Privacy Policy

This policy covers the Candlepaw app (the "App"), published by Pocketleaf ("we", "us"). Pocketleaf is operated by Kyrylo Niesmielov, published on Google Play as "NiesmielovTeam" and on the App Store as "Kyrylo Niesmielov". Questions about this policy go to support@trypocketleaf.com.

There is no account and no sign-up. Everything you add to Candlepaw — your companion's page, photos, sounds, stories, letters, your path journal and mood check-ins — is stored only on your device. We do not run a server that receives or stores it, and we cannot read it.

The only outside service the App talks to is our subscription provider, RevenueCat, and only to check and process purchases.

The App stores, in its own private storage on your phone: your companion's profile (name, species, the dates you choose to add, such as a birthday, the day they came home or the day you said goodbye); memories (the photos you pick, the stories and captions you write, sound recordings and voice notes); letters you write to them; your answers on the 28-day path, mood check-ins and the moments and rituals you log; the names and any phone numbers you add for the people you'd like to reach on a hard day; and your settings (language, theme, reminders).

None of this is sent to us. It is not used for advertising, profiling or training anything.

Photos: the App opens your photo library only when you choose to add a picture, through the system photo picker, and keeps a copy of only the photos you select. The App does not use the camera.

Microphone: used only while you record a sound memory or dictate a voice note or a letter. Recordings are saved in the App's storage on your device.

Speech-to-text: dictation uses your device's own on-device speech recognition. The App requires on-device recognition and does not fall back to a network service — if your device can't recognise speech on-device, the App tells you and dictation stays off. Your voice is not sent to us or to anyone else by Candlepaw.

Read-aloud: when the App reads text aloud, it uses your device's built-in voices, on the device.

Home-screen and lock-screen widgets show a small copy of what you've chosen to display — your companion's name, the candle, today's step on the path, a memory from this day, and a small thumbnail of their photo. This copy is kept in storage shared only between the App and its own widgets on your device.

If you use the Apple Watch companion, your iPhone sends the watch what it needs to show you — your companion's name, a small photo thumbnail, the candle, today's step and mood, an upcoming hard date, and the name and number of the person you chose to reach — directly to your paired watch through Apple's WatchConnectivity. A voice note you record on the watch is transferred to your iPhone the same way. None of it passes through our servers.

Reminders — such as a heads-up before a birthday or an anniversary, or a gentle note on the path — are scheduled locally on your device. The App does not use a push-notification server and never sends marketing messages.

When you choose to message or call someone from the App, it opens your phone's own Messages or Phone app with the text or number filled in. Candlepaw never sends a message or places a call by itself, and we never see who you contact or what you write.

Crisis and pet-loss support lines in the App are ordinary phone numbers that open in your Phone or Messages app.

When you export your memories or create a printable book or memorial page, the file is created on your device and handed to the system share sheet. It goes only where you send it — for example to Files, iCloud Drive, an email or a printer — and is then governed by that service's own terms.

Subscriptions and the lifetime purchase are billed by the Apple App Store or Google Play. We never see your payment card details.

To check whether Pro is active, the App uses RevenueCat, Inc. RevenueCat assigns a random, anonymous app user ID and receives purchase and subscription information from the store, along with basic technical data needed to process it (such as app version, device type, operating system, country/store and IP address). We do not send RevenueCat your name, email or anything you write in the App. RevenueCat's privacy policy is at https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy.

Your phone's own system backup (iCloud Backup on iPhone, Google backup on Android) may include the App's data, depending on your device settings. Those backups are created and stored by Apple or Google under their own privacy policies, not by us.

We do not sell or share personal information. We do not show ads. We do not track you across apps or websites, and the App does not access your advertising identifier. The App contains no analytics, advertising or crash-reporting SDK.

Candlepaw never speaks as your pet and never generates “messages from them”.

You can delete a single memory, letter or companion at any time. A deleted memory or letter first waits in Recently deleted for 30 days, in case you change your mind, and you can remove it for good sooner with Delete all now. Deleting a companion removes their page, path journal, memories and letters from your phone straight away.

Settings → Delete everything permanently removes every companion, memory and letter from your phone. Uninstalling the App also removes its data from the device. Because we hold no copy, there is nothing for us to delete on our side.

If you have ever emailed us, you can ask us to delete that correspondence.

Candlepaw is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The App includes guidance for parents on talking with children about a pet's death; it is written for the adult to read. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

Depending on where you live — for example under the EU/UK GDPR or the California CCPA/CPRA — you may have rights to access, correct, delete or restrict the processing of your personal information, and to object to it. Because your content is stored only on your device, you can exercise most of these rights directly in the App. For anything else, including purchase data held by RevenueCat on our behalf, email us and we will help.

Candlepaw can be used worldwide. Purchase information handled by the app stores and RevenueCat may be processed in countries other than your own, under the safeguards those providers offer.

If the App starts handling data differently, we will update this page before that version is released. The date at the top shows the latest version.

Questions about privacy? Email support@trypocketleaf.com.