Boredom Mode Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 23, 2026 (version 1.1) Who we are: Michael Anthony Aidala, the developer of Boredom Mode. Contact: support@boredommode.com

The short version

Boredom Mode does not collect, send, sell or share information about you or your child. It has no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no tracking, and the app never connects to the internet. Everything it remembers stays on your phone. The one thing that can leave the phone is a file made in the app (a sound file or a MIDI file of an EM8 loop, a Glow song or beat or a mix, or a short recording), and only when a grown-up saves it, after a grown-up check, to a place they choose (below). The app itself sends it nowhere.

Boredom Mode asks for one permission, the microphone, and only if a grown-up turns on Recording in its settings, after a grown-up check. It listens only while Voice's or Decks' microphone button is held (with VoiceOver or Switch Control, which can't hold a button: from "Record a sound" until "Stop recording"; 10 seconds at most in Decks, and in Voice at most the loop's length, 32 seconds at most), and the short clips it makes stay on this phone (Recording, below).

Apple, which runs the App Store and TestFlight, gives app developers some information of its own. That is described plainly below, under What Apple may share with us.

What the app keeps on your phone

Boredom Mode stores these kinds of things, all only on the device:

1. Settings. In Apple's standard settings storage (UserDefaults), these and nothing else:
   • the theme and the feel level (Calm, Everyday or Bright);
   • whether sound, haptics, tilt, Reduce Motion, Trip mode and "play sound in Silent mode" are on, and whether a grown-up has turned Recording on;
   • which toys are hidden, which toy the app stays on, and the last toy that was open;
   • each toy's own grown-up options: for Domes, Zen or Chaos and the dome shape; for Keys, whether it starts in song or free play, which song it plays, which sound it plays with (chimes, piano or drums) and whether its mode switch shows; for Glow, whether its beat guides show only while the beat plays or all the time; for Decks, whether the faint hiss of a record plays under its sound; for EM8, how much of it shows, the keyboard and its dots, how touch strength works, what a whole hand plays, the bend range, finger vibrato, the die, how long a button-pressed note lasts, whether the loop shows, and the recording click;
   • for each music page, which view it shows: Simple (a few big controls) or Studio (every control);
   • whether a dome has ever been popped (so the special first-pop welcome happens only once), which toys have shown their "show me how" demonstration, or had it stopped partway once (so it plays by itself only once per toy, or once more if a touch stopped it), and in which toys the "show me how" button has been tapped (so the ring that marks it can go);
   • the best score in Domes' Chaos game (a single number);
   • the age range, or that you said no, only if the app has asked for it (Age range, below).
2. What your child makes. Eight toys keep what is on them in a small file in the app's own storage, so it is still there next time: in Domes, which domes are popped; in Grain, the carved sand and which brush size was chosen; in Glow, the picture of light, the brush, its beat's speed and swing, and how it plays (as a song or a beat, and the song's feel and speed); in Keys, whether song or free play was on, which song and which sound it was, and where in the song it had got to; in EM8, the sound set up, how the keys respond, where the keyboard was, up to four saved sounds, and the loop (its notes, the sounds they were played with, its length and tempo); in Decks, which sound is on the record and the speed of its repeats (only once one of those is changed); in Mix, each strip's level, tone, filter, pan, effect amount and whether it is muted, the master level, the effect's settings, the remembered knob moves, an earlier 1.1 mix's sample steps and their sound, and the tempo (only once one of those is changed; Mix reads the Glow picture, the EM8 loop, Beats' rows and Voice's loop from their own files and keeps no copy); in Beats, its rows (each row's sound, which steps are on, which are accented, its level and whether it is muted), the swing, and the tempo (only once one of those is changed; Mix reads Beats' rows from this file and keeps no copy); in Voice, which recording it loops (by its number), the loop's length and its knobs and slices (only once one of those is changed; the recording itself stays with the others, below). Water and Prism keep nothing. These files contain no names, no dates or times, and no record of how long or how often anyone played.
3. Recordings, only if a grown-up has turned Recording on: up to 16 short sound clips made with Voice's or Decks' microphone button (below), and a small list of them (each one's number, length, loudness and outline for its picture, and the next clip's number). No names, no dates or times.

This information never leaves the phone through Boredom Mode, except a loop, a song, a beat, a mix or a recording a grown-up saves with Save to Files. If you back up your phone to iCloud or a computer, the backup includes the settings and what the toys made, like any app's data; recordings are kept out of backups, so they stay on this phone only. Deleting Boredom Mode deletes all of it. "Start fresh" in Boredom Mode's settings (press and hold the settings button) clears everything made in the toys except recordings, which have their own Delete buttons; the settings and the best score stay until the app is deleted.

Saving an EM8 loop. EM8 keeps the sound you set up, up to four saved sounds and your loop (with the sounds its notes were played with) on this phone only. A grown-up can save the loop as a sound file, or as a MIDI file of its notes, to a place they choose, after a grown-up check (a multiplication written in words). The file holds only the music: it is named after the loop's length and tempo, with no name, date or anything about who made it. Boredom Mode hands it to the phone's own Save to Files screen and keeps no copy; the app itself sends it nowhere. If that place is an online folder, the service behind it handles the file.

Saving a Glow song or beat. Glow keeps its picture, how it plays, and the speed and swing of its beat, on this phone only. A grown-up can save the picture as a song or as a beat, as a sound file or as a MIDI file of its notes, to a place they choose, after the same grown-up check. The file holds only the music: it is named after its feel, length and tempo, with no name, date or anything about who made it. Boredom Mode hands it to the phone's own Save to Files screen and keeps no copy; the app itself sends it nowhere. If that place is an online folder, the service behind it handles the file.

Saving a Voice loop. Voice keeps its choices on this phone only, and its loop is one of the recordings (below). A grown-up can save the loop as it plays (with its effects) or the recording as it was made, as a sound file, to a place they choose, after the same grown-up check. The file holds only the sound: it is named after the loop's length and tempo (or "Voice take"), with no name, date or anything about who made it. Boredom Mode hands it to the phone's own Save to Files screen and keeps no copy; the app itself sends it nowhere. If that place is an online folder, the service behind it handles the file.

Saving a mix. Mix keeps its own choices on this phone only. A grown-up can save the mix (Glow's song or beat, the EM8 loop, the Beats beat and the Voice loop playing together) as one sound file, or as a MIDI file of its notes, to a place they choose, after the same grown-up check. The file holds only the music: it is named after the mix's length and tempo, with no name, date or anything about who made it. Boredom Mode hands it to the phone's own Save to Files screen and keeps no copy; the app itself sends it nowhere. If that place is an online folder, the service behind it handles the file.

Recording (the microphone)

Recording is off until a grown-up turns it on: Settings (press and hold the settings button) → Recording, then a grown-up check (a multiplication written in words). The first time, iPhone then asks for permission to use the microphone; if it is not given, Recording stays off. Only then do Voice (its round button) and Decks (beside its sounds button) show a microphone button.

• When it listens. Only while a microphone button is held (or, with VoiceOver or Switch Control, between starting and stopping a take), and never for more than 10 seconds in Decks, or, in Voice, more than the loop's length (32 seconds at most). It stops the moment the button is let go, the toy leaves the screen, settings open, the phone locks or the app goes to the background, or a call comes in. It never listens in the background.
• What is kept. Each take is trimmed, levelled so that no clip plays back louder than the app's other sounds, and kept as a small sound file (at most 32 seconds, about 260 KB) in the app's own storage on this phone. At most 16 are kept; the microphone buttons rest until one is deleted. Nothing is kept of a take that heard nothing. The files hold only the sound: no name, no date or time, no place.
• Where it goes. Nowhere. Recordings are not sent to us or anyone, not used for anything but playing them in the app, and are kept out of iCloud and computer backups. They play in Voice as its loop, in EM8 as "My recordings", on Decks' record, on Beats' rows, and in Mix wherever Beats and Voice play.
• Leaving the phone. Only when a grown-up saves one with Settings → Recording → the save button, or saves Voice's loop or its recording (Settings → Voice → Save the loop), after the same grown-up check, to a place they choose through the phone's own Save to Files screen. Boredom Mode keeps no extra copy and sends it nowhere; if that place is an online folder, the service behind it handles the file. A recording playing in a mix (on Voice's loop or a Beats row) is also heard in a mix a grown-up saves the same way (below).
• Deleting. Settings → Recording: the delete button beside each clip, or Delete all recordings. Turning Recording off offers to delete them too (it never does by itself: clips still play until deleted). Deleting Boredom Mode deletes them. You can also withdraw the microphone permission in the iPhone's Settings app → Privacy & Security → Microphone.

What the app never does

• It never connects to the internet or any other device. There is no network code in it, and before release each build is checked, both its source and the finished app, for network code and for links out of the app.
• It asks for one permission only, the microphone, and only after a grown-up turns on Recording (above). Never the camera, photos, contacts, location, notifications, or permission to track.
• It contains no third-party code: no analytics, advertising, crash-reporting or social SDKs.
• It has no ads, no in-app purchases, no accounts, and no links to websites or other apps. It offers no way to share: the only way anything leaves the app is the grown-up's Save to Files, above (an EM8 loop, a Glow song or beat, a Voice loop, a mix or a recording).

Tilt. Some toys respond to how the phone is tilted, using the phone's motion sensors. The readings are used in the moment to move sand, water and light, and are never stored or sent anywhere. iPhone does not ask permission for this. A grown-up can turn tilt off in Boredom Mode's settings.

What Apple may share with us

Apple, not Boredom Mode, collects the following, under Apple's own privacy policy and your choices in the iPhone's Settings.

• App Store analytics. Apple gives developers aggregate sales and download totals (for example by country, device model and iOS version), plus usage and crash statistics drawn only from people who have chosen to share analytics with app developers. We see totals, never individuals.
• Crash reports. If Boredom Mode crashes on a phone whose owner shares analytics with app developers, Apple may send us a crash report. It describes the app's code at the moment of the crash and the phone model and iOS version. It does not say who you are or what your child was doing.
• You can stop sharing usage statistics and crash reports on your iPhone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements → Share With App Developers. Sales and download totals include everyone who gets the app.
• Purchases. Apple handles payment. We receive sales totals by country, never your name or payment details.
• TestFlight (beta testers only). If you join Boredom Mode's beta through Apple's TestFlight, Apple shows us the name and email address you were invited with (if you were invited by email), your installs, session counts and crash reports, and any feedback or screenshots you choose to send. We use this only to fix and improve Boredom Mode, and remove testers when a beta ends.

Age range. Where a law requires it (for example in Texas, and in California from January 1, 2027), Boredom Mode may ask Apple's age range feature for the age range of the person using the phone (such as "under 13" or "13 to 15"), never a birth date. Apple asks you first, or follows the choice a parent made in Family Sharing, and you can say no. The app keeps only the range, or that you said no, in its settings on this phone, and sends it nowhere; we never receive it. The app works the same for every age.

If you contact us

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you write. We use it only to reply, and delete the conversation within 12 months of it ending, or sooner if you ask. Please don't send us your child's name, photos or health details; we don't need them to help.

Children

Boredom Mode is made for children and families. We do not collect personal information from anyone, including children. If you think we have information about your child (for example, in an email you sent), write to us and we will delete it.

Recordings and children's privacy laws (such as COPPA in the US). A recording may hold a child's voice. We, the developer, never collect it: recordings are made and kept only on your phone, Boredom Mode has no way to send them anywhere, and a clip leaves the phone only when a grown-up saves it themselves, to a place they choose. We never receive, see or hear any recording.

This website

The Boredom Mode website (the support, privacy and press pages) is a set of plain pages. It uses no cookies, no analytics, no ads and no forms, and loads nothing from any other website: its fonts and pictures are part of the pages. The company that hosts the pages may keep ordinary server logs, such as the IP address and browser of each visit, to run and protect its service, under its own privacy policy. We don't use those logs to learn who visits.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update the effective date above and describe the change plainly here. If Boredom Mode ever needed to send anything off the phone, this policy would change first, and the change would be announced in the app's release notes before any such version shipped.

Version 1.1 adds EM8 and its loop; for Glow, a speed and a swing for its beat and the choice of playing its picture as a song (with its feel and speed), kept with its picture, and one grown-up option (when its beat guides show); Decks, which takes the place of 1.0's Spool (it keeps the sound on its record and the speed of its repeats, and has one grown-up option, its hiss); Beats, a drum beat made step by step (it keeps its rows, swing and tempo); Voice, a voice recorder that loops (it keeps which recording it loops, the loop's length and its knobs); and Mix, which plays Glow's song or beat, EM8's loop, Beats' beat and Voice's loop together; each music page also remembers which view it shows, Simple or Studio. What each keeps is listed above. It also adds the one way a file can leave the app: a grown-up, past a grown-up check, can save an EM8 loop, a Glow song or beat, a Voice loop or a mix as a sound file (or, but for Voice, a MIDI file), with Save to Files. The app still collects nothing and sends nothing anywhere; the 1.1 release notes say so. 1.1 also adds Recording, off until a grown-up turns it on: the app's one permission (the microphone), short clips kept on this phone only, and Save to Files for a clip behind the same grown-up check (above).

Contact

Questions about this policy: support@boredommode.com