Hello LaterPrivacy policy
Last updated 1 November 2026 · Version 1.1
Hello Later is an iPhone app made by Charles Rahbani, a sole trader in the United Kingdom ("we", "us"). This policy explains what happens to your information when you use the app or this website.
The short version
- Your photos, lists, names and reminders stay on your iPhone. We never see them. They are not uploaded, not saved to your camera roll, and are left out of iPhone backups.
- Photos are cleared the first time you open the app after midnight. If you don't open the app, they stay on your phone, inside the app, until you do.
- What does leave your phone:
- an update check with our update service, Expo, each time the app starts (you can switch this off in Settings › Check for app fixes). It sends a random install number, the app version and your phone's internet (IP) address;
- Apple's own checks of whether you have Plus, and any purchase you make, which go to Apple;
- Apple's crash reports and usage figures, only if you've chosen to share analytics with app developers in your iPhone settings;
- emails you send us;
- your IP address, to our website host, when you visit this website.
- We don't sell your personal data, and we don't use it for ads or tracking. We only pass it to the services named in this policy.
What stays on your phone
All of this is kept in the app's private storage on your iPhone. We can't see it, and none of it is sent to us.
| What | What it's for | How long it stays |
|---|---|---|
| Photos you take in the app, with the time | Your proof that you checked | Until the first time you open the app after midnight. If the app is on screen at midnight, they go within about 10 seconds. Until then they stay on your phone. You can delete a photo yourself at any time |
| Today's checks: the time and name of each thing you photographed or tapped | Your list for today | Cleared with the photos |
| Small notes from your last check day: when you finished, and which things had no photo | Showing your check | Replaced on a later day, when you next finish a check or delete a photo |
| Names of your things and small "fingerprints" of them: a list of numbers your phone works out from a photo, up to 6 per thing (the oldest drops off) | Guessing which of your things a new photo shows, so you don't have to name it each time. The guess can be wrong; you can change it with a tap | Kept after the photo is cleared. They go if you delete or retake that photo on the same day, change its name, or delete the app. Removing a thing from "Your usual things" doesn't delete what Hello Later has learnt about it. A fingerprint is not a picture and can't be viewed as one |
| Your usual things, "Don't forget" picks, photos or checklist, light or dark | Your settings | Until you change them or delete the app |
| Reminders (Plus): their names, times, days and the things they mention | Reminding you before you leave | Until you delete them, or delete the app (a reminder past its end date stops, but stays in the list until you delete it) |
| Your Plus status | So Plus works when you're offline | Until Apple tells the app otherwise, or you delete the app |
Labels such as "hob" or "door" are worked out on your phone using Apple's built-in image recognition. Photos never leave your phone for this.
Photos are never put in your camera roll and never uploaded. When the app saves a photo, it removes the location and other hidden details (EXIF). The app's folder is set to be left out of iCloud and computer backups, so photos don't come back if you restore a phone.
Reminders are shown by your iPhone itself. No notification server is used and nothing is sent to us. A reminder such as "Leaving soon? Hob, straighteners." can appear on your Lock Screen, where anyone holding your phone can read it. You can hide previews in iPhone Settings › Notifications.
Your free photo count (a date and how many free photos or taps you've used that day) is kept in the app's own storage, so the free tier stays at one a day. Deleting the app deletes it.
To delete everything: delete the app.
Update checks (Expo)
Each time Hello Later starts, it asks our update service, Expo (650 Industries, Inc., USA), whether there's a newer version of the app's code, so we can fix bugs quickly. The request contains:
- a random install number the app makes the first time it runs. It isn't your Apple ID or your phone's serial number. It's stored with the app's settings, so it can come back if you restore your phone from a backup;
- "iOS", the app's version and which update you're running;
- if the app failed to start last time, an error message: the app's own technical text, so we can fix the fault;
- your IP address, which any internet request reveals.
The request isn't designed to include your photos, your things or the names you type.
Expo uses this to send you the right update and to count how many installs have each update; we see those totals on Expo's dashboard. We can't use the install number to find out who you are. Expo processes this for us and keeps it only as long as it reasonably needs to (Expo's privacy policy: expo.dev/privacy).
You can switch update checks off at any time in Settings › Check for app fixes. When it's off, Hello Later doesn't contact Expo.
Purchases (Apple)
Hello Later Plus is sold by Apple through the App Store: monthly, yearly or a one-off Lifetime purchase. Apple handles the payment under its own privacy policy (apple.com/legal/privacy). We don't see your card, your name or your Apple ID. Each time you open or return to the app, it asks Apple on your phone whether you have Plus. We only see Apple's sales totals, which don't name anyone.
Crash reports and usage figures (Apple)
If you've chosen in your iPhone settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may send us crash reports and usage figures for Hello Later. Apple removes your identity first. We use them only to fix bugs and understand how the app is used. They stay in Apple's App Store Connect for as long as Apple keeps them; we don't download or copy them anywhere else. You can turn this off in Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements.
Testing (TestFlight)
If you test early versions through Apple's TestFlight, Apple shares your name, email address and any feedback or screenshots you send with us. We use them only for testing. When testing ends or you leave TestFlight, we remove you as a tester and delete your feedback.
If you contact us
If you email hellolater.app@gmail.com, we receive your email address, your name if you include it, your message and anything you attach. We use it only to answer you. We delete it 12 months after our last message to each other, or sooner if you ask. Our email is handled by Google (Gmail).
This website
When you visit this website, our host, Cloudflare, receives your IP address and basic details your browser sends (such as the browser type and the page you asked for). It uses them to deliver the page and protect it from attacks. We don't receive those logs; Cloudflare keeps them under its own retention. This website uses no cookies or analytics.
Why we're allowed to use it (lawful basis)
| What | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Update checks (Expo) | Our legitimate interests: getting fixes to you quickly and keeping the app working |
| Crash reports and usage figures from Apple | Our legitimate interests: fixing bugs and improving the app (Apple asks you first) |
| Support emails, TestFlight feedback | Our legitimate interests: answering you and testing the app. For rights requests: our legal obligation |
| Website visits | Our legitimate interests: showing you the page securely |
Everything in "What stays on your phone" is handled on your phone; none of it comes to us.
Who receives it, and where
- Expo (update service, USA). Expo says it handles this information for us as our processor, under its terms (expo.dev/terms) and privacy policy (expo.dev/privacy). Expo is certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (the "UK–US data bridge"), which UK law recognises as a safeguard for sending information to certified US companies.
- Apple (payments, App Store, crash reports and usage figures, TestFlight), under Apple's own privacy policy.
- Google (Gmail, our support email), which may store emails in the US and other countries, under Google's own privacy policy.
- Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., USA; our website host), to deliver this website from its servers around the world. Cloudflare handles this for us under its data processing addendum and is certified under the same UK–US data bridge, with standard contractual clauses as a backup.
Our website host may only use your information to provide its service to us, and must protect it at least as well as this policy describes. Expo says it acts as our processor for the update checks. Apple and Google use information under their own privacy policies. We don't sell your personal data, and we don't use it for advertising.
You don't have to give us anything
You don't need an account, and you don't have to email us. You can switch update checks off in Settings › Check for app fixes. Checking and photos work as normal; you'll get our fixes when you update from the App Store. Buying or restoring Plus needs an internet connection. You can also object by emailing us (see "Your rights").
There's no automated decision-making or profiling.
Your rights
You can ask us to see, correct or delete personal data we hold about you, to limit how we use it, to object to it, or for a copy. Email hellolater.app@gmail.com. We'll reply within one month.
In practice we hold very little: your emails to us, any TestFlight feedback, and the install number Expo receives. We can't link the install number to you unless you send it to us, so the simplest way to remove it is to delete the app. Everything else is on your phone, under your control.
US residents: we don't sell your personal information or use it for targeted advertising. You can still ask what we hold and ask us to delete it, using the email above.
Complaints: please tell us first at hellolater.app@gmail.com. We'll acknowledge it within 14 days and reply as quickly as we can. In the UK you can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113). Elsewhere, you can contact your local data protection authority.
Children
Hello Later is not aimed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them. The app asks for no names, ages or contact details.
Keeping it safe
Your data on the phone is protected by your iPhone's own security and encryption, and by your passcode. The update check uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. No system is perfectly secure, so keep your iPhone locked with a passcode.
Cookies and storage on your phone
The app uses no cookies, advertising IDs or tracking tools. The only thing it stores that isn't your own content is the install number made by Expo's update code (see "Update checks"). It is used to send you the right update and to count how many installs have each update, and for nothing else. You can switch update checks off at any time in Settings › Check for app fixes. When it's off, Hello Later doesn't contact Expo. Deleting the app removes the install number.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date and version at the top. If the change is important, such as new data leaving your phone, we'll tell you in the app or in the App Store update notes before it happens.
Contact
Charles Rahbani, sole trader, England. Our postal address is available on request: hellolater.app@gmail.com