🔒 Privacy First: AppBrake does not require any account creation and never uploads, sells, or syncs your personal app usage data to external developer servers. All app statistics, locked lists, and logs remain 100% on your local device.
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how AppBrake ("we", "our", or "the App") handles information when you install and use our Android digital wellbeing application. We are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring transparency about how the app functions.
2. Information We Collect and Store Locally
AppBrake functions offline for its core features. The following information is stored strictly within your device's private local database (Room SQLite):
Protected Apps List: Packages you manually select to lock or pause.
Friction & Pause History: Logs of your pause attempts, completed challenges, and resistance streaks.
User Preferences: Challenge modes selected (quotes, breathing, questions, vocabulary), reflection timers, and theme preferences.
This data is never transmitted to us or any third party.
3. Android Permissions & Justifications
To provide intentional friction and digital wellbeing tracking, AppBrake requires certain sensitive Android permissions. We use these permissions exclusively for their stated on-device functions:
Accessibility Service (BIND_ACCESSIBILITY_SERVICE)
Used solely to detect when a user launches a protected app in real-time and display the intentional pause screen. We do NOT log keystrokes, read on-screen text, inspect passwords, or monitor personal messages.
Usage Access (PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS)
Allows AppBrake to calculate your daily app open counts, screen time insights, and display accurate resistance statistics on your device.
Display Over Other Apps (SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW)
Enables the AppBrake mindful pause screen to open seamlessly on top of a locked application before access is granted.
Foreground Service & Notifications
Ensures the background monitoring watchdog remains active and displays persistent active session notifications as mandated by Android OS.
4. Advertising & Third-Party SDKs
AppBrake displays advertisements to support ongoing development through Meta Audience Network (Facebook). The Meta SDK may collect certain technical device parameters to serve relevant ads, in accordance with Meta's privacy policies:
Google Advertising ID (AD_ID / GAID): A user-resettable unique identifier for advertising.
Device Technical Information: Device model, operating system version, carrier, and network state.