Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 28, 2026

Nested Hours is a single-player puzzle game made by Bracken Estuary. The game itself needs no account and no sign-in, and your progress never leaves your device. The app does, however, show advertisements and uses two third-party software kits to measure installs and to serve those ads. This policy explains exactly what those kits collect, which of it is used to track you, and what stays on your device.

1. Third-party services in the app

• Adjust (adjust GmbH) — install attribution and in-app event analytics. Adjust privacy policy
• AppLovin MAX (AppLovin Corporation) — advertising mediation. MAX passes ad requests to the advertising networks it mediates, and those networks receive the data described in section 2 when an ad is requested or shown. AppLovin privacy policy (it also lists the mediated ad networks and their own policies).

Both kits run on every launch of the app. Ads may appear after you finish a round.

2. Data collected, and whether it is used to track you

The categories below match the App Privacy label shown on our App Store page. “Linked to you” means the data is associated with an identifier for your device or an account with the ad network. “Used to track you” means it may be combined with data from other companies’ apps and websites for targeted advertising or advertising measurement, or shared with a data broker.

2a. Collected, linked to you, and used to track you

• Device ID (advertising identifier / IDFA when you allow tracking, and vendor identifiers) — analytics, app functionality, our own advertising, third-party advertising.
• Advertising data (which ads were shown, viewed, or tapped) — analytics, app functionality, our own advertising, third-party advertising.
• Coarse location (approximate region derived from your IP address; the app never asks for the location permission) — analytics, app functionality, our own advertising, third-party advertising.
• Product interaction (launches, rounds finished, taps on ad content) — analytics, app functionality, our own advertising, third-party advertising.
• Performance data (ad load times, SDK health) — analytics, app functionality, our own advertising, third-party advertising.
• User ID (an identifier the kits generate for your install) — analytics, app functionality, third-party advertising.
• Other data (device model, OS version, language, carrier, network type, app version) — analytics, app functionality, our own advertising, third-party advertising.

2b. Collected but not used to track you

• Crash data (linked to you) — analytics, app functionality, third-party advertising.
• Other diagnostic data (not linked to you) — analytics, app functionality, our own advertising, third-party advertising.
• Other usage data (not linked to you) — analytics, third-party advertising.
• Customer support (not linked to you) — only what you write to us by email, used to answer you.

We do not collect your name, email address (unless you email us), phone number, contacts, photos, microphone or camera input, precise location, health data, or payment information. There is nothing to buy in the app.

3. App Tracking Transparency

The first time you open Nested Hours, iOS shows the system prompt “Allow Nested Hours to track your activity across other companies’ apps and websites?”

• If you choose Allow, the advertising identifier (IDFA) is shared with Adjust and with the ad networks mediated by AppLovin MAX so that the ads you see can be personalised and campaigns can be measured.
• If you choose Ask App Not to Track, the IDFA is not available to us or to the ad networks. You will still see ads, but they are not personalised across other apps, and attribution falls back to non-identifying methods.

You can change this choice at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking. Turning off “Allow Apps to Request to Track” there applies to all apps.

4. What stays on your device

Your progress in the game — rounds completed, best time, which chapters you have seen, and your sound setting — is kept in a single small file on your device. It is not in any of the categories above: it is never uploaded, never shared with the kits in section 1, and never read by us. Deleting the app deletes that file. The app has no in-app reset control; uninstalling is the way to clear it.

5. Children

Nested Hours is rated 9+ on the App Store and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, email us and we will delete it.

6. Data retention and your rights

We do not run our own servers and do not keep a database of players. Data described in section 2 is held by Adjust and by AppLovin and its mediated networks under their own retention periods and policies. Depending on where you live you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or restrict the processing of your personal data, or to object to it. For data held by those companies, the fastest route is their own privacy pages linked above; you can also email us and we will pass your request on. Opting out of tracking is always available through the iOS setting in section 3.

7. Security

Data sent by the kits in section 1 travels over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. Your local progress file is protected by your device’s standard iOS protections.

8. Changes to this policy

If we add or remove a third-party kit, or the data it collects changes, we will update this page and the App Privacy label on the App Store at the same time, and change the date at the top.

9. Contact

Email: thea@brackenestuary.info
Developer: Bracken Estuary