Forge Privacy Policy
The short version
- Forge doesn't collect your personal data. Forge has no servers and no accounts on our side, and Forge's developer can't see your data. It stays on your iPhone and, if you use iCloud Sync or Groups, in Apple's iCloud (see below).
- No analytics, no advertising, no tracking. Forge contains no third-party analytics, advertising or tracking code, and we never sell or share your data.
- You're in control. You can change any permission in iOS Settings, and you can erase everything Forge stores with Profile → My Data → Delete All Data in the app.
What Forge stores on your iPhone
- Your habits and history: habit names, goals, schedules, completions, streaks, points and milestones.
- Mood check-ins, if you use them.
- Small thumbnails of Quran pages you photographed for a Quran Memorization or Review habit, if you use them.
- Your settings, such as reminders, Pause and prayer-time calculation method.
This information is stored on your iPhone and, if iCloud Sync is on, in your private iCloud (next section). Forge doesn't send it anywhere else. If you back up your iPhone (iCloud Backup or a computer), Apple includes it in that backup like any other app's data.
Your data and iCloud
Forge's developer still has no servers and can't see your data. If iCloud Sync is on, your habits, results, points, badges, settings and Quran page numbers are stored in your private iCloud account by Apple, under Apple's iCloud terms. Only you can access them.
rules and results, mood check-ins, and Quran page photos.
You can turn sync off in Profile → My Data → iCloud Sync, and delete Forge's copy in iCloud there.
Apple Health
Forge uses Health only if you add a habit that's tracked with Health and you allow access. You choose which types in Apple's own permission screen, and you can change this at any time in the Health app.
- Forge can read: steps; workouts (of any type, for a general Workout habit; otherwise running, cycling, swimming, yoga, basketball and cardio types); sleep; mindful minutes; water; caffeine; handwashing; weight; height; lean body mass; body fat percentage; blood pressure; blood glucose; menstrual flow; and contraceptive use.
- Forge can write: workouts, mindful minutes, water, caffeine and handwashing. It writes only something you really logged: an amount you enter yourself (such as a glass of water), or the actual time of a habit timer you ran. Marking a habit Complete never writes anything to Health. Forge never writes sleep, steps, weight, height, body measurements, blood pressure, blood glucose or reproductive health data.
- How it's used: only to show your progress and to mark those habits complete automatically.
- Where it goes: nowhere. Health data never leaves your iPhone through Forge, and it's never used for advertising, marketing or any other purpose.
Location
Forge asks for your location only if you use prayer-time habits, and only while you're using the app. It uses an approximate location (to about 3 km) to calculate prayer times on your iPhone. The last location is saved on your iPhone so prayer times can be worked out later. It's never sent anywhere. Forge doesn't track your location in the background.
Mosque detection (only if you turn it on). Forge asks once whether it may detect when you pray at a mosque. If you agree, then at the moment you complete one of the five daily prayers (or "Early to Jumu'ah"), Forge reads your precise location (a few readings, for up to about 10 seconds) and looks for a mosque nearby: first in your own mosques and in a map of the world's mosques built into the app (from OpenStreetMap), on your iPhone. Only if those aren't sure is your location sent to Apple Maps to look for a mosque. This happens only while you are using the app, and only at that moment.
- Forge does not store that location, and does not share it with anyone: not with a group, not in iCloud, not with us.
- If a mosque is found, Forge marks that prayer as prayed at a mosque (a yes or no, which is part of your results and syncs with iCloud Sync if you use it). If Forge isn't sure, or the prayer was logged from a widget (which can't read a location), it asks you instead: "At the mosque?".
- When you confirm a prayer at a mosque (it was found, you answered "At the mosque? ✓", or you marked it yourself), that mosque's name and place are saved in "My Mosques" on your iPhone, up to 20, so it is recognized next time; "not at a mosque" is remembered about that mosque too. Only mosques (public buildings) are saved, never where you were. My Mosques never leaves your iPhone.
- You can save the mosque you are at, add a mosque that Apple Maps doesn't have (up to 3), rename or remove any mosque, and turn detection off, in Settings → Prayer & Worship → Mosque.
- The search is handled by Apple under Apple's privacy policy. Forge uses no other map service.
Camera
Forge asks for the camera only if you use a Quran Memorization or Review habit, to photograph the page you memorized or reviewed. Forge reads the page on your iPhone to check which Quran page it is. The photo is never sent anywhere. Forge keeps only a small thumbnail of each accepted page, for that habit's history, and discards the full photo. Forge can't open your photo library.
Screen Time
Screen Time rules are optional (Forge Premium). If you use them, iOS asks you to allow Forge to use Screen Time, with Face ID or your passcode. Forge uses it only to limit or block apps you choose, on your own iPhone. It doesn't manage anyone else's device.
- You choose apps with Apple's own picker. Forge never learns which apps they are; it only keeps a private reference that iOS gives it.
- Forge never sees how long you use your apps. iOS only tells it when a limit you set is reached, and the usage chart on a rule's page is drawn by iOS, on your iPhone; Forge's code never reads the numbers.
- What Forge keeps about your rules (the rules themselves, which days were kept, when "5 more minutes" was used) stays on this iPhone. It's never shared with anyone, never synced to other devices or iCloud, and never sent to any server. Screen Time habits can't be shared or added to groups.
- Turn off the permission any time in iOS Settings → Screen Time (or Settings → Apps → Forge). Delete All Data removes your rules and lifts every block.
Groups
When you create or join a group, these are shared only with the people in that group: your nickname, the group's name, its shared habits, and whether you completed each shared habit on each day (or paused it with Pause, so the team streak isn't broken). Nothing else is shared: not your other habits, Health or Screen Time data, or mood. No clock time is ever shown to anyone.
Amounts. For a shared habit that is counted (for example pages or a number of dhikr), the people in your group see your total for each day, as a number. They never see anything else about the habit, and never the time. If you leave the group, these numbers are deleted.
Collective Dhikr. If your group's creator starts a Collective Dhikr and you join it, the people in your group see how much you have added to it, as a number. Only what you count after joining is added. If you leave the group, what you added stays in the group's total so its progress isn't lost, but your name is removed from it.
Order, not ranking. On a group's page members are listed in the order they joined; Forge doesn't rank people. The time you complete a shared habit is still stored with the group's data in iCloud; that time is never shown to anyone.
Worship habits. For a shared worship habit (a prayer, dhikr, Quran), the group's page shows only how many members checked in that day, without names. The day marks themselves are part of the group's data like any shared habit's.
Encouragement. A member can send another member one of a few preset encouragements (there is no free text), at most one a day to each member, and the receiver can answer with a preset thank-you. These are stored with the group's data and seen only by the two of you.
Series. A group's creator can start a series and add an https link (for example a playlist). The members see the link and its domain; it opens outside Forge. No other links can be added to a group.
Group Khatma. If your group starts a khatma, the members can see which juz each member has taken and which are finished. Nothing else about your reading is shared. If you leave the group, the juz you finished stay marked as finished so the group keeps its progress, but your name is removed from them; the juz you hadn't finished become free for others.
Group data is stored in the group creator's iCloud and shared through Apple's iCloud sharing; Forge's developer can't read it. When you're invited, Apple's sharing screen may show the group's creator the name or email address of the Apple ID you joined with. Leaving a group deletes your nickname and results from it (except that a khatma juz you finished stays marked as finished, with no name); deleting a group deletes it for everyone.
Reporting and blocking. You can report a group or member from inside the app, block a member, or leave any group. Reports come to us by email at support@forgeyourhabit.com and are reviewed within 24 hours. Groups that break our terms can be disabled.
Calendar and Reminders
Only if you turn on Calendar or Reminders sync for a habit, Forge adds that habit to your Calendar or Reminders app. Forge only looks at and changes the events and reminders it created itself; it doesn't read your other events. Once added, these items are part of your Calendar and Reminders, which sync according to your own iCloud settings.
Notifications
Reminders, prayer-time alerts, mood check-ins and weekly reflections are scheduled on your iPhone by Forge. Nothing is sent from a server. A running habit timer can appear on your Lock Screen as a Live Activity.
Your profile (name and photo)
Forge has no accounts and no sign-in. On the Profile tab you can type a first name and choose a photo. Both are optional. They stay on your iPhone: they are not synced to iCloud, not sent to us, and never shown to other people, including in groups (a group uses the separate nickname you type for it). The name is also engraved on the back of your badges. You pick the photo with Apple's photo picker, so Forge never gets access to your photo library, only the one photo you choose; Forge keeps a small copy of it. Remove the photo or the name any time in Profile → Edit Profile; Delete All Data removes both.
Purchases
Subscriptions and purchases are handled entirely by Apple. Forge only learns which items you own. It never sees your payment details. Apple's privacy policy applies to purchases.
Crash and performance reports
- Crash and performance reports on your iPhone: iOS gives Forge anonymous crash and performance reports, using Apple's MetricKit. They stay on your iPhone and leave it only if you choose to share one yourself.
- Share With App Developers: if you've turned this on in iOS Settings (Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements), Apple may give us anonymous crash reports and usage statistics. These don't identify you, and Apple's privacy policy applies to them.
Paywall wording
To show up-to-date wording on its upgrade screen, Forge downloads a small text file from GitHub when it starts. Forge sends nothing about you in this request. Like any website, GitHub receives your device's internet (IP) address when the file is downloaded; GitHub's privacy statement applies to that.
TestFlight (beta testers only)
If you test Forge through Apple's TestFlight, Apple shares with us the name and email address you were invited with, and any feedback, screenshots and crash reports you choose to send. We use these only to improve Forge. Apple's TestFlight terms apply.
Services we rely on
Forge uses Apple's services (App Store, purchases, Health, iCloud, TestFlight and crash reporting) and GitHub (for the paywall wording file). Forge doesn't share your data with any other company.
Keeping and deleting your data
Forge keeps your data on your iPhone until you delete it:
- Delete one habit in the app, or erase everything with Profile → My Data → Delete All Data. This removes your habits, history, mood entries, Quran page thumbnails, Screen Time rules, badges, settings, saved location, crash reports, your name and your profile photo, and lifts any Screen Time blocks. It also removes the Calendar events and Reminders Forge created.
- iCloud: Profile → My Data → iCloud Sync → Delete Forge Data from iCloud removes Forge's copy from iCloud; Delete All Data removes it too. Leaving or deleting a group removes your part of it.
- Health entries that Forge wrote stay in the Health app until you delete them there. They are your Health data.
- Deleting the Forge app removes its data from your iPhone, including your name and profile photo. Your purchases stay with your Apple ID, so you can restore them later.
- Withdraw permission for Health, Location, Camera, Screen Time, Calendars, Reminders or Notifications at any time in iOS Settings.
Because we don't hold any of your data, there's nothing for us to hand over or delete on our side. You're still welcome to email us with any privacy question or request.
Children
Forge isn't directed at children under 13. It doesn't collect personal information from anyone, including children.
Changes to this policy
If Forge starts handling data differently, we'll update this policy before that version is released and change the effective date above.
Contact
Questions or requests: support@forgeyourhabit.com