Privacy Policy

This policy describes how Verdegree Studios LLC (“Verdegree,” “we,” or “us”) handles information in Relic, the iOS app, and on this website. It is based on Relic’s current source as of the effective date below. It is a description of our practices, not a legal certification.

Effective date: November 11, 2026
Company: Verdegree Studios LLC, a Colorado limited liability company
Contact: hello@verdegree.studio (mailbox being set up)

1. A short summary

Relic is built so that your journals, recordings, photos, and messages stay on your device. Relic does not ask you to create a Verdegree account, does not show ads, and does not include a third-party analytics or advertising SDK. We do not sell your personal information.

Some optional or supporting features use Apple services, and only those features send limited information off the device. They are described in detail below. You can refuse or turn off the optional ones.

2. Information Relic uses

Relic uses information to provide the features you choose. The app’s privacy manifest states that this information is used for app functionality, is not used for tracking, and is not linked by Relic for tracking purposes. Relic declares that it does not engage in tracking as Apple defines that term, and it lists no tracking domains.

Content you create

This includes journal entries, reflections, notes, drawings, vision-board images, check-ins, and similar writing or media you add in the chambers, the Codex, Time Capsules, Love Notes, and related tools. This content is stored on your device. Relic’s main journal store is configured so that it does not sync through CloudKit. A “shareable” setting, where it exists, means Vesper (the in-app companion) may read that entry on your device to know you better. It does not publish the entry.

Photos, video, and audio

If you allow the camera, Relic can take photographs for pilgrimages, messages to your future self, and similar features. Some views, such as Mirror and Venus Lens, show you on the screen while you use them; the app’s usage text states that those views are not recorded and stay on the device. If you allow the microphone, Relic can record spoken notes or detect breath or voice level for certain rituals. You may also choose a photo or video from your library through the system picker. If you ask Relic to save a copy of a photo, it requests add-only access to your photo library. Media you create in Relic is stored on your device unless you yourself save or share it.

Speech recognition

If you use dictation or related features, Relic turns speech into text. The app requests on-device speech recognition and does not intend to send that audio to a speech server. In several features, recognition is switched off if on-device recognition is not available. Transcribed text is stored with the entry it belongs to, on your device.

Location

If you allow location while using the app, Relic can place seeds and the places you walk, notice when you arrive during a pilgrimage you begin, and, if weather is turned on, use an approximate location for local weather. During a walk you begin, Relic may continue to follow your location with the screen locked until you end the walk. Location used for these features is processed on your device, with the limited exceptions in section 3.

Health information

If you allow Health access, Relic reads, and does not write, certain HealthKit data: sleep and steps, to help shape the day’s reflections; heart rate in Mars, to witness your fire; and, only if you turn it on, recent heart rate so Vesper’s flame can move with it on a pilgrimage. This stays on your device. Relic does not present itself as a medical or therapeutic device.

Motion, Bluetooth, and your local network

Device motion can tilt water in Neptune and notice when you raise your phone on a walk. Motion is processed on the device and is not saved or shared as a motion log. Bluetooth and the local network are used to exchange sealed notes or a walk keepsake with someone standing beside you, over a direct device-to-device connection. The app’s usage text states that this does not go to a server.

App lock

If you turn on the optional app lock, Relic uses Face ID, Touch ID, or your device passcode so that only you can open the app. Biometric data is handled by the operating system, not stored by Relic.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, Relic can send reminders and notices you opt into, such as check-ins, promises, pilgrimage moments, or a Time Capsule that has opened. If you turn on discreet mode, notification wording is kept generic. Notifications are scheduled on your device.

People you pair with

Couples, family, and community groups are joined in person, typically with a QR code and a nearby connection. Relic does not use the iOS Contacts database. You may choose a display name for someone you pair with. Pairing keys are kept on the device. There is no Verdegree account, phone number, or email required to pair.

Purchases

Optional one-time in-app purchases can extend a pilgrimage beyond your home state, either state by state or for every state at once. Purchases are made through Apple’s StoreKit and your Apple Account. Apple processes the payment. Relic reads verified entitlements from Apple to know which states you may walk. We do not receive your full payment card number.

Vesper

Vesper is an in-app companion. When your device supports it, she uses Apple’s on-device Foundation Models. When that model is not available, Relic falls back to a simpler built-in guide on the device. Vesper is not a therapist and is not a replacement for care. In a crisis, she is designed to point you toward real help, such as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

3. When something leaves your device

Most Relic information never leaves your phone. The following are the exceptions we found in the current app:

Apple Weather

If you leave weather on, Relic sends a rounded, approximate location (about one kilometer) to Apple Weather through WeatherKit, so the home sky and pilgrimage weather can reflect real conditions. You can turn this off in Settings.

Home state in iCloud Keychain

Your home state — the U.S. state Relic first establishes from a location fix, not a precise GPS point — is stored in the iCloud Keychain associated with your Apple Account, so it can survive deleting and reinstalling the app. A record of a later move, if you make one, is stored there too.

Optional collective sky

If you opt in (this is off by default), Relic may send anonymized “rose essence” to Apple’s public CloudKit database for a shared weather map: a feeling word, a rounded intensity, a day, a coarse cell of about 25 kilometers, and a hashed token. It is not supposed to include your name, your words, or a precise GPS point. Only seeds you have marked eligible, and only if you opted in, are included.

Optional pilgrimage place suggestions

If you add a place and choose to share it with the Relic beta team, Relic may send the place’s name, kind, your note, its exact coordinates, the U.S. state, and the date it was created to the same public CloudKit database. This is meant to carry the place, not a profile of you, but a note you write could include personal information, and the location is precise. You can decline to share the place.

Optional scripture downloads

If you choose to download certain historical texts in the Scriptorium, Relic may fetch public files from Wikimedia Commons or the Internet Archive. Those hosts may see a standard network request from your device.

In-app purchases

Purchase and restore requests go to Apple, under Apple’s terms and privacy policy.

Private iCloud backup of messages

A private iCloud backup for Time Capsules and Love Notes is described in the app as not yet enabled. Until that changes and this policy is updated, those messages are not backed up through iCloud by Relic.

4. What we do not do

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
We do not run third-party analytics, advertising, or crash-reporting SDKs in Relic.
We do not require a Verdegree account or login.
On-device “analytics” in Relic, such as a personal weather of your year, is generated and stored on your device for you to see. It is not sent to us.

5. This website

This site is a static brochure. It does not use cookies we set, does not run analytics or advertising scripts, and does not load third-party fonts or trackers. There is no contact form; email is offered as a mailto link only. If you write to us, we will use your message and address to reply and to keep a record of the conversation as needed.

The site may be hosted on GitHub Pages. The host may process ordinary server logs (such as IP address, date, and pages requested) under its own terms. We do not use those logs to profile visitors.

6. Children

Relic is intended for adults and older teens. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided personal information through Relic or this site, please write to us and we will delete it.

7. Retention and your choices

Information stored on your device remains until you delete the entry or delete the app, except for the home-state record in iCloud Keychain, which is tied to your Apple Account as described above. You can refuse or later withdraw permissions for camera, microphone, speech, location, health, notifications, Bluetooth, and the local network in iOS Settings. You can turn weather off, leave the collective sky off, and decline to share a place. You can manage or cancel Apple purchases through your Apple Account.

To ask us to delete information that has reached us by email, or information you shared through an optional CloudKit feature, write to hello@verdegree.studio.

8. Colorado and your rights

Depending on the law that applies to you, including the Colorado Privacy Act where it applies, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete personal information, or to appeal a refusal. Because most Relic information lives on your device, many of those choices are already in your hands: you can edit or delete entries in the app, or remove the app. For information that has reached us, or for questions about this policy, write to hello@verdegree.studio. We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.

Apple also provides controls for purchases, Health, location, and other system permissions, under Apple’s policies.

9. Changes

If our practices change, we will update this policy and the effective date. If a change is material, we will take additional steps that are reasonable in the circumstances, such as a notice in the app or on this site.

10. Contact

Verdegree Studios LLC
Colorado, United States
hello@verdegree.studio

The mailbox above is being set up and may not yet receive mail. Please also see our contact page.