Ply

Privacy Policy

Effective September 30, 2026

The short version: Ply has no accounts, no servers, no ads and no tracking. Your games, presets and player names stay on your iPhone or iPad. The only thing the App sends is anonymous usage statistics (for example, that a game was started with an increment control), which cannot be linked to you.

Who we are

Ply (the “App”) is a chess clock, board-game turn timer and hourglass for iPhone and iPad. This policy explains how the App handles your information. It is short because Ply collects very little: we run no servers, and the only data the App sends is the anonymous usage statistics described below.

What we collect

There is no account to create, no sign-up, no email address and no profile. The App does not transmit your games, player names, presets or anything else you type to us or to third parties.

The App does send anonymous usage statistics through TelemetryDeck, a privacy-focused analytics service, so we can see which parts of Ply are used and improve them. These signals say things like: which steps of onboarding were completed, whether the upgrade screen was viewed or a purchase made (for a purchase: the product, its price and currency, and your App Store country), that a game was started or finished and with what kind of time control (with rough counts and durations, such as “6–10 moves”), which of the App's settings are switched on, and basic technical details such as the App and iOS version. They contain no names, no text you typed, no location and no account or advertising identifier. TelemetryDeck identifies an install only by a salted one-way hash generated on your device, so the statistics cannot be linked back to you. We use them only in aggregate.

What stays on your device

Everything Ply remembers is stored locally on your device:

Your custom time controls (presets) and your last clock.
The game in progress, if there is one, so it can come back after the App is closed.
Player names you type, and saved player groups for Round Table.
Finished games, if any: the result, the time control, the players' names and the think time of each move or turn. The App keeps your most recent 200 games.
Your settings — clock face, sounds, haptics, speech, hourglass style — plus your onboarding answers, which free Pro games you have used, and whether Ply Pro is unlocked.

This information never leaves your device unless you share a game yourself (see below). It is included in your normal device backup (iCloud Backup or a computer backup) under your own Apple Account and your own backup settings; we cannot access backups. You can delete single games or your whole history in Settings → History, and deleting the App removes everything.

Motion sensors

While the Glass tab is on screen, Ply reads your device's motion sensors to find which way is down, so the sand follows the tilt of your phone and the glass starts when you turn it over. The readings are used in the moment, never stored and never sent anywhere, and iOS does not ask for permission because the App reads no activity or fitness data.

Spoken times

The optional talking clock and the byo-yomi count use Apple's on-device speech synthesizer. Ply never uses the microphone and does no speech recognition.

Live Activities, Shortcuts and controls

A running game can appear on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island as a Live Activity. It is created and updated on your device; Ply does not register for push updates and no server is involved. Siri, Shortcuts, the Action Button and the Control Center control run the App's own actions on your device.

Sharing a game

A finished game can be shared as an image. The image is drawn on your device and handed to the iOS share sheet, so it goes only to the app or person you choose; what happens to it there is governed by that app or service. If you choose “Save Image”, iOS asks your permission to add it to Photos; that permission only lets Ply add images. Ply never reads your photo library.

Purchases

Ply Pro is a single one-time purchase handled entirely by Apple through the App Store, and it can be shared with your Family Sharing group. Your purchase is verified on your device; no receipt is sent anywhere and we never see your payment details, billing address or Apple Account. Restoring a purchase asks Apple, not us.

Ratings and reviews

After a few finished games the App may ask whether you would like to rate it. That prompt is Apple's standard in-app review request and is shown, limited and handled by Apple; nothing about it reaches us. “Rate Ply” in Settings opens the App Store's review page.

iCloud sync

Ply does not sync your data through iCloud or any other service.

Advertising, analytics and tracking

Ply contains no advertising, no crash-reporting service and no attribution or measurement software. Its only third-party software is the TelemetryDeck analytics library described above, which collects anonymous usage statistics only. We do not use the Advertising Identifier (IDFA), we do not track you across apps or websites, and there is no data broker relationship.

Children

Ply is a game timer for a general audience, including families. It collects no personal information from anyone, children included; the anonymous usage statistics above contain nothing that identifies a person.

Your rights and choices

Because we hold no data that identifies you, and the usage statistics cannot be linked back to you, there is nothing for us to look up, export or erase on request. You remain in full control:

Delete games in Settings → History (swipe a game, or Delete all).
Delete presets and player groups where you saved them.
Delete the App to remove everything it stored on your device.
Manage device backups in iOS Settings under your Apple Account.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes we will post the revised version on this page and update the effective date above. Material changes will also be reflected in the App's App Store privacy information.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your privacy? Email contact@imaigination.art.