership. If a future version offers an Apple subscription, it can be managed or canceled through Apple Account subscription settings. Contact support if the app reports that a local save needs recovery before making further changes.

Support messages

If you email support, the message and any information you voluntarily include are processed by the email providers involved and retained only as reasonably needed to answer, document, and protect against abuse. Do not send passwords, full payment receipts, or a companion backup unless you choose to share its names and journal content.

Contact

Privacy questions can be sent to mmrhymaun@icloud.com. For troubleshooting, see Hearthling Support.