Chromaru Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 9, 2026

Chromaru is provided by Lobster Claw Software LLC ("we," "us," or "our"). This Privacy Policy explains what the Chromaru mobile application (the "App") stores, what it shares, and what it does not.

1. Overview

Chromaru is an offline puzzle game. There is no account, no sign-up, and no server of ours. Every puzzle ships inside the App, and your play is recorded on your device.

The App is free and supported by advertising, described in section 5 along with how we learn which advertising, if any, led to your installation. It also collects a small amount of usage data to keep the App working, described in section 4, which you can turn off.

2. What Stays on Your Device

The following is stored on your device and is never sent to us:

• your puzzles in progress, including every color, note, and undo step
• which puzzles you have finished, and your best time for each
• which daily puzzles you have solved, and your streak
• your settings, including theme, color vision options, sound, haptics, mistake feedback, and the usage data switches
• how many puzzles you have finished, on which days you played, and when a full-screen advertisement or a request to rate the App was last shown, so that both stay infrequent

No summary, count, or category drawn from that list is sent either. We never learn which puzzles you play, how long you take, how many you have solved, or which screens you open.

Uninstalling the App deletes all of it from your device. If your device is backed up to iCloud or Google, that backup may include the App's data and restore it to a new device; the backup is between you and Apple or Google, and we never see it. We cannot recover anything for you ourselves, because we never had it.

3. What We Never Collect

We do not collect your name, email address, phone number, physical address, contacts, photos, precise location, or any other directly identifying information. There is no field in the App that asks for any of it.

We never collect the contents of a puzzle. What you place on the board is not sent anywhere, in any form, for any purpose.

4. Usage Data

The App uses two Google tools to learn whether it is working. Both are on by default, and each can be turned off on its own at any time in Settings > Usage data.

This data is not tied to your name or email, because we never collect either, but Google's tools attach a randomly generated installation identifier so that repeat activity from the same installation can be recognized, and an advertising identifier where your device provides one (on iOS, only if you allowed tracking). Deleting and reinstalling the App produces a new identifier.

App Analytics: Firebase Analytics records a baseline of its own about the App, including the app version, the device model, an approximate region derived from your network address, when the App is opened and for how long, and how the App was installed. Because the App shows Google's advertisements, Firebase Analytics also records when an advertisement is shown and when a hint video's reward is granted. The App itself adds nothing to this: it reports nothing about you or your play. Powered by Firebase Analytics (Google).

Crash Reports: Firebase Crashlytics records a report when the App crashes or hits an error, including the device model, the operating system version, the installation identifier, and where in the code the failure happened. Reports never include puzzle contents or directly identifying data. Turning this off deletes any report still waiting on your device, and takes full effect the next time the App opens, so a crash before then may still be reported.

5. Advertising

The App shows advertising served by Google AdMob:

• a banner at the bottom of the home screen and the puzzle lists
• occasionally, a full-screen advertisement between puzzles, only after you finish one, never during your first few puzzles, and never more than once every few minutes
• a short video you can choose to watch in exchange for a hint

No advertisement ever appears while you are solving, unless you ask for a hint video.

Once you reach the home screen, or ask for a hint, the App contacts Google: it checks whether your region requires your advertising consent and, where your choices allow, loads advertisements in advance so they are ready to show.

To provide, measure, and protect that advertising, Google and its advertising partners may process device identifiers, approximate location derived from your network address, advertising interactions, and diagnostic information, subject to your consent choices and your platform settings. On iOS the App asks for your tracking permission through Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt, shown after your first puzzle rather than at first launch. If you decline, advertisements still appear, but neither Google nor Branch receives your device's advertising identifier, and you can change your answer at any time in your device's Settings. Advertising sound follows the App's sound setting.

Some regions provide a further choice. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, the App asks for your consent before advertising begins. There, and in the US states with their own privacy laws, Settings shows a Privacy choices row that reopens your choices at any time: to change or withdraw your consent, or to opt out of having your information sold or shared.

For more information on how Google handles this data, see Google's Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.

Install attribution: to learn which advertising campaign, if any, led to your installation, the App uses Branch (branch.io). Branch starts only after the App's advertising consent step, never at launch, so on a new installation it already has your answers to any consent or tracking question that step asked. It then receives information about the installation and each time the App opens, including the device model, the operating system, your network address, and device identifiers. Branch also receives your advertising identifier, and reports the installation to the advertising network that ran the campaign, only where your choices allow it: on iOS, only if you allowed tracking; in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, only if you consented to advertising; and on Android elsewhere, whenever your device provides an advertising identifier, which you can delete in your device's settings (resetting it only replaces it with a new one). Otherwise Branch counts the installation without either. In those three regions, the App also passes your advertising consent answers to Branch. The App never tells Branch who you are or anything you do in the App, and no server of ours receives what Branch learns. For more information, see Branch's Privacy Policy at https://legal.branch.io/saas/privacy-policy/.

6. How Information May Be Shared

We do not sell your information for money, and we hold none to sell.

Several US state privacy laws define "sale" and "sharing" broadly enough to cover personalized advertising even where no money changes hands. Where one of those laws applies to you, the Privacy choices row described in section 5 is how you opt out of this for Google's advertising. For install attribution, declining tracking on iOS, or deleting your advertising identifier in your Android device's settings, keeps Branch from receiving your advertising identifier.

Information is shared only as necessary to operate the App:

• with Google AdMob and its advertising partners, for the advertising described in section 5
• with Branch, for the install attribution described in section 5
• with Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics (Google), for the usage data described in section 4, which you can turn off in Settings
• with Apple App Store and Google Play, for downloads, updates, the occasional request to rate the App, and platform functions
• with legal authorities when required by law

7. Data Retention

Information stored on your device remains there until you uninstall the App or clear its data. A copy may also remain in your device's own backup, kept by Apple or Google under their terms.

Anything Google receives is held by Google under its own retention rules: analytics and crash data under Firebase's retention settings, and advertising identifiers and interactions under Google AdMob's policies. Installation data Branch receives is held by Branch under its own policies. We keep no copy, and because the App never shows us the identifiers attached to it, we cannot find yours on our own; Google and Branch each publish their own privacy controls for that.

8. Children's Privacy

The App is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the App, please contact us.

9. Your Choices

You can:

• turn app analytics and crash reports off, each on its own, in Settings > Usage data
• open Settings > Privacy choices, where your region provides it, to change your advertising consent or to ask that your information not be sold or shared
• allow or decline tracking when iOS asks, and change that answer later in your device's Settings
• delete your device's advertising identifier in your device's settings, which also keeps it from Branch (resetting it only replaces it with a new one)
• never watch a hint video
• delete everything the App holds on your device by uninstalling it, and remove it from your device's backup through your iCloud or Google settings

10. Third-Party Policies

The App relies on Apple, Google Play, Google AdMob, Google Firebase, and Branch. Your use of those services is also governed by their own privacy policies and terms.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Your continued use of the App after an updated Privacy Policy takes effect constitutes acceptance of it.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact:

Lobster Claw Software LLC

info@lobsterclawsoftware.com