PopWord is a vocabulary app: a word on your home screen, brought back on a schedule until you know it. This page covers what the app stores, what it sends, and why.
What stays on your device
Nearly everything, in the app’s private storage on your phone:
- your languages, learning path, and saved words;
- your level, sparks, and streak;
- your settings and appearance choices;
- the vocabulary downloaded for offline use.
There is no account to create and no sign-in, so none of this is tied to your identity, and none of it is uploaded to us. If Android backup is on, this data may be included in your own Google account backup, the same as any other app’s; we cannot open it, and you can turn backup off under Settings → Google → Backup.
What leaves your device
Three things, and that is the whole list: requests for vocabulary, a crash report when something breaks, and a basic count of app opens.
- Vocabulary requests go to our API when you start the app and occasionally after, carrying your IP address, which language and collection you asked for, and a Google Play Integrity token that confirms the app is a genuine copy. The token does not identify you.
- Crash reports say what the app was doing when it failed, with device and app details, so we can fix it.
- Usage counts are Firebase Analytics’ automatic data only — we send no events of our own. That means app opens, session length, return visits, device model, Android and app version, language, coarse country, and which Play Store page led to the install. Never the words you studied, your progress, or anything you typed.
We do not sell your information, show ads, or collect the Android advertising ID; it is switched off in every build we ship. There are no third-party trackers or ad networks.
| Service | Used for |
|---|---|
| Google Cloud Run | Hosting the API that delivers vocabulary. |
| Google Play Integrity | Blocking automated abuse of the API. |
| Firebase Crashlytics | Crash reports. |
| Firebase Analytics | Basic usage counts. |
These Google services may process data in other countries, including the United States. See Google’s data-processing terms and Firebase privacy information.
We use this data only to run the app, keep it secure, and fix it.
Permissions
- Internet and network state: to download vocabulary and notice when you are offline.
- Notifications: requested only if you turn reminders on; decline it and the rest of the app works normally.
- Run at startup, keep awake, and foreground service: used by Android’s own scheduler so reminders and wallpaper word changes still happen after a restart. They read nothing and show nothing by themselves.
- Install referrer: shows Firebase Analytics which Play Store page led to the install.
There is no camera, microphone, location, contacts, photo, or file access, because none of it is requested. If a future version ever needed more, we would explain why in the app and update this page first.
Your choices
Most of the control here is already in your hands. Reminders, the live wallpaper, and the widget are optional and off until you turn them on. Your languages, pace, and appearance are yours to set and change any time in Settings, which is also where the app links to this page. You can erase a journey’s words and progress, or clear the app’s storage entirely, without deleting the app itself. There is nothing to opt into or out of beyond that: no account to manage, and no marketing to unsubscribe from, because PopWord sends none.
Keeping and deleting your data
What is on your phone stays there until you remove it: erase a journey’s progress in Settings → Learning, clear the app’s storage in Android Settings, or uninstall. There is no account, so those steps are the complete and final deletion path for your learning data — nothing sits on a server waiting to be cleared separately.
- Crash reports and usage counts are kept for Firebase’s default retention periods. There is no in-app switch for them yet; uninstalling stops both.
- API request logs are kept only as long as useful for security and troubleshooting, then deleted.
Age
PopWord is built for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from them, and the app carries no account, chat, or social feature that would ask them to.
Changes and contact
PopWord: Language Wallpaper (cc.potatolab.popword) is made by PotatoLab. This policy applies wherever PopWord is available, and replaces any earlier version on potatolab.cc. We update it before any release that changes what it describes, and the date at the top always reflects the current version.
Questions about this policy or how PopWord handles data are welcome any time.
PotatoLab · potato.lab.cc@gmail.com