The short version: Whoala collects no personal data. There's no account, no server, and no analytics. Everything Whoala knows (your blocked apps, your keys, your settings) lives only on your phone.
What we collect
Nothing. Whoala doesn't collect, store, transmit, sell, or share any personal data. We have no servers that receive data from the app, no user accounts, no analytics or tracking SDKs, and no advertising.
What stays on your device
To do its job, Whoala keeps some information locally on your phone, and only there:
- The list of apps you chose to block
- Your keys: NFC tag identifiers, barcode or QR code values, times of day, and Wi-Fi network names
- Your settings, such as how long each key keeps apps open
- How often each blocked app was blocked, and how long you spent in it
This data never leaves your device. It isn't included in Android's backups, and it doesn't move to a new phone. If you delete Whoala, it's deleted with it.
Permissions and why we ask
- Screen Time / Family Controls (iOS): once the iPhone version ships, used solely to shield the apps you selected until a key unlocks them. Apple's framework is designed so Whoala never sees your app usage.
- Accessibility Service (Android): used solely to detect when a blocked app is opened so Whoala can show its block screen. Whoala doesn't read screen content of other apps, and no information from this service is collected, stored beyond the moment, or transmitted anywhere.
- Usage access (Android): used to see which app is open when the Accessibility Service isn't running, to put the apps you use most at the top of the list you block from, and to show how long you spend in each blocked app. This stays on your phone and is never transmitted.
- Display over other apps (Android): used to draw the block screen over a blocked app the moment it opens.
- Alarms and reminders (Android): used to lock an app again on time when a key's time runs out.
- Camera: used only while you scan a barcode or QR code to create or turn a key. No images are saved or sent.
- NFC: used to read a tag you tap, and to write a key onto a blank tag when you make one.
- Location / network state (Android): Android requires location permission for an app to read the name of the Wi-Fi network you're connected to. Whoala uses it only to check whether you're on a network you chose as a key. For the same reason, while you have a Wi-Fi key, Android counts Whoala's background service as using location. Your location is never determined, recorded, or transmitted.
- Notifications: optional. Whoala uses them to show which keys are open and until when, to tell you if something stops it from blocking, and now and then to suggest a key. When the Accessibility Service is off, Android also requires a notification that stays while Whoala watches in the background.
Purchases
Whoala Pro is a one-time purchase processed entirely by the App Store or Google Play. We never see your name, address, or payment details. Apple and Google process your payment under their own privacy policies.
Third parties
Whoala contains no third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking of any kind.
This website
whoala.app is hosted by Vercel. Like any web host, Vercel keeps standard server logs of each visit: your IP address, your browser's user agent, and the page you asked for. Vercel handles these underits own privacy policy.
Nothing else runs here. The site sets no cookies and has no analytics or trackers. Its fonts and images come from whoala.app itself, so your browser doesn't contact anyone else while you read it.
Children
Whoala isn't directed at children under 13. Since the app collects no data from anyone, it collects no data from children either.
Deleting your data
There's no account to delete. Uninstalling Whoala removes all of its data from your device.
Changes to this policy
If we ever change how Whoala handles data, we'll update this page and the date above before the change takes effect. Given that our entire policy is "we collect nothing", we don't expect this to be often.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Write to whoala.app@gmail.com.