Privacy policy

Short version

What the app reads and why

• Usage access: which app is on screen and when. Kharu uses this for apps you choose, to count visits and minutes, learn your usual visit length, and show check-ins. Other apps are kept only as anonymous codes on the phone.
• Screen on/off and shutdown times: help Kharu end a visit accurately.
• Your choices: check-in answers, intentional sessions, chosen apps, free minutes, Hard mode, quiet hours, and the squirrel’s name.
• Your why: text you write and any photo you choose stay on your phone and can be shown back to you in the app.
• Feedback: one-tap answers help assess whether a check-in was useful.

Kharu does not read screen content, messages, contacts, location, or what you type in other apps. It does not access photos unless you choose one for your why or choose to share an image.

Permissions

• Display over other apps shows a check-in, optional Hard mode pause, or quiet-hour screen over a chosen app.
• Notifications show an ongoing notification while check-ins are on, with a Stop action, and optional reminders.
• Foreground service keeps check-ins timely while a chosen app is open.
• Battery optimisation exemption is requested because some phones stop background check-ins otherwise.
• Internet is used for the optional beta summary and crash reports described below.

Where it is stored

Activity history, settings, answers, and learned patterns are kept in the app’s private storage on your phone and excluded from ordinary Android backups. They remain until you delete them or uninstall, though some older records are removed sooner by the app’s retention rules. Nothing is sold or shared with advertisers.

Learning on your phone

Kharu adjusts check-in timing from your answers on your phone. During the beta, it stays quiet on about 1 in 10 visits it would normally check in on, to learn whether check-ins help. That test is recorded on your phone. A background model may be compared with the rules, but it does not decide when Kharu checks in; its scores remain on your phone.

Optional beta summary and crash reports

“Send a daily summary” is off by default. If you turn it on in You, Kharu sends a dated summary of the previous day over HTTPS to Supabase. Records use a random eight-character tester code; the summary does not include your name, email address, or a Kharu account. The summary includes:

• Minutes and opens for each app you chose to watch, with its Android package name and app role.
• Counts of check-ins, Hard mode gates, “How long” cards, intentional sessions, and quiet-hour screens; their answers or taps; and whether you stayed away after “I’m done” or Leave.
• One-tap feedback; Instead timer activity; weekly-goal use and target; tonight’s plan and Pause use; names of settings changed (not their values); and Kharu open counts.
• Phone model and Kharu version. If the app crashes, a separate report can include the time, Android version, error and cause types, a crash fingerprint, and stack frames in the app’s code. Newer app builds exclude the exception message and thread name. Earlier beta builds may include a shortened exception message, which could contain text related to the failed operation.

The daily summary does not send screen content, messages, what you type (including your why), photos, contacts, location, or apps you did not choose. The app cannot read back sent beta records; the beta team uses them to assess check-ins and fix crashes. Turning the switch off stops future sending. Crash reports waiting on the phone while the switch is off are removed by Delete all data.

Sent beta records are kept until the beta ends, or deleted sooner when you request it with your tester code at kiransabne04@gmail.com. See data deletion.

Sharing and feedback

When you choose “Share my day” or another image share action, Kharu opens Android’s share sheet with the image you selected. You choose the recipient. The destination app handles that copy under its own privacy terms.

“Share learning data” is optional and off by default. If you choose to make a file, it shows times of day and weekdays without dates, visit lengths, what check-ins asked, your answers, and what happened in the next 30 minutes. Chosen apps are labeled generically, such as “feed app 1.” You can review the entire file before sending it yourself through Android’s share sheet. Kharu never uploads it automatically.

“Send feedback” opens your own email app; nothing is sent until you press send. You can choose to attach a diagnostics file after reviewing it. That file includes app and Android versions, phone model, permission status, monitoring-health changes, times Hard mode was not running, and daily counts of Kharu opens, check-ins, gates, heads-ups, and acorns for up to 14 days. It contains no app names, per-app minutes, messages, or screen content. Your email provider and ours handle an email you send under their own policies.

Your controls and deletion

In You, you can delete activity history, reset learned patterns, turn off the beta summary, or choose Delete all data. Delete all data clears dated history, learning, settings, your why, and pending crash reports. Undated acorn totals, spending, and nest items remain on the phone so the nest stays. Uninstalling Kharu removes all on-device app data. To remove beta records already sent, email kiransabne04@gmail.com with the tester code shown in You. See the deletion instructions.

Children

The beta is for adults aged 18 or older.

This website

This static website sets no cookies and uses no analytics or trackers. It has no forms. Vercel hosts the files and may process ordinary request information, such as an IP address, under Vercel’s own privacy terms. Email links open your email app; sending an email is your choice.

Third parties

Supabase processes optional beta records for Kiran Sabne. Google Play distributes the Android app and handles its own store services under Google’s policies. Vercel hosts this website. If you choose to share an image, file, or email, the destination service handles that copy under its own terms. Kharu has no advertising or analytics SDKs.

Security

On-device data is held in app-private storage and excluded from ordinary backups. Optional beta records are sent over HTTPS. No system is perfectly secure; contact us if you have a concern.

Changes

We will update this page and its date when the policy changes. New data-sharing features will be explained before they are turned on.

Contact

Developer: Kiran Sabne
Email: kiransabne04@gmail.com