Privacy Policy — Day and Night Journal

Last updated: October 23, 2026

Day and Night Journal ("the app") is built to be private by design. This policy explains exactly what the app does and does not do with your information.

The short version

There is no server. I never receive, see, store, sell, share, mine, or use your journal to train anything. Your data lives on your device and in your own private iCloud account — nowhere else.

Information the app uses

Your journal entries. Everything you type or select — prompts, notes, checklists, moods, water counts, and any custom fields you create — is stored locally on your device using Apple's on-device database, and synced across your own Apple devices through your private iCloud (CloudKit) account. I have no access to this iCloud container; only you do, through your Apple ID.

The microphone, for an evening voice note. If you turn that prompt on in Edit my questions, you can record a note for the evening instead of typing it. Speech is recognised on your iPhone. What is stored is the note you kept — the transcript, and the recording if you keep it — on your device and, when iCloud is on, in your own private iCloud, with the rest of that evening. Nothing is sent to me, and there is no speech server of mine. You can switch the prompt off again in the same place. Dictating into a typed field with the keyboard microphone is iOS doing the listening, not this app; the words that land are stored like anything you typed, and I still receive none of them.

Quick notes (optional, and off until you turn it on in Settings → Add-ons). Quick notes is a running list of things you say, not tied to a day. It uses the microphone and speech recognition to turn what you say into words, on your device. Only the words are kept: when you tap Done they are saved, and the recording is discarded. The words are stored with your journal, on your device and in your own private iCloud. Nothing is sent to me or to any server of mine. If you use "Add to to-do" on a quick note, its words are copied onto today's to-do list in the same journal.

Thoughtful entries (optional, and off until you turn it on in Settings → Add-ons). A list of longer, one-off entries, each with the date it was written. What you type is stored with your journal, on your device and in your own private iCloud, like anything else you write. Nothing is sent to me.

The camera and your photo library, for the photo of the day. If you add a photo to a photo field, you can take one with the camera. The photo goes into your journal and travels through your own iCloud; it is never uploaded anywhere else. The app can also save a copy of a journal photo to your photo library if you choose to, and it only adds that photo — it never reads your library. Picking a picture you already have uses the system photo picker, which gives the app only the photo you choose. The app does not look at what is in a picture.

Alarms, for the stopwatch celebration. A stopwatch field can chime at an interval you choose while it runs. On iOS 26 and later this uses the system alarm, so it can ring even when your phone is on silent, and iOS asks your permission the first time you pick an interval. On older iPhones the chime follows the mute switch. The interval is stored with your journal. While a stopwatch runs it can also show on the Lock Screen as a Live Activity, on your device. Nothing about this leaves your device or your iCloud.

Apple Health data (optional). If you choose to enable it, the app reads your sleep times, step count, exercise minutes, workouts, heart rate, resting heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), time in daylight, and date of birth from Apple Health. It writes only one thing, and only if you ask: if you turn on "Save runs as an Apple Health workout" for a stopwatch question, a run you choose to save is added to Apple Health as a workout — its type and its start and end time, with no calorie estimate. Editing your journal later never changes a workout already in Health. Journal fields filled from Health become entries in your own private journal and sync only through your private iCloud, exactly like anything else you enter. Protocols results are worked out and kept on this device. None of this is sent to me or any third party, and it is never used for advertising, marketing, or data mining. You can turn Health reading or workout saving off at any time in the iOS Settings app, and you can decline it entirely; the app works fully without it.

Approximate location, for sunrise (optional). If you turn on "Start at sunrise if I wake before dawn" in Protocols and allow location, the app uses an approximate location (rounded to about 1 km) to work out sunrise on your device. It stays on your device, is not saved with your journal, and is never sent to me or anyone else. The morning-light goal is a fixed 20 minutes; the app does not look up weather.

Sign in with Apple. The app uses Sign in with Apple solely to gate access to your journal. I store only the anonymous, stable user identifier that Apple provides, on your device. I do not collect your name or email, I operate no account server, and no authentication tokens are stored anywhere off your device.

Notifications. If you turn them on, the app schedules optional morning and evening reminders to journal, and the Weekly Recap, on your device. These are local notifications only — no push server is involved, their text is written on your device, and no information leaves your device to deliver them.

What I do NOT collect

• No analytics, tracking, advertising identifiers, or third-party SDKs.
• No usage telemetry.
• No location leaves your device. The approximate location used for sunrise stays on your device and is not saved with your journal.
• Nothing transmitted to any server I operate — because I operate none.

Data sharing

I do not share your information with anyone, because I never have it. Your data syncs only through Apple's iCloud under your own Apple ID, governed by Apple's Privacy Policy.

Deleting your data

You are always in control:

• Sign out (in the app's Settings → Data & account) returns you to the sign-in screen while leaving your journal safe in your iCloud.
• Delete account & all data (in the app's Settings → Data & account) permanently erases every entry and custom field from your device and your iCloud. This cannot be undone.
• You can also delete the app and remove its iCloud data via iOS Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Account Storage.

Children

The app is not directed at children and collects no personal information for any user.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this same URL with a new "Last updated" date.