Privacy Policy
Firmlock keeps everything on your iPhone. There is no account, no server of ours, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking, and the app makes no network requests of its own; only App Store purchases go out, to Apple. We do not collect, sell or share your information.
Screen Time data
Firmlock closes apps and websites through Apple's Screen Time frameworks (Family Controls, Managed Settings and Device Activity). When you pick what to block, Apple's picker gives Firmlock a token for each app, category or website, not its name. Firmlock can tell how many items you picked, but not which ones.
Today's total screen time in the Stats tab is drawn by a Screen Time report extension. Apple runs that extension in a sandbox that blocks network requests and keeps the data inside it, so Firmlock can show you the number but can't store it or send it anywhere. We never see which apps you use or for how long.
What Firmlock stores on your iPhone
Firmlock keeps what it knows in state.json (and a backup copy of it), in storage shared by the app and its extensions on your iPhone. It holds:
- Your schedules: their names, days, hours, mode, and the tokens for what each one blocks
- Your sessions: when each started and ended, and whether it completed, ended early or was cut short
- Your breaks, how many times you went back from a shield in the last 7 days, and the length and mode of the last session you started from the home screen
- Your key's random ID and when you made it, if you set one up
- What the App Store last said about your Firmlock Pro purchase: whether it's active, which plan, and when it renews or ends
Firmlock's extensions (the part that starts and ends schedules, and the shield) can't change that file. They add a line to events.jsonl, in the same storage, saying what they did and when; the app reads those lines into a log of your last 2,000 events. When you tap Go back on a shield, the line records only the time, not the app. Your sound and haptics choices are saved in the app's own settings on your iPhone.
Purchases
Firmlock Pro is sold through the App Store. Apple processes the payment. Firmlock asks the App Store for the plans and their prices, and whether your purchase is active. We never see your payment details, your name or your Apple Account.
Notifications
If you allow notifications, Firmlock schedules them on your iPhone: a reminder 2 days before a free trial ends, a note the day before Firmlock Pro ends if it won't renew, and, if you turn it on, a Sunday summary of your week. Nothing is sent from a server.
Your key: camera
A key is a short code, firmlock-key: followed by a random ID. It contains nothing about you. Firmlock uses the camera only while you scan a printed key code, reads only the code from the picture, and saves no photos.
Friend lock
If you ask a friend to hold your Screen Time passcode, Firmlock makes a random 4-digit code for you to send them. The code exists only on that screen; Firmlock never saves it. It goes to your friend only if you send it with the share sheet.
Widgets, Live Activity and Control Center
The widgets read state.json on your iPhone to show whether something is locked and until when, or the name and time of your next schedule. The Live Activity shows the same for a session you started from the home screen, plus how many apps and websites are closed. Neither shows which apps. The Control Center button leaves the time you tapped it for the app to pick up, and opens Firmlock.
Sharing
You can share the weekly card, your key's QR code or a friend lock code. Each is shared only when you choose to, through the iPhone's share sheet, to the people or apps you pick. The weekly card shows Firmlock's own numbers and no app names.
Keeping and deleting your data
Your data stays on your iPhone until you change it or delete Firmlock. Deleting the app removes its data from the device. During a Strict session, or a Normal session that ends only with your key, no app on your iPhone, Firmlock included, can be deleted until the session ends. Your iPhone's own backups (iCloud Backup or a computer) may include Firmlock's data, as set up in iOS.
Children
Firmlock is for people who want to limit their own iPhone; it has no parental controls. It has no accounts and collects no personal information from anyone, including children.
Changes to this policy
If Firmlock's handling of information changes, this page will be updated and the effective date above will change.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email firmlock@doguberko.com. Firmlock is made by doguberko, an independent developer.