Privacy policy

The short version

There is no account and no server run by Syntyaxis. Nothing about you or your child is sent to Syntyaxis. On iPhone, iPad and Mac, Gullu shows no ads, runs no analytics and contains no third-party SDKs. On Android, Gullu is free and shows ads served by Google AdMob; the ads are the only part of the app that collects anything, they are never personalized, and a one-time purchase removes them. The Android details are in Gullu on Android below.

iPhone, iPad and Mac

The sections from here to Gullu on Android describe the App Store version.

What the app stores

Profile names, chosen avatars, settings, and finished drawings. They are stored on the device and, through Apple's CloudKit, in your family's private iCloud database so they follow the same Apple Account across devices. Syntyaxis cannot read that database; it is held by Apple under Apple's terms. Deleting a profile in the app removes its data from the device and from iCloud.

Photos

When a parent chooses Save to Photos behind the parental gate, the app asks for add-only access to the Photos library and writes the chosen page. It never reads your library. If you never save, the app never asks.

Purchases

Subscriptions and the lifetime purchase are handled by the App Store. Syntyaxis receives no name, email or payment details; the app only learns whether a purchase is active.

Network

The app's only network traffic is with Apple: the App Store for purchases and iCloud for the private database described above. Every page ships inside the app; nothing is downloaded.

Children and the Kids Category

Gullu is listed in the App Store Kids Category in the “Made for Ages 0–5” band and is designed for children aged 3 to 7. It collects no personal information from anyone, of any age, and complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and Apple's Kids Category guidelines. It contains no advertising, no behavioural analytics and no links out of the child's screens; the only links, purchase controls and settings sit behind a parental gate.

Deleting your data

Deleting a profile in Parents removes its drawings and progress from the device and from iCloud. The app always keeps one profile, so to remove everything: delete the app, then remove Gullu's iCloud data under Settings, your name, iCloud, Manage Account Storage on iPhone and iPad (System Settings on a Mac). Syntyaxis cannot delete it for you, because the data lives only in your own iCloud, but support@syntyaxis.com will gladly walk you through it.

Gullu on Android

The Google Play version differs from the App Store version in four ways, described here. Everything else above applies to it too.

What the Android app stores

Profile names, chosen avatars, settings, finished drawings and whether ads have been removed. All of it is kept on the device. The Android app has no cloud sync, so profiles and drawings do not follow you to another device, and deleting the app removes everything it stored.

Photos on Android

When a parent chooses Save to Photos behind the parental gate, the app writes the chosen pages to a Gullu album in the device's Pictures folder. On Android 8 and 9 the system asks for storage permission first; from Android 10 no permission is needed. The app never reads your photos. If you never save, nothing is written.

Ads on Android

Ads are served by Google AdMob, a service of Google LLC: a small banner at the foot of the map, land, gallery, coloring, drawing and tracing screens, a full-screen ad after a finished picture before the next one opens, and a short video a child can choose to watch to open the sparkle tools (glitter, patterns and stickers) on a page. Every ad request is marked as child-directed and limited to the G content rating, Google's rating for all audiences. The app sends no advertising identifier, and Google serves ads chosen from context, never from a profile of the child or the device.

To request and show an ad, Google's software inside the app sends Google technical information: an approximate location derived from the IP address, device type and operating system, which ads were shown and whether they were tapped, and app-performance and crash data. Google uses it to pick and measure ads and to stop fraud, as described in the Google Privacy Policy and in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services. Because the requests are child-directed, Google does not use them for interest-based advertising or remarketing.

Purchases on Android

Remove ads is a one-time purchase handled by Google Play. Syntyaxis receives no name, email or payment details; the app only learns whether the purchase is active, and Restore purchases in Grown-ups asks Google Play again. Once ads are removed, the app makes no ad requests at all. Purchase controls sit behind the parental gate.

Network on Android

The Android app's network traffic is Google's ad service, described above, and Google Play for purchases. Every page ships inside the app; nothing is downloaded. Syntyaxis runs no server and receives no data from the app, only aggregate ad reports from Google: how many ads were shown and what they earned, nothing that identifies anyone.

Children on Android

Gullu on Google Play is designed for children aged 3 to 7 and follows Google Play's Families policy. It collects no personal information from anyone through its own features and complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Ads come only from AdMob, a Families self-certified ads SDK, are never personalized, and never appear on the drawing canvas itself. No consent or tracking prompt is shown to a child. Links, purchase controls and settings sit behind a parental gate.

Deleting your data on Android

Deleting a profile in Grown-ups removes its drawings and progress. Deleting the app removes everything the app stored on the device; pictures you saved to the Pictures folder stay in your gallery until you delete them there. Data Google collected while serving ads is handled by Google under its policy and is not tied to a profile of your child.

Changes

If this policy changes, the effective date at the top changes with it. Material changes will be described in the app's release notes.

Contact

Privacy questions: support@syntyaxis.com.