Summary
- Guest by default. Every learning feature — Word of the Day, the Verbull game, quizzes, flashcards, the widget — works without an account. Used this way, no data is collected.
- On-device. Your bookmarks, quiz/flashcard progress, activity stats, streaks, and settings are stored on your device. They are never transmitted to us unless you sign in, in which case they are also backed up to your account so they survive a new phone (see below).
- Signing in is opt-in. The social features require signing in with Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google. Only then do we collect the limited information described below, and only to make the social features work.
- No ads, no cross-app tracking, no analytics SDKs in the app. The website counts page views without cookies (see Third parties).
Using Verbull without an account
If you never sign in, the app has no way to identify you and sends us nothing. The following is saved locally on your device and never leaves it:
- Bookmarks — the terms you save.
- Learning progress — quiz results, streaks, spaced-repetition scheduling, and the Verbull game's stats.
- Activity stats — the on-device history that powers your Profile dashboard's trends.
- Preferences — such as your daily-reminder setting and onboarding state.
Deleting the app removes all of it.
Signing in (optional)
Verbull includes optional social features — a friends feed, challenges and duels, a co-op weekly board, and a global leaderboard — plus a backup of your progress. To use them you sign in with Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google. If (and only if) you sign in, we collect and store the following to operate those features:
- Your name — as provided by Apple or Google the first time you sign in. If it isn't provided, a default display name ("Player") is used. Friends and game opponents see this name; you can change it any time in Settings → Account.
- An account identifier — the user identifier from Apple or Google, plus a
friend code (e.g.
VERB-XXXX) we generate so friends can add you, and a private invite link/QR token you can share and regenerate. - Results you share with friends — a shared game result contains the mode, puzzle number, number
of guesses, whether you won, an optional solve time, and a spoiler-safe block-grid
(
█▓░) of your guesses. The actual answer word is never included. Nothing is shared until you confirm your first share; after that, daily results can be shared automatically, and you can turn that off at any time in Settings. - Reactions — the emoji reactions you add to friends' posts.
- Your connections — the friend links you create and any accounts you block.
- Game boards you play with others — for friend challenges and duels against another player: your guess count and the color pattern of your guesses (never the letters). For the weekly co-op board, the words you guess are stored and shown to your partner. In a duel, your display name is shown to the other player only after you have both finished.
- Your progress backup — your streaks, game boards, flashcard/review progress, bookmarks, and per-day activity history, saved to your account so they survive a new phone. Only you can read your backup.
- Solve-rate reports — when you finish a daily puzzle while signed in, we record the mode, puzzle number and number of guesses so the app can show how everyone did (for example, "62% solved it"). Other players only ever see the totals.
- Global leaderboard (separate opt-in) — if you choose to join, a public handle you pick and your games played, games won, and longest streak, visible to all players. You can rename or leave at any time.
- Push token (separate opt-in) — if you turn on "Friend activity" notifications, your device's push token, kept only while that setting is on. It is removed when you turn the setting off, sign out, or delete your account.
Email address. Sign in with Apple does not give us your email address — we don't request it, and Apple can hide it behind a private relay in any case. Sign in with Google does provide the email address on your Google account, and it is stored with your account by our authentication provider solely to identify that account. It is never shown to other users, never used for marketing, and is deleted with your account.
Where this is stored. This information is held in our backend database, hosted by Supabase (a third-party infrastructure provider acting as our data processor on our behalf). It is transmitted over encrypted connections (HTTPS) and protected by row-level security so that only you and your friends can see your posts. We do not sell this data, use it for advertising, or use it to track you across other apps or websites.
The verbull.app website
The web puzzle saves your game and streak in your browser's local storage. If you sign in with Google on the website, we also store your web game state (boards and streak) with your account so it syncs between browsers. It is deleted with your account.
What we never collect
Regardless of whether you sign in, we do not collect your location, your contacts or address book (friends are added by code, QR, or invite link, never by reading your contacts), advertising identifiers, or any data for cross-app/website tracking.
Retaining and deleting your data
- On-device data is removed when you delete the app.
- Account data: you can sign out at any time. Choosing "Delete account" (Profile → Settings → Account) permanently removes your profile, posts, reactions, friend connections, challenge/duel/co-op boards, progress backup, solve-rate reports and web game state, leaderboard entry, and push tokens from our backend. This cannot be undone.
Purchases
The app offers "Pro" as a yearly subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase, processed entirely by Apple through the App Store using StoreKit. We never see or receive your payment details. Apple's handling of purchase information is governed by Apple's Privacy Policy. The app only receives a yes/no entitlement indicating whether you own Pro.
Notifications
If you opt in to the daily reminder, the app schedules local notifications on your device. These are generated on-device by iOS; no notification data is sent to any server.
If you sign in and turn on "Friend activity" notifications, your device's push token is stored in our backend and used with Apple's push service to notify you when a friend challenges you, accepts a request, or takes their turn. Turn the setting off at any time and the token is deleted.
Audio
Word pronunciations are produced on-device using Apple's built-in speech synthesizer. No audio is recorded, uploaded, or processed off your device.
Children's privacy
Verbull is rated 4+ and contains no ads and no cross-app tracking. The optional account uses Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 beyond the limited account data described above, which is only ever created when a user signs in.
Data security
On-device data is protected by your device's standard iOS protections. Friends-feed data is transmitted over encrypted connections and access-controlled by row-level security so that data is only visible to you and the friends you've added.
Third parties
- Apple — for App Store purchases (StoreKit), Sign in with Apple, and (if enabled) push notifications.
- Google — for Sign in with Google, only if you choose it. Google's handling of the sign-in is governed by Google's Privacy Policy.
- Supabase — our backend host / data processor for the optional signed-in features.
- Vercel — hosts verbull.app and provides its cookieless page-view analytics.
- Google Fonts — the website loads its typefaces from Google, which receives your IP address when a page loads.
The Verbull app contains no third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking SDKs. The verbull.app website uses Vercel Web Analytics, a cookieless service from our host Vercel, to count page views and basic game events (such as a puzzle being started or shared). It does not use cookies, does not identify you across sites, and is not used for advertising.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we will update the effective date above and post the revised policy at this URL. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Contact: owenflynn2093@gmail.com