Pocket Wombat

Privacy

Your journal stays on this iPhone.

Last updated — 13 August 2026

Pocket Wombat is built around a single privacy claim: the day lives on the phone you wrote it on. There is no Pocket Wombat account and no Pocket Wombat server holding your pockets. A few things can leave the device — share, Mail, Ask with a cloud key, Apple Speech or Weather if those features run — and only because you asked.

Summary

1. What we collect

Nothing that comes to us, unless you email.

Pocket Wombat does not create user accounts, does not sign you in, and does not operate a backend that stores journal content. We do not receive a copy of your day unless you attach it to a message. There is no Firebase, Sentry, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or Crashlytics dependency in the source.

What this means concretely: we do not collect your name, email, contacts, location, photos, microphone input, calendar, health data, or advertising identifier on our servers, because we do not have servers for that. The app can read some of those things on the phone, with permission, so they can appear in today’s pocket. That data stays on the device unless a section below says otherwise.

2. What stays on the phone

Unless a later section says otherwise:

There is no iCloud sync of the journal in version 1.0.

3. Permissions

iOS shows a system prompt the first time a feature needs access. Denying a permission means that feature does not run. You can change this later in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security, and inside Pocket Wombat → Settings.

Calendar and Reminders

Requested at first launch. Pocket Wombat reads events and reminders so they appear in today’s pocket, and can write events or reminders you add from the Add sheet. We do not upload your calendar. You can hide specific calendars and reminder lists in Settings → Calendars & reminders.

Contacts

Used only to resolve names when you add an event or reminder (for example, “Lunch with Sarah”). Contacts are not uploaded to us.

Camera and microphone

Camera captures photos for today’s pocket. The microphone records voice notes. Media stays on this device unless you share it or send it via Ask Wombat with a cloud key.

Photo library

Off by default. If you turn on Photo library in Stream sources, Pocket Wombat notes when a new photo is added so today’s pocket can record it.

Health

Off by default. If you turn Health on, Pocket Wombat may read sleep, workout, and mindful-session data to add rows to the local day stream. This is journaling, not a medical service.

Bluetooth

Off by default. If you turn it on, connection events are logged only for devices whose names match prefixes on your allowlist.

Apple Music

Off by default. If you turn it on and authorise Music, Pocket Wombat may read recently played Apple Music tracks for the local stream.

HomeKit

Off by default. If you turn it on, Pocket Wombat may note when an accessory becomes reachable or unreachable.

Location

Off by default. Used only if you turn Weather on: a when-in-use location read, about once a day, so today’s conditions can be logged. Conditions come from Apple Weather. See Apple’s Weather data sources.

4. Stream sources

Automatic entries Pocket Wombat can write to today’s stream. Nothing that costs a permission prompt is on by default.

On by default (no extra prompt): Now Playing (system now-playing info), and Device state (battery, thermal state, Low Power Mode, and similar signals). Audio-route changes may also appear. Turn any of these off in Settings → Stream sources.

Off until you turn them on: Health, Bluetooth (allowlist), Apple Music, Photo library, HomeKit, Weather (uses location + Apple Weather).

5. Ask Wombat

Apple Intelligence. When you use it, processing stays on-device to the extent Apple provides that for your hardware and system version. We do not receive that request.

Cloud provider (bring your own key). If you paste an API key for Anthropic, OpenAI, or OpenRouter, each Ask may send that day’s notes, calendar context, and stream text to the provider you chose, using your key. We do not operate those services, we do not receive a copy of your key, and we do not see the prompt or the reply.

Those providers process the content under their terms and privacy policies. Do not enable a cloud key if you are not willing to send pocket text to that provider. You can delete a saved key in Settings → Ask Wombat.

6. Voice notes and transcription

Voice notes are stored on this iPhone. Pocket Wombat asks iOS for speech recognition so a transcript can be attached. If on-device recognition is available, the app requires it. If it is not, Apple’s speech recognition may process the audio under Apple’s terms. A failed transcript does not delete the recording.

7. Widgets, pin, share, and this site

Day Pulse and the Lock Screen pin read a local snapshot from the App Group on this device so the widget can update without opening the app. That snapshot does not go to our servers. Pin is a Live Activity: one typed thought at a time, on this phone.

Share today and Email today use the system share sheet or Mail. Content leaves the device only when you send it, to whoever you chose. We are not a party to that message.

pocketwombat.app is a static site (home, privacy, terms, support). It does not set analytics cookies, does not embed advertising, and does not require an account. Your host or browser may keep ordinary server or cache logs; we do not run a separate tracker.

8. Payments

Pocket Wombat is a paid App Store app. There is no subscription and no in-app purchase to unlock the journal. Apple handles payment processing. We receive that you bought the app, not your Apple ID, payment details, or billing address. Refunds are handled entirely by Apple through the App Store; we cannot issue refunds directly.

9. Your rights

Access. Your journal and preferences live in the app; open it to see them.

Delete. Deleting Pocket Wombat from your device removes its sandbox and the App Group snapshot. The journal, settings, and Keychain items for this app go with it, subject to how iOS handles backups you have made. Copies you exported or emailed are untouched. We cannot remotely wipe your journal because we do not hold it.

Opt out. Turn stream sources off. Revoke iOS permissions. Delete a cloud Ask key. Turn off Now Playing and Device state. The only network behaviour the app has, besides features you turn on, is what Apple’s frameworks do on your behalf (StoreKit, Weather if enabled, Speech if on-device recognition is unavailable).

Children. Pocket Wombat is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children because we do not knowingly collect data from anyone, except correspondence you send.

We are based in New Zealand. The Privacy Act 2020 applies to personal information we actually hold (for example support email). You may ask for access or correction of that correspondence, or complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. If you are in the EEA, UK, or a similar regime: we are not the processor of your on-device journal. For information we hold in email, you may contact us to access, correct, or delete it.

10. Changes

If this policy changes materially — a new data flow, a new third-party SDK, a new destination server — we’ll bump the date at the top of this page and, for substantial changes, surface a notice in the app. Editorial changes that don’t change the actual data flows (clarifying language, fixing typos) won’t be announced.

11. Contact

For any privacy question — including a request to confirm what is or isn’t collected — email matthew.worner@me.com. We don’t have a portal, a web form, or a support team; it’s one person and one inbox. Do not send API keys.

Operator: M P Worner · Terms · Support