Privacy Policy

Pocket Tells · Last updated 15 October 2026

Pocket Tells collects nothing. There is no account, no server, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking — the app does not send anything over the internet.

What stays on your phone

Everything you enter — hands, sessions, tournaments, home-game nights, drill answers and settings — is stored only on your iPhone:

in the app’s own storage, and
as copies in the app’s Documents folder, so that iOS clearing web storage can’t lose it. The rolling autobackup files are visible to you in the Files app under Pocket Tells › pokerlog.

Nobody else — including the developer — can see any of it.

What leaves your phone, and only when you say so

Backup files. “Save backup file” writes a file and opens the share sheet. The file goes wherever you send it. It is plain text holding all your data, so treat it like any personal document.
Results spreadsheet. “Export results as a spreadsheet (CSV)” writes your sessions and tournaments to a file (kept in Files, under Pocket Tells) and opens the share sheet; it goes only where you send it.
Copy and share. Copying a hand, or sharing a home game’s payments or leaderboard, sends exactly what you see in the share sheet (the text, and for payments and the leaderboard a picture of them), to whoever you choose. The names are the ones you typed.
The App Store link. A shared night or leaderboard ends with a link to Pocket Tells on the App Store. It names no one and carries none of your data. If someone opens it, Apple counts the visit in its own App Store totals, which name no one; that is all we could see.
Report a problem. If you use it, your Mail app opens with an email for you to read, edit and send — or not.

Buying Pro

Pro is a one-time in-app purchase processed entirely by Apple. The app only asks the App Store whether Pro is unlocked on your Apple ID; it never sees your name, email or payment details. The developer receives Apple’s standard sales reports, which don’t identify you. Apple’s handling of the purchase is covered by Apple’s privacy policy.

Apple’s own settings

If you have turned on Share with App Developers in iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements, Apple may share anonymous crash reports and usage statistics with developers. That is Apple’s setting, off unless you turned it on, and it never includes anything you logged.

At two moments, once each (after a home game whose stacks add up, and after your fifth cash session), the app asks iOS to show Apple’s rating prompt. Apple decides whether it appears, and you can turn it off in Settings › Apps › App Store › In-App Ratings & Reviews (on iOS 17 and earlier, Settings › App Store). A rating or review you leave goes to Apple under your Apple ID; the app never learns whether you rated it.

Deleting your data

Settings › Erase all data clears everything in the app, but leaves copies in the Files app under Pocket Tells › pokerlog, including a safety copy of what was erased (before-erase.json), the rolling autobackup files, the safety copies made before a restore and, until your next save, the app’s own previous copy of your data. After an erase, delete that folder in the Files app to remove them too. Deleting the app removes its storage and its Documents folder: those copies, and any backup file you saved that is still in Files › Pocket Tells. A backup file you moved or shared somewhere else stays there.

Children

The app is a logging and study tool for poker with no wagering and no real-money play, and it is not directed at children. Since it collects no data at all, it collects no data from children.

Changes and questions

If this ever changes, this page and the App Store privacy label change first. Questions: email pockettells@gmail.com, or see the support page.

Pocket Tells is an offline-first iOS app by David Ding. This page is hosted on GitHub Pages; GitHub may log standard web-server access data (such as IP addresses) when you view it, per GitHub's privacy statement. The app itself never talks to this or any other website.