What the app stores, and where
All of it is on the phone, in the app's own local storage (iOS UserDefaults). None of it is sent anywhere.
| What | Why | Where in the code |
|---|---|---|
| Player first names (or nicknames) and ages, plus the squishy and colour each picked | So the last players are remembered and setup is prefilled next time | SquishyMathTrail/Game/RosterStore.swift |
| Best score per player name | To show a personal best | SquishyMathTrail/Game/ScoreStore.swift |
| Saved players: name, age, chosen squishy and colour, coins, lifetime points and game stats, unlocked squishies and colours, achievements earned, Learning Center level and lessons per skill, tricks bought and switched on | So each kid keeps their coins, levels, unlocks and badges between games | SquishyMathTrail/Game/ProfileStore.swift |
| Whether the Squishy Pack is owned (yes/no) | So the shop stays open without asking Apple every time (refreshed from Apple on every launch) | SquishyMathTrail/Game/ProfileStore.swift, set by SquishyMathTrail/Game/PackStore.swift |
| Sound on/off | To remember the speaker toggle | SquishyMathTrail/Game/SoundKit.swift |
A name is whatever a grown-up types — a first name, a nickname, or nothing (the app then says "Player 1"). An age is a number from 4 to 12 used only to pick which math the child sees.
The microphone
- Used only by two optional tricks, Windy and Boo! They come with the Squishy Pack and are bought with coins. Every other part of the app works without the microphone.
- Asked only after a grown-up. Switching one of those tricks on first shows the grown-up check; only then does iOS ask for the microphone. Say no and the two tricks stay off.
- Loudness only, on the device. While the Playroom is open with one of those tricks on, the app turns each slice of sound into one number — how loud it is — and throws the sound away. That number makes the squishy sway when you blow on the phone or jump at a loud "boo".
- Nothing is recorded, saved or sent. No audio is written anywhere, no loudness numbers are kept, no speech is recognised, and nothing is uploaded.
- Off when the Playroom closes. The microphone is let go when the child leaves the Playroom or switches the tricks off.
- Turn it off any time: Settings › Squishy Math › Microphone, or switch the trick off on the player's screen.
Other things the app uses on the device
- Motion sensors. Some tricks and the squishy's jelly wobble read the phone's tilt and shake. The readings are used on the spot and never stored. iOS asks no permission for this.
- Apple's built-in voice. The squishy talks with Apple's speech voice, on the device.
- Apple's on-device language model. On devices with Apple Intelligence, Story Trail and the flashcard hint ask Apple's on-device model to choose words for a story (a hero, some things, a place). The app makes the math and the numbers itself and never gives the model the child's name or anything the child typed — only the squishy's name (like "Kitty") and the sum on the card. It runs on the device. Without the model, the app uses its own built-in word bank.
What the app does NOT do
- No network of its own. There is no networking code in the app. Nothing is uploaded, downloaded, synced or backed up by the app itself. The one exception is Apple's own App Store, which the app asks about the Squishy Pack (below); that conversation is between your device and Apple, under Apple's privacy policy, and we see none of it. (Your own iCloud device backup may include the app's local data, under Apple's terms, like any other app.)
- No third-party code. No advertising, analytics, crash-reporting or social SDKs.
- One device permission, and only if a grown-up turns it on: the microphone, above. The app never asks for camera, photos, contacts, location, speech recognition or notifications.
- One optional purchase, handled by Apple. The Squishy Pack ($0.99, once) opens more squishies and colours in the shop, gives 5,000 coins to every player, and lets each player buy squishy tricks with coins. Apple takes the payment through its own purchase sheet, behind a grown-up check; the app never sees a card, a name, an email or a receipt — only whether the pack is owned, which it remembers on the phone as a yes/no. Restore Purchases asks Apple the same question.
- No links out, no web views. Nothing in the app opens a browser.
- Sound is generated inside the app (no streaming) and respects the phone's silent switch.
Children
Squishy Math Trail is made for children aged 4 to 12. Because no information is collected or transmitted, the app does not collect personal information from children (COPPA) or from anyone else. The microphone is only switched on by a grown-up and records nothing. A parent or guardian can clear everything the app remembers by deleting the app.
Your choices
- Forget one player: the red "Delete player" button at the bottom of that player's screen removes the saved player, coins, levels, unlocks, tricks and achievements.
- Forget everything: delete the app. There is no server-side copy to ask us to delete, because there is none.
- Microphone: Settings › Squishy Math › Microphone, or switch Windy and Boo! off on the player's screen.
- Sound: the speaker button on the home screen.
Changes
If a future version ever adds something that sends data off the device, this policy will change first and the change will be described in the app's release notes.
Contact
Tom Brown
Support: appstoresupportwithasmile@icloud.com (the same address as the App Store support contact).