Privacy Policy
The short version
Ringsum does not need an account, and your game progress stays on your phone. We store online only these things: the optional weekly leaderboard, friends, clubs, friend games and puzzle gallery (only if you join them), the optional Google sign-in (only if you choose it, to collect coins from friends and events), push notifications (only if you allow them) and anonymous usage numbers (a summary with no name or location). The Android app shows ads served by Google AdMob (optional rewarded ads, and short full-screen ads between levels), and it offers optional purchases handled by Google Play. Those two Google services process some data, described below.
What is stored on your device
The app keeps your game progress (levels completed, stars, coins, best times, daily puzzles solved, packs, chosen board colors) and your settings (theme, language, sound, vibration, timer, reminder) in your device’s local storage. We do not receive this data. If you clear the app’s data or uninstall it, it is deleted. You can copy a backup code from Settings to move your progress to another phone; that code is only ever shown to you.
Ads (Google AdMob)
The app shows two kinds of ads. Rewarded video ads are optional: you choose to watch one to get an extra life, the other Lucky pick rings or double coins. Short full-screen ads appear between levels once you have solved a number of puzzles, and can be turned off for good with an optional purchase in the Shop. Ads are provided by Google AdMob. To show and measure ads, Google may collect and use your device’s advertising ID, IP address, device and app information, and information about how an ad was shown. We do not receive this data. Where the law requires it (for example in the European Economic Area and the UK), the app asks for your consent before requesting ads, and you can change your choice later. You can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of ad personalization, in your phone’s Android settings (Settings > Google > Ads). See Google’s advertising policies for details.
Purchases (Google Play)
If you buy an optional item (a coin, hint or power-up pack, the Lucky pick bundle, a difficulty unlock or Remove ads), the payment is handled entirely by Google Play. We never see your card or payment details. Google tells the app whether the purchase succeeded so it can give you the item. The app remembers on your phone which one-time unlocks you own, and Restore purchases in Settings asks Google Play which ones your Google account owns so you can get them back on a new phone; we do not receive that information from Google.
Notifications
If you turn on the daily reminder, the app schedules a notification on your phone for the evening. It is created and delivered by your phone; it is not sent from any server, and you can turn it off in Settings at any time.
Friend puzzles
Friend puzzles use a short code that describes the puzzle. The code is made on your phone. If you share it, it goes wherever you choose to send it (for example a message to a friend); we do not receive it.
Sharing and rating
Share result opens your phone’s own share sheet with a short text, a link to the game and a picture of the finished board. The picture is made on your phone and goes only where you choose to send it. Once in a while, after you have played for a few days, the app may ask you to rate it on Google Play; if you agree it opens the Google Play page. We receive nothing from either.
Weekly leaderboard (optional)
If you choose to join the weekly leaderboard, the app sends a nickname you pick, the number of puzzles you solved this week, your fastest solve time for each daily puzzle, and a random player id and secret code made on your phone (stored as a one-way hash on the server) to our database, hosted by Supabase. Other players can see your nickname and weekly count. We do not ask for or store your name, email, location or any other personal information, so please do not put personal information in your nickname. Nicknames that break our rules may be removed. You can delete your nickname and all your scores at any time with Leave leaderboard on the leaderboard screen. If you never join, nothing is sent.
Anonymous usage numbers
So the developer can see how many people play and where they get stuck, the app sends at most one small summary a day to our database, hosted by Supabase. It contains a random id made on your phone (it is not your advertising ID and not your leaderboard id), the date and the time it was last sent, the app version and language, the highest level you reached on each difficulty, how many puzzles you solved, your coin balance, how many rewarded ads and purchases you made, your Perfect Fit skill number and how many Perfect Fit boards you played, and which one-time unlocks you own (for example Hard mode or Remove ads). It contains no name, email address, location or contact information, and we cannot tell who you are from it. To have the data stored for your random id deleted, email us at the address below and tell us the approximate date you installed the app; because the id is random, we may not be able to find it, and clearing the app’s data or uninstalling it starts a new random id. The owner’s view of these numbers is private and shows only totals.
Crash reports
If the app crashes, it can send a short report to our database: the error text, the top lines of the error trace, the app version date and whether it is the Android app or the website. A report has no name, no player id, no install id and no email address. It follows the same “usage numbers” switch in Settings: turn that off and no report is sent.
Tester sign-up (website)
The Ringsum website has an optional form to ask for an invite to the Android test. If you type your email address there, we store it (with the app name and the date) only so the developer can add you to the Google Play test and write to you about it. It is not used for advertising, never sold or shared, and not readable from the app. To have your address removed, write to the developer using the contact in the store listing and say which address.
If you choose to sign in with Google (optional; it is only needed to collect coins that come from friends and events: invite rewards, Tournament Night prizes and the weekly Cup), the app uses Google Sign-In and our sign-in service, hosted by Supabase. The sign-in service receives your Google account id, your email address and your name as Google provides them, and links them to your random player id, so that there is one account per person. Other players never see your email address or your Google name; they see only the nickname you picked. We use this information only to run the account and to keep rewards fair, never for advertising, and we do not sell or share it. If you accept an invite, the app also tells our server on which days you solved at least one puzzle, so that your friend’s reward can be paid after enough days of play. You can delete your account at any time with Delete my account under Friends in the app; this removes your player, your friends, your scores and your sign-in from our database. You can also email us at the address below to ask for it.
Friends, clubs, games with friends and the puzzle gallery (optional)
If you pick a nickname and use the friends features, our database (hosted by Supabase) stores your nickname and random player id, your friends list and friend requests, the players you blocked, the clubs you joined (a club has a name its owner chooses, a code, and its members’ weekly puzzle counts), the boards and results of friend races, Duo games, Versus games and friend challenges you take part in, and the fixed clue messages (for example “Row 3 is 14”) you send during a Duo game. Nothing in these features lets you type free text to another player: names and club names are the only text, so please do not put personal information in them. Other players you play with can see your nickname, your weekly puzzle count and your results with them. You can block a player; a blocked player cannot see you or invite you.
The puzzle gallery lets a signed-in player publish a board they made in the level editor. A published board is only a design code (numbers and circles, no text) with its size and the date; other players can see it together with the nickname of the player who published it, play it, give it a heart or report it. Three reports hide a board until the developer has looked at it, the developer can remove a board or stop a player from publishing, and you can take your own boards down at any time. If you delete your account, your published boards are removed with it.
Notifications (optional)
If you allow notifications, the app registers an anonymous Firebase Cloud Messaging token for your phone with our database, linked to your random player id, so the app can tell you when a friend sends or accepts a friend request, invites you to a race, or joins your race. You can switch notifications off in your phone’s settings at any time. The app may also schedule a daily reminder on your phone itself; that one needs no account or server.
Photo scan
In Solve my puzzle you can pick or take a photo of a printed puzzle to have its numbers read. The picture is read on your phone and is never uploaded or stored by us; it is forgotten as soon as you leave the screen. The first time you use it, the app downloads the text-reading files it needs from a public software library (jsDelivr), like any website would; that download does not include your picture.
Deleting your account and your data
Everything on your phone is deleted when you clear the app’s data or uninstall it. To delete what we store online, open the app, go to Friends and tap Delete my account. This removes your player, nickname, friends, clubs memberships, scores, published gallery boards, notification token and (if you signed in) your Google sign-in from our database. You can also leave only the weekly leaderboard with Leave leaderboard. If you can no longer open the app, email clevercornergames@gmail.com from the address you used to sign in, or tell us your nickname, and we will delete your account and data. Anonymous usage numbers and crash reports are not linked to you, so they cannot be looked up by name; see the sections above.
What we do not collect
- No name, phone number or location, and no email address unless you choose to sign in with Google (see above) or type it in the optional tester form on the website; the leaderboard and friends features use only a nickname you choose.
- No tracking across other apps or websites, and no advertising profile of our own.
- We do not sell your data.
The website version
The browser version of the game is delivered from its web address, which may keep ordinary server logs (such as IP address and time of request) as any website does. The browser version does not show real ads.
Children
Ringsum is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be published on this page with an updated date.
Contact
Questions about this policy: clevercornergames@gmail.com