Santa Check-In is an iPhone app that lets parents and caregivers write letters "from Santa" for their children to open. We built it so your family's letters, names, wishes and recordings stay on your iPhone. This policy explains exactly what the app does with information, in plain language.
The short version
- We do not collect any personal information through the app. Nothing you or your child enter in Santa Check-In is sent to us or to anyone else.
- There are no accounts, no servers, no ads, no analytics, no tracking, no AI services, and no third-party SDKs in the app.
- Everything the app saves is stored only on your iPhone (and in your own iPhone or iCloud backups, if you use them).
- The only time we receive information is if you choose to email us.
What the app stores on your iPhone
The app saves this information locally, on your device, so it can work:
- Each child profile you add: first name, age, chosen badge, and Nice List level (always positive).
- The letters and Quick Santa Notes you write, their tone, and when they're scheduled to unlock, plus whether each one has been opened.
- Voice notes you record for a letter (audio files up to 60 seconds).
- Your child's wish list: the text of each wish and the date it was added, plus any ideas you add and the private checkmarks you set in Parent Mode.
- App settings, such as whether onboarding is finished, whether the app is in Parent or Kid Mode, your notification preference, how many free letters have been used, whether Premium is unlocked, and when the app last asked for an App Store rating.
We cannot see, access, or recover any of this. It isn't uploaded to us. If you back up your iPhone with iCloud or a computer, Apple's backup may include this data under your Apple Account and Apple's privacy policy. We have no access to your backups.
Permissions the app may ask for
All permissions are optional. The app asks only when you first use the feature that needs it, and every other part of the app keeps working if you say no.
- Microphone. Used only when a parent taps Record to add a voice note to a letter (a Premium feature), or when someone taps the microphone button on the Wish List to say a wish. Voice notes are saved only on your iPhone. Audio from saying a wish is not saved.
- Speech Recognition. When the microphone button is used on the Wish List, Apple's speech recognition turns the spoken wish into text on your iPhone only. The app requires on-device recognition, so audio isn't sent to Apple's servers or to us. If your iPhone can't recognize speech on-device, the microphone button is hidden and you can type instead. Only the text you choose to add is kept.
- Face ID / Touch ID / passcode. In Kid Mode, switching to Parent Mode, opening Settings, and sharing a letter require Face ID, Touch ID, or your device passcode. iOS performs this check, and the app only learns whether it succeeded. We never receive face data, fingerprints, or your passcode. If your iPhone has no passcode, the app shows a simple grown-up math question instead.
- Notifications. If you schedule a letter, the app can create a notification on your iPhone for the unlock time. It says only "A letter from the North Pole has arrived!" and, if you turn on the setting, your child's first name. It never shows the letter's text. Notifications are created on your device. There's no notification server.
You can change any of these at any time in the iPhone Settings app → Santa Check-In (Microphone, Speech Recognition, Notifications), or in Settings → Face ID & Passcode.
Sharing a letter
A grown-up can choose to share a letter. After Face ID, Touch ID, or the passcode, the app creates an image of the letter (with your child's first name, the letter text, and "Sent with Santa Check-In") and, if the letter has one, a copy of its voice note. The app then opens the standard iOS share sheet so you can pick where it goes (for example, Messages, Mail, or Photos). We never receive what you share. The app or person you share with handles it under their own policies. Please share only with people you trust.
Purchases
Santa Check-In offers a one-time in-app purchase (Santa's Workshop Unlock). Apple processes all payments. We never see or store your payment card or billing details. The app checks with Apple's StoreKit, on your device, whether the unlock has been purchased, refunded, or shared through Family Sharing. Apple provides developers with sales reports that don't identify you personally.
Information Apple may share with us
If you've chosen in your iPhone's settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may share crash reports and summary statistics about the app with us (for example, how often it crashes or how many people installed it). Apple collects this, not the app, under Apple's privacy policy, and it doesn't include your letters, wishes, names, or recordings. We use it only to fix bugs and improve the app.
If you email us
If you email us at santacheckin.help@gmail.com, we receive your email address and whatever you write, and we use it only to reply and help you. Please don't include your child's personal details. We don't use support emails for marketing, and we don't sell or share them. We delete support emails within 12 months after the conversation ends, unless we must keep them longer by law. You can ask us to delete them sooner.
Children's privacy
Santa Check-In is designed for parents and caregivers to use with their children. Grown-ups set up the app, write the letters, and control Parent Mode. Kid Mode lets a child open letters and make a wish list, and none of it is sent to us or anyone else. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the equivalent age where you live). If we learn that a child has emailed us, we'll delete the message and any personal information in it. Parents can contact us at any time at santacheckin.help@gmail.com.
What we do NOT do
- We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't "share" it for targeted advertising.
- We don't track you across other apps or websites, and the app has no advertising identifier access.
- We don't use your content to train AI or for any other purpose. We never receive it.
Keeping and deleting your information
Information in the app stays on your iPhone until you delete it:
- Delete a letter (Parent Mode → the child → letter history): removes the letter, its voice note, and any scheduled notification.
- Delete a wish: removes it permanently.
- Delete a child: removes that child and all of their letters, voice notes, and wishes.
- Delete the app: removes all of its data from your iPhone. Copies in your own backups follow your backup settings.
The free-letter counter and purchase status are kept in app settings until you delete the app (purchases can be restored from Apple at any time).
Security
Your information is protected by your iPhone's built-in security, including iOS data protection on devices with a passcode, and by the app's grown-up gate in Kid Mode. We recommend using a device passcode. No method of storage is perfectly secure, but because the app sends nothing to us, there's no Pomsoft LLC database that could be breached.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example, in the EU, UK, or certain U.S. states), you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or object to the use of your personal information. Because the app doesn't send us your information, everything in it is already under your control on your device. For anything we do hold, such as support emails, contact us at santacheckin.help@gmail.com and we'll respond within the time the law requires.
Our website
Our website (privacy, terms, and support pages) uses no cookies, analytics, ads, or third-party scripts. Like any website, our hosting provider may process technical information such as IP addresses to deliver the pages and protect against abuse.
Changes to this policy
If we update this policy, we'll post the new version here and change the "Last updated" date. If we ever want to collect any information from the app, we'll update this policy and the App Store privacy label first, and we'll ask for your permission in the app before collecting anything.
Contact us
Pomsoft LLC · Email: santacheckin.help@gmail.com