Last updated: 6 November 2026. Focused Value FZCO, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai, UAE ([email protected]).
The short version: Heartstrings has no account and no tracking. Your story stays on your device. We don’t sell your data.
What stays on your device
- Your story: your place in each episode, the first name you type for your character, your choices and what the characters remember about you. These are stored only on your iPhone or iPad. We can’t see them.
- Your settings: sound, music, voices, the heroine’s voice and autoplay.
- The age check: only the result (adult or not) is kept on your device. We never store your birth year. Where your device offers it, the check uses Apple’s Declared Age Range, which tells the app only an age range and never your birth date.
If you back up your device to iCloud or a computer, that backup includes the app’s data, under your control and Apple’s or your computer’s terms. We have no access to it.
What leaves your device
- Purchases. Heartstrings+ and the Story Pass are bought through Apple. Apple handles payment, and we never see your card or Apple Account details. The app asks Apple which purchases your account owns, to unlock episodes. Apple keeps its own purchase records under Apple’s privacy policy.
- Reading sends nothing to us. The stories, pictures, voices and music are built into the app. There are no ads, no advertising identifiers and no third-party analytics or tracking in the app.
When you write to us
If you email us, we receive your email address and what you write. We use it only to answer you and to keep a record of the conversation. Our email is handled by Google (Gmail) and Zoho Mail. We keep support emails for up to two years, then delete them; ask us and we’ll delete yours sooner.
Our website
focusedvalue.org is hosted by WP Engine and delivered through Cloudflare. Like most websites, these services record technical details of each visit (such as your IP address and browser type) to keep the site running and secure.
AI-generated content
Every character is fictional and AI-assisted, every voice is AI-generated, and none is a real person. Episodes are written and reviewed by us before they ship. This version has no live AI chat. If we add it, the app will ask for your permission first and will say exactly what is sent and to whom (OpenRouter, which passes it to the AI model provider) before anything is sent. This policy will be updated before that feature ships.
Children
Heartstrings is for adults (18+). It isn’t directed at children, and we don’t knowingly collect any data from anyone under 18.
Your choices and rights
You control the data on your device. Start over on a show’s cover clears your story progress, and deleting the app removes its data from your device. Neither one removes copies in existing backups, changes Apple’s purchase records or cancels a subscription. To cancel, go to Settings › your name › Subscriptions. Apart from support emails, we hold no personal data from Heartstrings, so there is nothing else for us to access or delete.
The 2023 Social AI app
Heartstrings replaces the 2023 Social AI app and never reads its data. That app stored each account’s sign-in email and user ID, chats and created characters in Google Firebase. To delete a 2023 account and everything tied to it within 30 days, see https://focusedvalue.org/heartstrings/delete-2023-account/.
Changes
If this policy changes, we’ll update the date above. If a change affects what leaves your device, we’ll tell you in the app first.
Contact: [email protected]