Privacy Policy
Knightcap is a daily chess puzzle app for iPhone and iPad. This policy explains what data the app and its server handle, why, and what choices you have. In short: Premium has no ads and no tracking, an account is optional, and we never sell your data.
Premium (paid)
If you subscribe or buy Premium, the app never starts any advertising or tracking software, and it never uses your device’s advertising identifier. The only data that leaves your device is the data described under Sync (if you choose to sign in), Game Center (if you use it) and Anonymous usage counts.
Free version and ads
The free version shows ads served by the Google Mobile Ads SDK (AdMob). This is the only third-party software in the app that collects data, and it is never started for Premium users.
- Personalized ads are shown only to adults (people whose birth year shows they are 17 or older) who allow tracking when iOS asks. In that case Google may use your device’s advertising identifier and advertising data to personalize ads and measure them.
- Everyone else gets non-personalized ads. If you are under 17 by birth year, or you skip the birth year question, the app never asks to track you, and ads are requested as non-personalized with Google’s child or teen settings turned on.
- Even for non-personalized ads, Google’s SDK collects some data that is not linked to your identity, such as diagnostics, ad interaction data and coarse location, to serve ads and prevent fraud. Where the law requires it (for example in the EEA and UK), Google’s consent form asks for your choices first.
Google’s handling of this data is covered by Google’s own policies: see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and Google’s privacy policy. You can change your tracking choice at any time in iOS Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
Your birth year
The app asks for your birth year once, to decide whether ads may be personalized and to apply the right protections for younger players. It is stored on your device, and it is synced to our server only if you sign in.
Sync (optional)
You can use Knightcap without an account; your progress then stays on your device. If you choose Sign in with Apple, we store:
- Apple’s stable user identifier for your account (we do not ask for your name or email);
- your puzzle attempts (your streak and rating are worked out from these), settings and birth year;
- the skill level you picked when you started (or changed later in Settings), which sets your starting rating;
- your streak freezes (which days they covered, and any saved for later);
- your review queue: the puzzles you gave up on that come back for another try, and when each one is due.
We use this only to sync your progress across your devices and restore it if you reinstall. It is linked to your account and is not used for advertising or shared with anyone.
Anonymous usage counts
To understand whether the app works, the app sends anonymous daily counts, such as how many puzzles were started and completed, how many hints were used, how often the Premium screen was shown, how often the Share button was tapped, and how often the leaderboards were opened. Each count is sent with only the date, the app version, and whether you are on the free or Premium tier. It contains no identifier and is not linked to you or your device.
Sharing your result
When you share today’s result, the app builds a short text (the day number, your score, one square per puzzle, your streak if it is two days or more, and a link to knightcap.app) and hands it to the iOS share sheet. It contains no moves, positions or anything that identifies you, and it goes only where you choose to send it. We only count that the Share button was tapped (see above), not what you shared or with whom.
Game Center (optional)
Knightcap has two Apple Game Center leaderboards, for your daily streak and your puzzle rating. Game Center is optional: the app works fully without it and never asks you to sign in at launch. It is used only if you sign in to Game Center, which the app offers when you open Leaderboards (in Stats) or the Game Center row in Settings.
When you are signed in, the app sends Apple only two numbers: your current streak, and your puzzle rating once it is established (after 30 rated puzzles). No puzzles, attempts, birth year, purchases or other progress go to Game Center. You can stop sharing scores from a device at any time with the Share scores to Game Center switch in Settings. Your Game Center profile, friends and scores are handled by Apple under its own terms and privacy policy and your Game Center settings, not stored by us. Game Center is separate from Sign in with Apple sync; neither needs the other.
Purchases
Purchases and subscriptions are handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. We never see or store your payment details. The app checks your purchase status with Apple to unlock Premium.
What we don’t collect
We don’t collect your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, precise location, health or financial information, or browsing or search history. We don’t sell your data, and we don’t share it with data brokers.
Where data is stored and for how long
Synced progress is stored on our server, which runs on Cloudflare. It is kept while your account exists and deleted when you delete your account. Anonymous counts contain no personal data.
Deleting your data
- Signed in: open Settings in the app and tap Delete account. This deletes your progress from our server and from the device and revokes Knightcap’s Sign in with Apple access. You can also stop Knightcap using Sign in with Apple in iOS Settings > [your name] > Sign-In & Security > Sign in with Apple.
- Not signed in: nothing about you is stored on our server. Deleting the app removes the data on your device.
- Game Center: scores already on Apple’s leaderboards are held by Apple and aren’t removed when you delete your Knightcap account or the app. Remove them in your device’s Game Center settings.
You can also email us to ask what data we hold about you or to have it deleted.
Children
Knightcap is meant for a general audience and is not directed at children. Players who give a birth year under 17, or who don’t give one, are never asked to allow tracking and only ever see non-personalized ads, with Google’s child or teen protections turned on.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. If a change meaningfully affects how your data is used, we’ll also tell you in the app.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email [email protected].