Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2026

Your Reading and iCloud

If you're signed in to iCloud, Scuba uses Apple's iCloud to sync your reading between your devices. This includes your reading position, which books you've finished, when you last opened a book, your library and your highlights, including the highlighted text.

This information is stored in your private iCloud and is associated with your Apple Account through Apple's services. It is separate from Scuba's optional analytics, syncs whether or not analytics is turned on, and is not sent to Scuba's analytics service.

Optional Usage Analytics

Analytics is optional and off by default. Scuba asks you during setup, and you can change your choice at any time in Settings → Data & Privacy → Share optional usage data. No optional usage analytics are sent to Scuba unless you turn this on.

Before you choose: until you have answered, Scuba keeps a small record on your device for each of up to seven days: the date, how many Story Beats you read, and how many seconds you read. It does not say which book, chapter or page, and it is not sent anywhere. If you choose Share, those few numbers are sent once with your other analytics and then deleted from your device. If you choose Not now, turn analytics off, or do not choose, they are deleted — at the latest after seven days.

When analytics is on, Scuba may send:

• A random identifier generated by the app
• Which books you open, download or view in the Bookstore
• Reading progress and reading sessions, including timing, pages read, how many Story Beats you read, and the date of the session on your device
• Chapter and book completion
• Your text-size choice
• That you created a highlight and where it is in the book, but never the highlighted text
• How you use Scuba's features, such as which screens you view
• App version, build and basic device and operating-system information

The random identifier is created by the app and stored on your device. It lets us group analytics from the same installation of Scuba. It is not your name, email address, Apple ID or the advertising identifier (IDFA).

What Analytics Does Not Include

Scuba's analytics does not include your name, email address, phone number, Apple ID, precise location, contacts, photos, microphone data, payment or purchase information, the advertising identifier (IDFA), the text of the books you read or the text of your highlights. Subscriptions and payments are handled by Apple.

How We Use It

Analytics is used to understand how Scuba is used and to improve the app. It is not used to measure advertising, to show you ads, to target you, or to track you across other companies' apps and websites.

Earlier Versions and Apple Ads

Scuba 1.4.18 removes the feature that asked Apple which Apple Ads campaign led to an installation. Scuba versions 1.4.15 to 1.4.17 may still request this attribution information from Apple, using Apple's AdServices framework and only when analytics is turned on, until they are updated. Since 23 October 2026, Scuba's server discards any such information it receives and no longer stores it. Information received before then is deleted under the normal 12-month retention described below.

What We Do Not Do

• We do not sell analytics data.
• We do not share analytics data with advertising networks or data brokers.
• We do not track you across other apps or websites.
• We do not use third-party analytics tools in the app.
• We do not collect your browsing activity outside Scuba.

Where Data Is Stored

Scuba's analytics service and book delivery are hosted by Cloudflare. Like any online service, these servers can see your device's IP address when it connects. Scuba does not store your IP address with your analytics data.

Your Control

You can turn analytics off at any time in Settings → Data & Privacy. Turning it off stops future analytics, discards anything waiting to be sent and replaces the random identifier on your device.

Analytics already received remains under the previous random identifier until it reaches the end of the normal retention period.

Data Retention

We retain analytics data for 12 months, after which it is automatically deleted during our daily cleanup. Cloudflare may retain deleted data in short-term database restore copies for up to 30 additional days.

Children

Scuba is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect analytics data from children.

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