Who we are
This Privacy Policy explains how Storybook Studio ("Settle", "we", "us") collects, uses, and protects your information when you use the app and its web viewer for shared books. Storybook Studio is published by Dave App Development Ltd (trading as Settle) and distributed under the package identifier com.storybookstudio.app.
Storybook Studio is a tool for parents: you write a story brief, the app asks an AI provider you choose to write and illustrate it, and your child reads the finished book in the app. The app is for adults; children use it only to read, in Reader mode, which makes no AI requests.
By using Storybook Studio you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.
What stays on your phone
Most of what you make in Storybook Studio is kept only on your phone and never sent to us:
- Your books: their briefs, pages, text and pictures.
- Your Characters and their Character Sheets (the reference pictures the app draws for each Character).
- Child Profiles: the name, age, interests and look you enter for a child.
- Voice recordings you make for a page, and the read-aloud narration, which uses your phone's own text-to-speech.
- Your AI provider keys, held in your phone's secure keystore. Your keys are never sent to us; the app refuses to send one anywhere but its own provider.
- Biometric unlock of the parent area, which uses your phone's own fingerprint or face check. We never receive biometric data.
- Your Pro purchase status and the list of share links you made.
Uninstalling the app removes all of this from your phone. If you have Android's own backup turned on, your phone may back up the app's files to your Google account under Google's terms; your AI provider keys are excluded from that backup.
Information we collect
You can make and read books without an account. We collect information only when you use one of these features:
- Signing in, which you need only to make share links. You sign in with Google through Google Firebase Authentication. We store your email address and your Firebase account ID. We do not save your Google name or profile picture.
- Share links. When you share a book we store its title, its dedication if it has one, the text of each page and each page's picture, so that anyone you send the link to can read it. A shared book's text may include your child's name if you used it in the story.
- Reports. When you flag a page or book as inappropriate, in the app or in the web viewer, we receive the reason you picked and an internal reference to the book and page, or the share link. We do not receive the book's content from a flag in the app.
- Setup feedback, in beta versions of the app only. If you answer "how did setup go?", we receive the step you got stuck at and any note you type, with no account or device identifier.
- Device checks. When you share, flag, export or delete your data, the app asks Google Play Integrity, through Google Firebase App Check, to confirm the request comes from a genuine copy of the app. This sends information about your device and app to Google.
- Your purchase of Pro, which is handled by Google Play and RevenueCat (see "Purchases").
- Server logs. Our servers, like any website, see your IP address and the address you requested when the app or the web viewer contacts them. Our hosting provider keeps these request logs for a limited time.
We do not use analytics, crash reporting, advertising or tracking of any kind. The app does not use the Android advertising ID.
The AI provider you choose
Storybook Studio writes and illustrates your stories using an AI provider you pick, with your own key: OpenAI, Google Gemini or Anthropic. The app sends your requests straight from your phone to that provider; they do not pass through our servers, and we never see them.
To write a story, the app sends the provider your story brief, the length and reading level you chose, and each Character's name and description. If you start a story from a Child Profile, the brief includes that child's name, age and interests. To draw pictures, it sends the scene, each Character's description and their Character Sheet pictures.
Where the app offers it, you can choose to give a Character's look from a photo. A photo is used only after you tick the consent box, is sent only to the image provider you chose, and is removed from the app once the Character Sheet is drawn. The original stays in your phone's gallery.
What the provider does with your requests is governed by your agreement with them and their own privacy policy and terms, which the app links to when you add a key. Please read them before you add a key.
Because the app sends these requests off your phone, our store listing declares them as collected and processed ephemerally: they go only to the provider you chose, we never receive or keep them, and they are not shared with anyone else.
How we use your information
- To sign you in, so that only you can make, list and revoke your share links.
- To show a shared book to the people you send its link to.
- To review reports of inappropriate content and take a shared book down when it breaks our Terms of Use.
- To check that requests come from a genuine copy of the app, and to limit abuse.
- To improve the setup steps, from beta feedback.
- To confirm your Pro purchase.
We do not sell your data, and we do not use it for advertising.
Purchases
Pro is a one-off purchase through Google Play. Google Play takes your payment; we never see your payment details. We use RevenueCat to confirm the purchase. RevenueCat receives the purchase record from Google Play, an anonymous identifier it creates for your installation of the app, and your locale and currency. It does not collect your location, your payment details, crash logs or diagnostics, and we do not give it your name, your email address or any advertising identifier.
Google Drive backup
With Pro, you can back up your books, Characters and Child Profiles to your own Google Drive. The backup goes straight from your phone to a hidden app folder in your Drive, which only Storybook Studio can read. It does not pass through our servers and we cannot see it. Your AI provider keys are never included. You can delete the backup from Google Drive's settings, under Manage apps.
Where your data is stored
Our servers run on Google Cloud (Cloud Run) in the European Union. Shared books' pictures are stored in Google Cloud Storage in the EU, and our database is a managed PostgreSQL database hosted by Neon in the EU. All communication between the app, the web viewer and our servers uses encrypted HTTPS connections.
Third-party services
We rely on a small number of service providers. They process data on our behalf; we do not sell or share your data with third parties for their own purposes.
- Google: for sign-in (Google Sign-In and Firebase Authentication), for checking requests come from the genuine app (Firebase App Check, Play Integrity and reCAPTCHA Enterprise), for hosting our servers and shared pictures (Google Cloud), and for Pro purchases (Google Play).
- Neon: for hosting our PostgreSQL database.
- RevenueCat: for confirming Pro purchases, as described under "Purchases".
The AI provider you choose (OpenAI, Google or Anthropic) is not our service provider: you use it under your own account and key, as described under "The AI provider you choose".
Data retention and deletion
We keep your account and your share links for as long as your account exists. You can delete your account and its share links at any time in the app, under Account, Delete my account; our account deletion page sets out what is deleted and the other ways to ask. Under Account you can also export a copy of the data we hold about you.
Deleting your account does not yet remove your sign-in record with Google Firebase Authentication (your email address and account ID). Email us and we delete it within 30 days of your request.
Reports and beta setup feedback do not identify you. We keep them to keep shared books safe and to improve the app; when you delete your account, reports about your share links are kept without the link.
The books and other data on your phone are yours to delete: delete a book, Character or Child Profile in the app, remove a key in the app's key settings, or uninstall the app to remove everything.
Children
Storybook Studio is intended for adults aged 18 or over. Children use it only to read books in Reader mode, which sends nothing to an AI provider or to us. The parent area, where books are made and shared, is behind a parental check. Information about a child, such as a Child Profile, is entered by a parent and kept on the parent's phone; it leaves the phone only as described under "The AI provider you choose" and "Share links and the web viewer".
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last changed. Continued use of the app after a change means you accept the updated policy.
Contact
If you have any questions about this policy or your data, contact us at [email protected].
Data safety summary
The data Storybook Studio () collects, as declared for its store listing:
- Personal info: Email address, used for Account management.
- Personal info: User IDs, used for Account management.
- Personal info: Name, used for App functionality, processed ephemerally.
- Personal info: Other info, used for App functionality, processed ephemerally.
- App activity: Other user-generated content, used for App functionality.
- Financial info: Purchase history, used for App functionality.
- Device or other IDs: Device or other IDs, used for App functionality, Fraud prevention, security, and compliance.
Data is encrypted in transit.
You can delete your account in the app under Account, Delete my account, or by emailing [email protected] from the address you sign in with; see https://settledevelopment.com/storybook-studio/delete-account/.