Countling Privacy Policy

About this policy

This policy explains how Countling handles information when you use its counting, exercise and number-practice features. The proposed operator is Cosmos Comets (referred to below as “we” or “us”). Contact us at Eckersley@cosmoscomets.com.au with privacy questions.

Countling does not require a Countling account. Basic counting and Listen and Tap do not require microphone access. Optional speaking features use Apple Speech and may send audio to Apple for processing.

Information stored on your device

Countling stores your current count, selected counting voice, separate interface-language preference, theme, exercise settings, counting sessions, and completed challenge score summaries in the app’s storage on your device. My Goals displays rewards derived from those saved rounds.

Completed listening rounds store their scores, selected and tested languages, round settings, and timing. They do not store a permanent transcript or a full list of every tapped answer. A separate listening-review queue stores missed numbers and their language, review due times and progress so you can revisit them.

The current app does not send these saved settings, scores or review records to a Countling server. Device backups may include app data depending on your Apple device and backup settings.

Microphone and speech recognition

Speaking Challenge, Practice and the optional microphone check request microphone and speech-recognition permission. While listening, the app passes microphone audio to Apple’s speech-recognition framework and uses the returned text to check the spoken number. The app can also show a live input meter and waveform. Recognized words and answer details are used for the current game or review; saved speaking history contains round summaries rather than voice recordings or transcripts.

Online processing is allowed in the current implementation. Audio may therefore be sent to Apple; on-device or offline recognition is not guaranteed for any particular language, device or attempt. Apple handles its processing under its own Siri, Dictation & Privacy notice and privacy policy. We cannot use Countling’s history controls to delete data held separately by Apple.

The normal player capture path does not write reusable microphone recordings to Countling history. Listening stops when an attempt ends or is cancelled, or the game leaves the foreground. The microphone help screen is optional in setup and may open when a capture problem is detected; it is not a separate scored round.

Azure, Google and Amazon speech tools used to evaluate development recordings are not integrated into the current player recognition path. Recognition results are not a pronunciation certification.

Purchases

Full Unlock is an optional, one-time Apple in-app purchase. Apple processes the payment. Countling uses StoreKit to check the verified entitlement on the device and to restore an existing purchase. We do not receive your payment-card details, and the current app has no Countling purchase-verification server. Apple’s purchase and account records are governed by Apple’s policies.

Sharing, Watch and Siri

Sharing is initiated by you. The system share sheet passes a counting summary, such as activity, count range and selected language, to the app or destination you choose. The recipient’s privacy practices then apply.

When paired Watch controls are used, the iPhone and Apple Watch exchange counter status and control commands through WatchConnectivity. These commands do not create a Countling cloud account. Siri and Shortcuts requests are also subject to Apple’s system permissions and privacy practices.

Advertising, analytics and diagnostics

The reviewed app implementation contains no advertising, advertising identifier access, tracking service or third-party analytics SDK. Countling does not sell app records or use them to build advertising profiles. Apple may process device diagnostics and service information under its own settings and policies.

Development builds can produce technical microphone-health logs for troubleshooting. Those logs are not a production analytics service. Normal capture-health logging does not intentionally include audio recordings or recognized words. Development diagnostics and test services must not be confused with the shipping app.

Support messages

If you choose to contact us, we receive the email address and information you provide through the email service you use. We use that information to respond, investigate the reported problem and maintain necessary support records. Please do not send passwords, payment-card details, sensitive recordings or children’s identifying information.

Our proposed support-retention practice is to keep correspondence only as long as needed to resolve the request and meet applicable obligations, then delete it when no longer needed. This support practice and the email provider must be confirmed by the operator before this draft becomes the final policy.

Your choices, retention and deletion

• In History, Clear all history removes saved counting sessions, speaking and listening round summaries, and the listening-review queue on that device. The current count and preferences remain.
• Restore defaults resets supported preferences. It does not erase all app data, your interface-language choice or backups.
• Manage microphone and speech-recognition permissions in iPhone Settings. You can continue using counting and listening-only features without microphone permission.
• Preferences remain until changed or removed. Local history is limited to the most recent 200 entries in each supported history; older entries can be replaced as new ones are saved. Listening-review items remain until updated by review or cleared.
• Apple controls app deletion, device backups, Apple Account purchase records and any processing by Apple services. Removing local history does not erase a prior backup, a shared copy or Apple-held data.
• You may contact us about access, correction, deletion or a privacy concern. Records stored only on your phone cannot be retrieved or deleted remotely by us through a Countling account, because the app has no such account.

Use with children

Countling is intended primarily as an adult/general-audience counting and exercise app. A parent or guardian may choose to use it together with a child. An adult should choose appropriate activities and manage microphone permissions, purchases, sharing and support requests.

The app does not implement verified parental consent or claim Kids Category approval. A system permission prompt is not verified parental consent. Adults should consider Apple’s possible online speech processing before enabling speaking features for a child. Contact us if you believe a child has provided personal information to us.

Changes and contact

We will update this policy if the app’s information practices change. The effective date will appear with the published policy. For questions, contact Eckersley@cosmoscomets.com.au.