The short version: Composing Stick collects no personal data. There are no accounts, no analytics, no ads and no tracking. The game itself runs entirely offline; the app contacts our own server only at launch, to read its settings and, if you allow notifications, to register this installation for them. Your shop, your proofs and your settings stay on your device.
Who we are
This policy covers the iOS game Composing Stick, a letterpress typesetting puzzle. "We" and "the developer" mean Composing Stick, the developer of the app.
What we collect
No personal data. We do not collect, send or sell anything that identifies you, and we have no way to see how you play.
- No accounts and no sign-in.
- No analytics, crash reporting services or usage tracking.
- No advertising and no advertising identifiers.
- No access to your contacts, location, microphone or device identifiers such as the IDFA.
- The only third-party component is Firebase Cloud Messaging, used solely to deliver notifications if you allow them.
When the app goes online
The game — setting type, locking up, printing and everything on the Proof Wall — needs no connection at all. The app contacts the network in three places only:
- At launch, it reads a small settings file from our own server (composingstick.space). The request carries nothing about you beyond what any web request carries: your device's standard browser user agent and the IP address your connection is coming from. The answer is cached on your device and the request is not repeated.
- Notices and the support page are shown in a web view inside the app, served from composingstick.space.
- Notifications, if you allow them — see below.
If the server cannot be reached, the app says so and offers to try again.
What stays on your device
To remember where you are in the shop, the app saves the following in its local storage (UserDefaults) and in its own app files on your device:
- Game progress through the 63 jobs, shillings earned, upgrades bought from the Supply Catalogue, streaks and achievements.
- Bookmarks and your settings.
- The proofs you pull on the press.
None of this is shared with other apps or sent anywhere.
Photo library
The app only touches your photos when you choose to, through the standard iOS photo picker. You might do this to:
- engrave a picture into a printer's mark block in the Block Maker, or
- pin a photo of a print from your own press to the Proof Wall ("From my press").
Only the picture you select is copied into the app's private storage on your device. The app cannot browse the rest of your library, and nothing is uploaded.
Camera
The camera is used only when you tap Camera, to photograph a picture for your printer's mark or a print from your own press. The photo stays on your device.
Notifications
There are two kinds, and both are optional.
- The daily rush-job reminder is a local notification, scheduled on your device by iOS. Nothing leaves the device, and you can switch it off at any time in Settings.
- Notifications from the shop. If you allow notifications when the app asks, it registers this installation with our server through Firebase Cloud Messaging. Two values are sent: the notification token Apple and Firebase issue for this installation, and a random identifier we generate for this installation. Neither is derived from you or your device's hardware, neither is linked to any account, and we use them for nothing but sending notifications. Turning notifications off in iOS Settings stops them.
Sharing proofs
If you share a proof image, it goes through the iOS share sheet to whichever app or person you pick. What happens next is governed by that destination. We receive nothing.
Deleting your data
In the app, go to Settings > Reset the shop. This clears all progress and any photos you pinned. Deleting the app from your device removes everything it stored.
Children
Composing Stick is suitable for all ages. Because it collects no personal data from anyone, it collects none from children either.
App Store privacy label
Our App Store listing declares Device ID, not linked to you and not used for tracking, collected for app functionality only — the notification token and the random installation identifier described above. Nothing else is declared, because nothing else is collected.
Changes to this policy
If the app changes in a way that affects your privacy, we will update this page and the effective date at the top before the update ships.
Contact
Questions about this policy can be sent through the form on our support page: composingstick.space/composingsupport.