Privacy policy

Last updated October 26, 2026

Who we are

Hearthwise is made by the Hearthwise team ("we" or "us"). You can reach us at hello@hearthwiseapp.com.

What the app collects

The Hearthwise app has no sign-up and contains no analytics, advertising, or tracking code. The information you enter is stored on your device and isn't sent to us or to anyone else. The exceptions are the ones you control or that Apple handles, described below: backups you choose to export; beta testing through TestFlight, where Apple automatically shares crash reports with us; and, for the App Store version, crash reports and usage statistics you allow Apple to share.

What stays on your device

The information you choose to enter is saved on the device you're using, including:

• Your income, spending, budgets, bills, debts, and savings goals
• Weekly meeting notes, plans, and history
• Kids' first names, ages or birthdays, chores, goals, jar balances, stars, and lesson progress
• A parent PIN and kids' codes, if you set them, stored only in scrambled (hashed) form

Hearthwise is designed to encrypt the information it stores on your device, using a key kept in your device's secure Keychain. Two optional features can show some of it outside that encryption, and you control both in Family → Privacy: the home-screen widget and detailed notifications. Both are described below. Deleting the app deletes this information from that device, though iOS may keep the app's Keychain items (such as that key) until you erase the device. Like other app data, your information may also be included in your device's own iCloud or computer backups, which are managed by Apple or by you, not by us. Hearthwise does not connect to banks or any financial accounts.

Backups you export

If you use Export backup, Hearthwise creates an encrypted file containing the information you've entered, including your kids' profiles, and hands it to your device's share sheet. Your parent PIN and kids' codes are not included. The file goes wherever you choose (iCloud Drive, Files, email, or elsewhere), and from then on it's stored by that service, not by us. We never receive it, and Hearthwise doesn't keep a copy of it in the app.

Each backup is locked with a recovery code that Hearthwise shows you once. Without that code, the file can't be opened, by us or by anyone else, so keep the code somewhere safe and separate from the file. If you lose the code, we can't recover the backup.

This website and cookies

This website is hosted by Netlify, Inc. Like any website host, Netlify processes the technical information your browser sends when you visit, such as your IP address, browser and device type, the page you asked for, and the time. It uses this to deliver pages and protect the site against abuse, and may keep it in server logs for a limited time under its own privacy policy. We don't use this information to identify, track, or profile you.

This website doesn't set cookies and doesn't use analytics, advertising, or tracking scripts. The site uses the fonts built into your device, so loading a page doesn't contact any font, analytics, or ad service. Links to Instagram or to your email app take you to those services, which have their own privacy policies. Because this website doesn't track visitors, it works the same way whether or not your browser sends a "Do Not Track" signal.

The waitlist

If you join the waitlist, we receive the email address you enter. If you answer the optional question on the signup form, we also receive your answer, and we use it only to understand what would help families. The signup form is processed by Formspree, Inc. Formspree receives your email address along with basic technical information such as your IP address and browser type (used to deliver the submission and filter spam), stores the submission on our behalf, and passes it to us. We use your address only to send launch updates and product news about Hearthwise. We never sell your email address or share it with anyone else for their own marketing.

You can unsubscribe at any time by replying to any email or writing to hello@hearthwiseapp.com, and we will delete your address. We keep waitlist emails only until you unsubscribe, and we'll delete the whole waitlist within 90 days after Hearthwise launches on the App Store.

The waitlist is for parents and guardians. Please don't sign up if you're under 18.

Beta testing with TestFlight

Early versions of Hearthwise may be offered through Apple's TestFlight app. If you join a beta, Apple shares some information with us so we can run it. Depending on how you were invited, this can include your name and email address, your device model and iOS version, and when you installed and used the beta. If the beta app crashes, TestFlight automatically sends us a crash report, whatever your device's analytics settings. A crash report describes the technical problem, such as your device model, iOS version, and where in the app the crash happened; Hearthwise doesn't add your family's information to it. TestFlight may also ask whether you want to send extra crash details and comments; that part is your choice. If you choose to send feedback or screenshots from TestFlight, Apple shares those with us too. Screenshots show whatever is on your screen, so check them before you send. Apple also collects information about beta use under its own TestFlight terms and privacy policy.

We use beta information only to run the beta, contact testers about it, and fix problems. You can stop testing at any time in the TestFlight app, and you can ask us to delete beta information we hold by emailing hello@hearthwiseapp.com.

Apple and the App Store

When you download Hearthwise from the App Store, Apple processes information under its own privacy policy. Apple doesn't give us your name or contact details for App Store downloads. If you've chosen to share analytics with app developers in your device settings, Apple may share crash reports and usage statistics with us in a form that doesn't identify you. We use them only to find and fix problems.

Notifications

Meeting reminders, bill reminders, and chore nudges are scheduled on your device and aren't sent through our servers. By default, alerts don't show bill names, amounts, or kids' names, so nothing private appears on a locked screen; this is the Private notifications setting in Family → Privacy, which is on by default, or turn reminders off in the app or your device settings.

If you turn Private notifications off, alerts can include kids' names, chore names, bill names, and amounts (for example, a child's name and the chore they finished). iOS stores that text outside the app's encryption, both for reminders scheduled ahead (bill reminders can be scheduled up to 45 days out) and for alerts already delivered, and it can appear on your screen depending on your device's notification settings. Turning Private notifications back on switches reminders that are still scheduled to the private wording, but alerts already delivered keep their text in Notification Center until you clear them.

If you add the home-screen widget, it can show how much is left in your budget this month and, in the larger size, how much you've spent and your monthly income. Amounts are hidden by default. If you turn them on in Family → Privacy, Hearthwise saves the amounts the widget displays without the app's encryption, and anyone who can see your screen can see them.

Children's privacy

Hearthwise is designed for parents to use with their children. Parents create and manage kids' profiles (first names, ages or birthdays, chores, goals, and balances), and kids can add things like goal names. Profiles contain no contact information and stay on your family's device; we don't receive them. We don't ask children for personal information. The kids' space has no links out of the app, no sharing, and no purchases.

Keeping information safe

Because your family's information is stored on your device, its protection depends largely on your device: use a device passcode and keep your software up to date. The parent PIN, which every family sets up, keeps kids on their own side of the app during everyday hand-offs. Resetting it requires Face ID or Touch ID on devices that have it, or the device passcode on devices that don't; if neither is available, it can't be reset until one is turned on. Repeated wrong guesses pause the PIN screen, and the parents' side locks again after a minute away from the app. When you use Face ID or Touch ID, iOS checks it and only tells Hearthwise whether it succeeded; Hearthwise never receives your face or fingerprint data. No method of storing or sending information is perfectly secure.

Your privacy rights

We do not sell or share your personal information for advertising. You can also ask us at any time for a copy of the information we hold about you (for example, your waitlist email address or beta tester details), or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing hello@hearthwiseapp.com. Depending on where you live, such as California, the EU, or the UK, you may have additional rights under local law, and we will honor them. We will respond to every request.

If you're in the EU or UK: we rely on your consent to send waitlist emails (you can withdraw it at any time by unsubscribing), and on our legitimate interest in running this website and beta securely. We are based in the United States, and the services we use (Netlify, Formspree, and Apple) may process information in the United States.

Changes to this policy

If a future version adds features that work differently, we will update this policy before that version is released and explain clearly what changes and why. We'll also update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email hello@hearthwiseapp.com .