Privacy policy

Updated November 1, 2026.

Your journal on your device

TallyBowl! is a personal bowling journal. It has no accounts, advertising, developer-operated analytics, or automatic journal synchronization. Your profile and scoreboard aliases, balls, saved alleys, sessions, scores, notes, and unfinished draft are stored in the app’s private local storage. TallyBowl does not operate a service that receives these records or your scoreboard photos.

The local database is not separately encrypted by TallyBowl. Device security and operating-system protection apply. System or computer backups may include app data according to your device settings, independently of TallyBowl.

Photos and recognition

Camera and photo/file access are used when you choose to capture or import a scoreboard. Recognition runs on this device using Apple Vision on iPad and Mac, or bundled Google ML Kit on Android, with a small bundled glyph-template fallback for monitor cells. No cloud AI service receives your photos or extracted scores for recognition.

Android’s Google ML Kit may send SDK diagnostics to Google, including device/app identifiers, input image dimensions and format, processing timing, and errors. On-device recognition does not mean this third-party SDK is network silent. Google’s ML Kit disclosure explains these diagnostics. Apple builds do not include the Android ML Kit SDK.

An imported copy is retained privately with an unfinished photo draft so it can resume after interruption. TallyBowl removes that copy after saving or discarding the draft, with orphan cleanup on a later launch if interrupted. The original in your camera roll or selected file location is unaffected. Portable JSON backups omit source photos and their file paths.

Maps and alley suggestions

Opening a map requests tiles for the area you view from OpenStreetMap’s tile service by default. Submitting an alley search sends the words you entered to the public Photon service operated by komoot. These services receive your IP address, normal connection metadata, and an identifying TallyBowl version/User-Agent; tile requests reveal the map area viewed. Their policies govern logging and retention. TallyBowl does not request your device’s GPS location.

Avoid putting private notes or other sensitive information into alley searches. Saved alleys, manual entry, bowling records, and recognition work without these services. A build configured to use another map/search provider requires an updated policy and disclosure review before distribution.

Sharing, exports, and retention

Recap images and exports are created locally. You choose whether to share or save them and select the destination in the system sheet or file picker. Recaps can include your name, date, alley/lane, balls, and scores; check the preview and privacy switches before sharing. Original scoreboard photos and other bowlers are not included in recap images. Destination apps and services handle received files under their own policies.

JSON backups contain your journal, including profile, notes, inventory, history, and unfinished frame draft. CSV files contain the selected scoring records. Keep exports somewhere you trust. TallyBowl cannot recall or delete files after you save or share them outside the app.

Private temporary exports older than one day are cleaned up when a later export is created; they are not guaranteed to disappear exactly after 24 hours. Restoring a backup replaces the journal and keeps one private recovery copy until a later restore replaces it or you remove app data. Journal records otherwise remain until you delete them or remove app data.

Your choices and deleting data

You can decline camera access and enter frames manually, use saved or manually entered alleys offline, edit your profile, delete sessions and their games, and discard an unfinished draft. Retiring a ball or archiving an alley preserves its historical references and does not erase those records.

For a full local reset, export anything you want to keep first. On Android, use the system’s Clear storage action for TallyBowl. On iPad, Delete App removes its local app data; Offload App keeps data. On Mac, quitting and deleting the app alone can leave its sandbox container behind; see the user guide for the container location. Copies in device backups, exported files, or recipient services require separate removal.

Purchases, app stores, and beta testing

TallyBowl is bought and downloaded through the App Store or Google Play, with no subscription or in-app purchases. Apple and Google handle downloads and payments under their own policies, and your payment details never reach the app or the developer. The developer may see the aggregate sales, usage, and crash statistics they provide, along with any reviews you publish.

TestFlight is operated by Apple. If you send beta feedback, crash reports, screenshots, or diagnostic attachments through TestFlight, Apple and the developer may receive that information. Include only information you intend to share. For a recognition report, use a photo you have permission to send and remove other bowlers’ names.

Children

TallyBowl is not directed at children. It has no accounts, and journal records stay on the device unless someone exports or shares them, so a parent or guardian can review or remove anything a child has entered there using the steps above.

Contact and changes

TallyBowl is developed and published by Joe Steinbring. For privacy questions or app support, contact Joe through https://jws.dev/contact. Messages you send are used to answer you. This policy will be updated when relevant app behavior or service providers change, and the date at the top shows the latest version.

This website

This policy covers the app. The website at tallybowl.jws.app has no cookies, analytics, advertising, or third-party requests. If you choose a light or dark theme, your browser remembers the choice on your device, and it is never sent anywhere. The company that hosts this site may keep short-lived server logs, such as IP addresses and the pages requested, to run the service and protect it from abuse.