Averted™
Privacy Policy
Effective 2 October 2026
Where your writing is kept. Averted™ stores your techniques, saved special place, self-talk lines, and settings on your devices and syncs them through your own iCloud account when available. Successfully synced data can return after a reinstall. The app does not automatically log episodes, symptoms, severity, or triggers.
The app does not send your writing or usage activity to us. There is no separate app account to create. Store diagnostics and information you choose to email us are described below.
What the app collects
Averted™ contains no analytics, advertising, third-party SDKs, or custom crash-reporting service. We operate no app server. The app syncs writing and settings to your own iCloud account. You can also export techniques through the system share sheet or open your chosen music app; those actions use the services you select.
What the app stores, and where
Averted™ stores these:
- The techniques you write — the name, the instructions in your own words, and the icon you picked. On your device, and in your iCloud account when sync is available.
- Your saved “special place” description, if you write one. On your device, and in your iCloud account when sync is available. This is writing rather than a setting — it is a description of somewhere you feel safe — and it is encrypted exactly as a technique is.
- Your self-talk lines — the things to say to yourself in “Talk yourself through it,” as the app wrote them or as you have rewritten them. On your device, and in your iCloud account when sync is available. Like the special place, this is writing rather than a setting, and it is encrypted exactly as a technique is.
- Your settings — which technique the big button opens, which techniques are on the home screen, which music app to hand off to, whether the breathing pacer buzzes, and whether you have already seen the introduction. On your device, and in your iCloud account when sync is available, so a new phone is set up the way you had it.
- Your appearance preference — light, dark, or the device setting. This is saved on this device only and is not synced through iCloud.
- Sync information — a timestamp for settings changes, record identifiers, and sync state help reconcile changes across devices. The app also keeps sync status and the last successful sync time. These are not an episode history. The settings-change timestamp is encrypted with the settings sent to iCloud.
On your device
Your techniques are saved using the system’s Complete file-protection setting, which protects access to those files while the device is locked. Use a device passcode to strengthen this protection.
Your settings, saved special place, and self-talk lines use the ordinary preferences store rather than the techniques’ separately protected files. They do not receive the same explicit Complete file-protection setting.
The technique editor is covered when the app moves into the background, hiding its text from the app-switcher preview. The app has no separate passcode, so this does not stop someone using your unlocked device from opening your writing.
In your iCloud account
Your techniques, special place, self-talk lines, and settings sync to the private area of your own iCloud account. This requires an internet connection and iCloud enabled for the app. Check Last sync in Settings before deleting the app or replacing your device; writing that has not uploaded may not be recoverable.
- Contents are encrypted on your device before they are sent. The app uses encrypted fields for every technique’s name, instructions, and icon, as well as your special place, your self-talk lines, and every synced setting. The cloud service also maintains record identifiers and other operational metadata.
- We do not receive your synced contents. They are stored in your private iCloud database. We operate no app server and hold no decryption keys for that data.
- Advanced Data Protection changes who holds the keys. Under standard iCloud protection, Apple can access the keys for this app’s synced contents. Where available, Advanced Data Protection makes the encrypted contents end-to-end encrypted, with keys held by your trusted devices. Some service metadata remains under standard protection. You can review this option in Settings → your name → iCloud; it requires a recovery method because the service cannot recover end-to-end encrypted data for you.
A few things to know
Encryption has limits:
- Backups may contain your writing. The app does not exclude its saved files from device backups. A computer backup without backup encryption can expose those files to someone with access to it. Backup protection is separate from the app’s on-device file protection.
- A device passcode matters. Use a strong passcode and keep your device locked when you are not using it. Device encryption alone does not stop somebody from opening an unlocked app.
- Shared files are readable. A techniques file you send a friend is readable by anyone who receives it or finds it. The service you use to send it has its own privacy practices.
- Someone who can unlock your device can open this app. Averted has no separate PIN or biometric lock.
If you sign out of iCloud, or turn Averted™ off under iCloud in your device settings, saved techniques still work on that device, but changes stop syncing. Nothing already on the device is removed.
Deleting a technique syncs that deletion to your other devices. It takes effect as devices connect and sync with the same account. This does not remove exported copies, copies shared with friends, or older backups. The app asks for confirmation before deleting a technique.
Leaving the app
You can export selected techniques to a readable file and send it using the system share sheet. Anyone who receives that file can read its contents; the receiving service’s own privacy practices apply. When importing, you preview the techniques and choose which ones to add.
Deleting the app removes its local data. Data already synced to iCloud remains there and can return when you reinstall, enable iCloud for the app, and sign in to the same account. Unsynced changes may be lost. To remove cloud data, use the app’s entry in your device’s iCloud storage settings. Exported files and backups must be managed separately. We cannot retrieve your private iCloud data for you.
What we can see
The app store provides aggregate download and sales information, and diagnostics may be available when you opt into sharing them through your device settings. These are separate from the app’s own code, which includes no analytics SDK. If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever text or attachments you send, so please include only what is needed for your question.
Health information
Averted™ has no journal or mood tracker. It does not automatically log episodes, symptoms, severity, or triggers, and does not access HealthKit. Your technique instructions or special-place description may contain health or other personal information you choose to write. That writing is stored and synced as described above. The app does not automatically send it to health providers, insurers, or employers; you control any export or sharing.
Emergency guidance
The About tab includes a self-help disclaimer and emergency guidance. The app does not dial or contact anyone on your behalf, and it does not record whether you call anyone.
Limits of these protections
No app, device, or online service can guarantee complete privacy, security, or protection against data loss. Device access, account security, backups, and the services you choose to use can affect what happens to your information. This policy describes the app’s practices; it is not a promise that unauthorized access or data loss is impossible. It does not limit any privacy or consumer rights you have under applicable law.
Changes
If this policy changes, the revised version will appear on this page with a new effective date.
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