Sudoku XL (“the app”) is a puzzle game published by Adir Davidov. This
policy explains what information is collected, how it is used, and how your
privacy is protected.
Short version
The app stores your game progress and saves it locally on your device. We use
third-party services (Google AdMob and Firebase) to display advertisements,
collect anonymous usage statistics, and report app crashes. The app also offers
optional purchases and subscriptions, which are handled by Apple or Google and
by RevenueCat — we never see your payment details. We do not require you to
create an account, and we do not collect your name, email address, or phone
number.
What is stored on your device
The app saves the following locally, so your progress survives closing the app:
- Your current unfinished puzzle (the board, your notes, the timer)
- Statistics: puzzles played and solved, best and average times per difficulty
- Your level progress in the stage journey, and daily-challenge completions
- Score total, day streak, and unlocked trophies
- Your hint balance: how many free hints you have used today, and any hints you have bought
- A record of which subscription tier you last had, so the app works correctly offline
- Settings: theme, language, auto-check, and the other gameplay toggles
This game data is stored using the operating system’s standard app-storage
mechanism.
iCloud backup (iOS)
So that you do not lose progress — or hints and coins you have paid for —
when you reinstall, the app backs some of this data up to your own iCloud
account, using Apple’s built-in key-value storage.
- Backed up: statistics, level and daily-challenge progress, score,
streak, trophies, your coin and hint balance, and your settings.
- Not backed up, device-only: your current unfinished puzzle, and
the record of your subscription tier.
This uses the iCloud account already signed in on your device. There is no account
to create and no sign-in screen. The data goes to Apple’s servers under
your Apple ID, not to us — we cannot see it, access it, or retrieve it,
and it is never sent to any server of ours. Apple’s handling of it is covered by
Apple’s Privacy Policy.
Because of this, reinstalling the app will normally restore the progress listed
above. If you want the data gone, turn off iCloud Drive for Sudoku XL in your device
settings before deleting the app, or delete the app’s iCloud data from your Apple
ID storage settings.
Game Center leaderboards and achievements (iOS)
If you are signed in to Game Center on your device, the app posts some
of your results to it, so they can appear on leaderboards and in your achievements:
- your score total, your longest day streak, and how many 16×16 puzzles you have solved
- your time on the daily challenge — only the first time you solve that day’s
puzzle, and only if you used no hint
- your progress towards each trophy
These results are shown to other Game Center players under your Game Center nickname,
according to your Game Center privacy settings. They go to Apple, not to us
— we do not receive your Apple ID, name, email address, or friends list, and we have
no server that stores scores. Apple’s handling of Game Center data is covered by
Apple’s Privacy Policy.
Game Center is optional. The app never asks you to create an account and never shows a
sign-in screen on its own; it only offers Game Center’s sign-in if you open Game
Center from the app. To stop posting results, sign out of Game Center in your device’s
Settings app.
Third-party services and data collection
To maintain and improve the app, we integrate the following third-party services:
1. Google AdMob (advertising)
We use Google AdMob to display ads. AdMob may collect and use advertising
identifiers (such as the Apple IDFA or Google Advertising ID) and related
technical data to serve personalized or non-personalized ads.
- For users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK, we use Google’s
User Messaging Platform (UMP) to obtain your explicit consent before showing
personalized ads.
- You can learn more about how Google uses information from sites or apps that
use their services here:
policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
2. Firebase (analytics and crash reporting)
We use Google Firebase to understand how players use the app and to fix bugs:
- Firebase Analytics collects anonymous usage data (for example,
which puzzle difficulties are played most, which screens are opened, and session
durations). This helps us
improve the game.
- Firebase Crashlytics automatically collects crash reports if the
app closes unexpectedly. These reports include device information (OS version,
device model) and the line of code that caused the crash. They do not contain
personal information.
3. Purchases and subscriptions (Apple, Google, RevenueCat)
The app offers optional one-off purchases (hint and heart packs) and optional
subscriptions (Basic and Pro).
- Payment is handled entirely by Apple or Google. All payment
details — card numbers, billing addresses, and anything similar — are
collected and processed by the App Store or Google Play under their own privacy
policies. We never see them and never receive them.
- RevenueCat is used to check that a purchase is genuine and to
keep track of what you are entitled to across your devices. It receives the
purchase receipt issued by the store, basic device and platform information, and
an anonymous identifier it generates for your installation. It does not receive
your name, email address, or payment details. On iPhone, if you installed the app
from an Apple Search Ads advertisement, RevenueCat also receives Apple’s
attribution information — which ad campaign and search keyword led to the
install — so we can tell which ads are worth running. Apple provides this
without identifying you, and it does not need tracking permission.
RevenueCat’s privacy policy:
revenuecat.com/privacy
- No account is needed to buy anything. Your purchases are tied to
your App Store or Google Play account, not to any account with us.
- Managing or cancelling a subscription is done in your App Store or
Google Play account settings, not in the app. Deleting the app does not cancel a
subscription.
- Restoring purchases asks the store what you already own and
restores it. It sends nothing new about you to us.
What we do not collect
- No name, email address, phone number, or account of any kind
- No payment or card details — these never reach us
- No precise location data (GPS)
- No contacts, camera, photo library, or microphone access
Printing and PDF export
Exporting a puzzle to PDF generates the file on your device and hands it to your
operating system’s standard print or share dialog. Nothing is uploaded to us.
Children
The app is a number puzzle suitable for all ages. We do not knowingly collect
personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are a parent or
guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please
contact us.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the “Last updated” date above will change with it.
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