Countdown Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 11, 2026

Countdown counts the days to the things you are waiting for, and puts them on your Home Screen and Lock Screen. This Privacy Policy explains what information the app uses and how it is handled.

Information We Use

Countdown stores the events you create — their titles, dates, notes, whether each counts down or up, how it repeats, the colour, backdrop and icon you chose for it, which reminders you enabled, and which events you pinned — along with your app preferences, your local backup snapshots, and your Pro purchase entitlement status.

This content is created by you. It is kept on your device and, when iCloud is available for the app, synchronized through your private iCloud container. The app does not require a Countdown account, does not ask you to sign in to a separate service, and the developer does not operate a server that receives your events.

Analytics And Diagnostics

The app uses analytics and crash reporting to understand feature usage, improve the app, and identify technical problems.

Google Firebase may receive an app-instance or installation identifier, general region derived from a masked IP address, app interactions such as screen views and feature events — for example which backdrop or widget layout was applied, or whether a reminder was tapped — App Store subscription or purchase product metadata, crash reports, and related device, operating-system, app-version, and diagnostic information.

The contents of your events are never included in analytics events. Event titles, notes, and dates stay on your device. Where an event records a quantity — how many events you keep, how many backdrops you have applied — it is recorded only as a coarse range such as "3-5" or "10+", never as a value that could identify a person or a plan.

We do not set a Firebase user ID, use the advertising identifier (IDFA), run advertising networks, use an attribution SDK, or use this data to track you across other companies' apps or websites.

How Information Is Used

We use your content only to provide the app's features: showing your countdowns, drawing your widgets, sending the reminders you asked for, synchronizing your data through iCloud, keeping safety backups, and unlocking Pro decorations you purchase.

Anonymous analytics help us understand feature usage and improve the app, while diagnostics help us identify and fix crashes.

Countdown does not sell your personal information, and does not use your data to track you across apps or websites owned by other companies.

Storage And Sharing

Your events are stored on your device and may synchronize through the app's private iCloud container according to your Apple Account, iCloud settings, and Apple's terms. Apple provides that storage; the developer does not operate a separate server for your content.

The app keeps dated backup snapshots of your events in its own storage on your device, so a failed database can be recovered rather than lost. These snapshots never leave your device unless you export or share one yourself.

Your events are shared with the app's own widget extension through a private app group on your device, which is what lets a widget draw your countdown without launching the app. Nothing in that group leaves your device.

When you share a countdown image, it is sent only where you direct it using the standard iOS share sheet — for example to Messages, Mail, Photos, or another app you choose.

Notifications

Reminders are scheduled and delivered entirely on your device using iOS local notifications. Nothing is sent through a push server, and the developer never sees which events you set reminders for or when they fire.

Notification permission is requested only when there is a reminder to deliver, or when you tap the Notifications row in Settings yourself. Whether permission is currently granted is recorded in analytics as a yes-or-no property, without the content of any reminder.

Purchases

Countdown Pro is sold through Apple In-App Purchase as a monthly or yearly auto-renewable subscription, or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Apple processes the transaction; the app receives only product and entitlement status, not your payment card details. Firebase may receive purchase event metadata such as the product identifier and whether a purchase started, failed, or was restored, and records the current membership status as a non-identifying property. Subscriptions are managed through your Apple Account settings.

Permissions

Notification permission is used to deliver the reminders you enable. Countdown does not request camera, microphone, photo library, contacts, calendar, or location access. You can change app permissions at any time in iOS Settings. Reminders stop being delivered if notification permission is disabled; everything else in the app keeps working.

Data Control

You can edit or delete any event inside the app at any time, and delete a backup snapshot from the backup history. Removing the app removes its locally stored data; iCloud data remains subject to your Apple iCloud settings.

Firebase handles previously collected anonymous analytics and diagnostic data under Google's retention and deletion practices. For a privacy or deletion request, email the address below. Because the app has no developer account or Firebase user ID, we may not be able to associate anonymous telemetry with a specific person.

Service Providers

Apple provides iCloud and In-App Purchase services. Google Firebase provides Analytics and Crashlytics services. These providers process data under their own terms and privacy practices and are required to protect it consistently with this policy and applicable agreements. Learn more about Apple Privacy and Privacy and Security in Firebase.

Children

Countdown is a general-purpose utility app, is not directed to children, and does not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes

We may update this Privacy Policy as the app changes. The latest version will be available from the public Privacy Policy URL listed in App Store Connect.

Contact

Email qinqiangji@gmail.com for privacy support.