Please Buy ("the app") is made by Rinat Maltsev. In short: there are no accounts, ads, analytics or tracking, and your lists, receipts and budgets are stored in your own iCloud. The developer can't read them. Scanned barcode numbers are looked up in Open Food Facts, a free product database (see Barcodes).

Your lists, receipts and budgets

Everything you create is stored on your iPhone and synced through Apple's iCloud (CloudKit) to your private iCloud database. When you share a list or join a family circle, that data is shared through iCloud only with the people you invite. The developer has no access to your private or shared iCloud data.

Nudges and trip alerts

To deliver a nudge ("Please buy oat milk") or an "I'm at the store" alert to another person, the app saves a short message to the app's public iCloud database, where the recipient's device picks it up. Each message holds the sender's chosen display name, the app-specific iCloud user IDs of the sender and recipient, and the message content. Between members of a family circle, the content (text, list and items) is end-to-end encrypted with a key only the circle's members have. Messages expire after 24 hours, and the sender's app deletes expired ones the next time it runs. They are used only to deliver the alert.

Receipts and photos

Receipt photos are read on your iPhone (Apple's Vision text recognition and, where available, Apple Intelligence running on device). The photo itself never leaves your iPhone. The items, prices and store you save become part of your lists' data in iCloud, as described above.

Recipes

When you add items from a recipe link, your iPhone downloads that page directly from the recipe's website, the same way Safari would; nothing goes through the developer. When you share a page from Safari, the app reads the page Safari already has open. The ingredients are found on your iPhone (and, where available, by Apple Intelligence running on device). The developer never receives the links, pages or texts you use. The items you add become part of your lists in iCloud, as described above.

Barcodes

When you scan a product's barcode (or type its number), the app first checks what you or your family already called it. If it doesn't know the product, it sends only the barcode number to Open Food Facts, a free, open product database, to look up the product's name, and loads the product photo from it. Nothing else is sent: no account, list or personal information, and nothing goes to the developer. Answers are cached on your iPhone. The camera picture is processed on your iPhone and never leaves it. Open Food Facts' own privacy policy applies to its servers.

Voice

When you add items by voice, what you say is turned into text on your iPhone by Apple's on-device speech recognition. The recording isn't kept and isn't sent to the developer or to Apple's servers; if your iPhone can't recognize your language on the device, voice input isn't available.

Location

If you turn on store reminders, the app uses your location only on your iPhone, to notice when you arrive at a store you saved. It is never sent to the developer. When you search for a store to save, your search and your approximate area go to Apple Maps to find stores near you, as in the Maps app (Apple's privacy policy applies).

Notifications

Notifications are delivered by Apple's push notification service. The app asks for permission and works without it.

No tracking, ads or analytics

The app contains no advertising, analytics or tracking code, and doesn't use the advertising identifier.

Children

The app is suitable for all ages and doesn't knowingly collect personal information from children.

Deleting your data

Delete lists, receipts or your circle in the app. To remove everything, delete the app and its data under Settings › Apple Account › iCloud › Manage Storage.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.

Contact

Questions about privacy: rinatjkeee666@gmail.com