Privacy Policy
Effective November 4, 2026
Urge Buddy is an iPhone app made by Velyus Inc. (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what information the app collects, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have. We wrote it to be read, so it’s in plain language.
The short version: there are no accounts, so we never ask for your name, email or phone number. Your urges, the tasks you did, your days clean and your buddy’s outfit stay on your phone. Your morning and night check-ins with your buddy are used only to write the buddy’s replies and aren’t stored. Nothing you write is ever shown to another person. We don’t sell your data, show ads, or track you across other apps.
What stays on your phone
These are kept only on your device and are never sent to us: each urge you log, how you felt, the task you did and how you felt after; your count of urges beaten; your quit date, days clean, best run and what your habit cost; your buddy’s name and outfit; and the history of your days in the app.
What we collect
An anonymous app ID
When you first open Urge Buddy, it creates a random ID for your copy of the app. It lets our server answer your app (for example, to limit how many messages it can send each day) and lets us find your information if you ask us to delete it. It isn’t linked to your name, email, phone number or Apple ID.
Setup answers and basic app details
The answers you give during setup (such as what you want to beat and for how long), your phone’s language, region and time zone, and your app version. We use these to run the app and to understand, in aggregate, how it’s used.
Your check-ins with your buddy
Each morning and night, your buddy asks how you’re doing in a short chat. The buddy’s replies are written by Anthropic’s Claude AI model, and the app asks your permission before your first chat. Each time you send a message, the app sends our server the conversation so far, what you’re working on beating, your days clean and best run, how many urges you’ve beaten, and a short note the app keeps on your phone so your buddy remembers earlier chats. Our server passes these to Anthropic to write the next reply. We don’t store the chat: once your buddy has replied, your messages aren’t kept on our servers. We keep only a count of how many messages your app sent each day, to limit use.
If you’d rather not use AI, turn off “replies with AI” in Settings. Your buddy then uses set replies and nothing you write is sent anywhere.
Tasks
The app downloads the list of tasks your buddy picks from (such as “Do 15 squats” or “Make a cup of tea”) from our server. Picking a task happens on your phone; we don’t receive which task you got or whether you did it.
Subscription status
Payments are handled entirely by Apple. We never see your card or billing details. Our subscription provider, RevenueCat, receives purchase information from Apple and your anonymous app ID so the app knows whether your subscription is active.
Support emails
If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message, and use it only to help you.
What we don’t collect
- Which apps you lock or how you use them. App locking uses Apple’s Screen Time framework. The apps you choose are kept by iOS as private tokens on your device. We can’t see which apps they are or how long you use them.
- Your name, email, phone number, contacts or photos.
- Your location. The app never asks for it.
- Advertising identifiers. We don’t show ads or track you across other companies’ apps and websites.
Who we share information with
We don’t sell or rent your information. We share it only with service providers that help us run Urge Buddy, under agreements that limit how they can use it:
| Provider | What they do | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database and server hosting | The information described above |
| Anthropic | Your buddy’s replies at check-ins | Your check-in messages and the details sent with them |
| RevenueCat | Subscription status | Purchase information and your anonymous app ID |
| Apple | App distribution, payments, notifications | As described in Apple’s own privacy policy |
Anthropic processes your messages only to provide this service for us, doesn’t use them to train its AI models, and keeps them only for a limited time under its own data retention terms. We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the safety of our users or the public.
Our providers may store and process information in the United States and other countries outside Canada, where it may be subject to the laws of those countries.
How long we keep it
We keep the information on our servers for as long as you use Urge Buddy. Check-in chats aren’t kept at all; only the daily count of messages is. If you delete the app, the information on your device is removed; information on our servers stays linked only to your anonymous ID until you ask us to delete it.
Your choices and rights
- Turn off AI. Any time in Settings. While it’s off, nothing you write is sent to Anthropic or to us.
- Delete your data. Email us at [email protected] with your app ID (tap it at the bottom of Settings to copy it). We’ll delete everything linked to it within 30 days.
- Access or correct your data. Email us and include the app ID shown at the bottom of Settings so we can find your information.
Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as Canada’s PIPEDA, the EU and UK GDPR, or US state privacy laws, including the right to object to or restrict certain processing and to complain to your local data protection authority. Contact us to use any of these rights. We don’t sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising.
Children
Urge Buddy is not intended for children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has used the app, contact us and we’ll delete their information.
Security
We use encryption in transit, access controls and the security features of our providers to protect your information. No system is perfectly secure, which is one more reason the app never asks for information that identifies you.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, let you know in the app.
Contact
Velyus Inc., Canada
[email protected]