Privacy

Who is responsible

DotGrid provides Dotch (Android package com.dotch). Contact orh4nyz@gmail.com for privacy questions and requests. Dotch does not require a separate Dotch account.

Information used on your phone

With the permissions you enable, Dotch processes notification text, sender names and pictures, app icons, media metadata and artwork, call status and available call actions, timers, stopwatch information, battery and charging status, connected headphone information and sound modes. These are used to display and control the island locally, not sent to the Dotch trial server.

Hidden-app choices and feature settings are stored locally. Android may back up Dotch’s local settings according to your backup configuration. Trial, purchase and access records, the edge panel’s saved people and copied texts, the weather forecast cache and the last AirPods address are excluded by the app’s backup rules, for cloud backup and for transfer to a new phone.

Accessibility and audio

Dotch uses Android AccessibilityService to display the island over apps, handle enabled volume controls and observe relevant system and foreground-app events. It is a convenience and customization app, not a disability support tool. Window-content retrieval and automated gestures are disabled in its service configuration. The accessibility screenshot capability is used only for the lock-screen player, as described under Screen snapshots below. Hardware key events are filtered only for the volume controls; every other key passes through untouched. Accessibility events can contain system or app text; relevant events are processed locally and are not sent to the trial server.

Android requires the microphone (audio) permission for playback visualization, although the wave reads only the level of the sound the phone itself is playing, not the microphone. The same permission lets song recognition listen, only when you start it (see Song recognition). Dotch does not save audio or upload audio files. Measurement stops while hidden or when the screen is fully off; if the player shows on the Always-On Display, the wave keeps moving there. You can revoke permissions in Android settings.

Calendar

Calendar access is optional. The next event's name, time and place are read on the phone only to show them on the island; they are not stored or sent anywhere. Today's and tomorrow's events are read the same way for the StandBy Calendar face.

Weather

The StandBy Weather face is optional. With approximate location access, the phone's last known approximate position, rounded to about 1 km, is sent over HTTPS to Open-Meteo for the forecast; a city you choose instead is looked up there by name. Android may provide the town name. Coordinates are not stored; only the last forecast stays on the phone. Open-Meteo may see connection information such as your IP address.

Dotch asks only for approximate location, never precise location, and only when you pick the Weather face. The phone's own coordinates are not kept. A city you choose is kept, with its rounded coordinates, in Dotch's settings on the phone and is left out of the settings file you export.

Camera, microphone and network

Dotch only asks Android whether the camera or microphone is in use and whether the internet and hotspot are on. It records nothing, sees nothing they capture and reads no network names. This stays on the phone. Song recognition, below, is the only feature in which Dotch itself listens to the microphone.

Song recognition

Song recognition is optional and on by default; you can turn it off in the island settings. It runs only when you start it: by holding the idle island, with “What's this song?” in the edge panel, or with “Listen again”. Dotch then listens through the microphone for at most 12 seconds and stops at the first match. The sound is not recorded or saved: Apple's ShazamKit library on the phone turns it into an audio signature (a compact fingerprint of the sound), and only that signature is sent to Apple's ShazamKit service to find the song. Apple returns the song's title, artist, cover and Apple Music link and, like any server, sees the connection's IP address; Apple handles this under its own privacy policy. The result is shown on the island for a short time and is not stored.

To use ShazamKit, Dotch first gets a short-lived developer key (valid for at most 12 hours) from our server (the shazam-token service, hosted by Supabase). For this it sends only the same hash of the app-scoped device ID together with the access receipt our server signed for this device or, for a Google Play purchase, the purchase token and product, which the server checks with Google Play. No audio, signature or song reaches our server, and the server does not store the receipt, the purchase token or the key; like our other services it uses short-lived protected counters to limit abuse. The cover is fetched from Apple's address. Tapping a music app button opens that app, or its website, with a search for the song; that app's own terms apply there.

Edge panel: people and clipboard

The edge panel is optional and stays off until you turn it on. People: you pick a person in the phone's own contact picker, and Dotch keeps only that person's name, number and small photo on the phone (8 people at most); it never reads the rest of your contact list. Android does not hand over a contact's photo with the picked entry, so Dotch may ask for the Contacts permission. It is optional: it is asked only when you add a person whose photo could not be read, and it is used only to read, on the phone, the photos of the people you added to the panel. Nothing from your contacts is sent anywhere. Without it the panel shows a plain person symbol instead of the photo, and you can revoke it in Android settings at any time. Clipboard: Dotch reads the clipboard only when the panel opens and its Clipboard section is in the panel; it keeps the last 5 copied texts (500 characters each at most) on the phone so you can copy them again. Text that an app marked as sensitive, such as a password, is not taken. You can remove each person and each text in the panel. None of this is sent to a server or written into the settings file you export.

A saved person is used only to show the tile and to open the phone's dialer with that number when you tap it. A saved text is used only to put it back on the clipboard when you tap it. The saved people, their photos and the copied texts are left out of Android's backup and of the transfer to a new phone. Uninstalling Dotch or clearing its data removes them.

Headphones and Bluetooth

Nearby devices access is optional. Dotch reads the name and battery level of connected headphones to show them on the island. For AirPods it listens only for the short Bluetooth signal their case sends, reads the battery from it and can connect them again; the address of the last AirPods is kept on the phone for that. Bluetooth is not used to find your location, and none of this is sent anywhere.

Trial and authorized access

To check, start or restore your original 14-day trial, Dotch sends a SHA-256 hash derived from an app-scoped Android identifier to its trial service over HTTPS. The server further protects it with a keyed hash and stores the protected identifier and original start and expiry dates. A signed trial document is saved on your device. This is pseudonymous device data, not a claim of anonymity.

A status check can occur when the trial/purchase screen opens, before you choose to start a trial. Opening the screen does not start the trial. Uninstalling or clearing settings does not automatically remove the server record or restart the trial.

The hosting provider processes normal connection information such as IP addresses and request times. The service uses a protected, hourly IP-derived identifier for abuse rate limiting. Old rate-limit entries are removed during subsequent requests after two hours. The endpoint does not accept raw Android IDs, advertising IDs, notification text, contact pictures, audio or card details.

Purchase check and app integrity

When you buy Dotch, the Play purchase token, the product and the same hash of the app-scoped device ID are sent to our server so it can ask Google Play whether the purchase is valid. The server keeps a keyed hash of the token, the product and, when you bought on this phone, the price paid and its currency, as the record of the sale. With the sale record the server also keeps the Google Play order number and the buyer’s country as Google Play reports it, and sends the developer a private Telegram message about the new sale (the app, the product, the amount and that country; no name, e-mail, purchase token or device identifier). A purchase is active on one device at a time.

When a new trial starts, Dotch gets a short-lived token from Google Play Integrity and sends it to the server. The server asks Google whether this is an unmodified Play copy and does not store the token.

Daily check-in and counts

At most twice a day (when you unlock the phone or open the app) Dotch sends its server: the same hash of the app-scoped device ID, your access type (free trial, lifetime or supporter), the app version and whether Dotch’s two essential permissions are on. The server stores a protected device reference with these values and the first and last day it was seen. This lets the developer see counts of active users, trials and sales; the counts are only visible to the developer. No name, account, advertising ID, notification, call or music content is sent.

The record stays until you delete it with the in-app button described below or by request. After you delete it, the device stops sending the check-in. Until then, a trial or purchase check can also refresh the last-seen day.

Supporter name and e-mail

If you bought the supporter package, you may give a name and an e-mail address; both are optional. The server first checks with Google Play that the support purchase is valid. Once the developer approves it, the name shows to everyone in the in-app supporters list. The supporters list is shared by all four DotGrid apps (Dotch, DotWatt, DotSetup and Dotype): an approved name shows in each of them, together with which of these apps you support; your e-mail never shows there. Only the developer sees your e-mail; it is used only to invite you early to DotGrid’s new apps (invitations come through Google Play, so the Google Play account e-mail is asked for) and is not shared or used for advertising. You can change or remove both at any time in the app.

Update notifications and Dotch's notifications

To tell you when a new version is on Play, Dotch uses Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging. Once Dotch's service starts running, the phone registers with Google: Google creates a random installation ID and a messaging token for this copy of the app and adds it to the shared "updates" topic. The token is not sent to Dotch's server, and Dotch does not link it to your name, your account or anything shown on the island. The message itself carries only the new version's number. Google may process connection information such as your IP address. Firebase Analytics is switched off. You can switch the "Updates" notification off in Android's settings; the registration with Google stays, but nothing is shown.

Android's notification permission is optional and covers only Dotch's own notices: a new version, a reminder before the trial ends and the one-time setup notification where you type the Wireless debugging pairing code. That code is used only on the phone, to pair Dotch with the phone itself; it is not stored or sent anywhere.

Screen snapshots

While the glass background is on, and to tell whether the PIN screen is open on the lock screen, Dotch takes a momentary screen snapshot through Android's accessibility permission. The image is processed in memory on your phone and scaled down; only the blurred background or a yes/no result is used. It is never saved or sent to a server.

Authorized access and gift codes

If you have an authorized access code, the code and your app-scoped device identifier hash are sent over HTTPS for server verification. The server stores a protected device reference, a hash of the code, and authorization dates. The app stores a signed, device-bound access document valid for up to 24 hours, which can be refreshed online while authorization remains active. This access does not create a purchase or start a trial. The protected authorization record is kept while the grant is needed; access can be revoked. Privacy requests use the contact process below.

When a gift code is entered, the code and a hash of the app-scoped device ID are verified once over HTTPS. The server stores the code hash, the protected identifier of the device that used it and the date it was used; the code cannot be used on another device. Only a server-signed receipt is kept on the device, and it works offline. Now and then, at most once a day, Dotch asks whether the code has been revoked. This is not a Google Play purchase.

Settings file and bug report

Exporting your settings writes one file to the place you choose. It holds only your Dotch settings, including the apps you picked; trial and purchase records, the edge panel's people and copied texts and the weather city are left out. The bug report is a text you can read before you send it: the Dotch version, the phone model and Android version, which permissions and switches are on, your access type, the island's recent state changes and Dotch's own crash and memory notes. It carries no notification, message, media or contact content and goes only into the e-mail you choose to send.

Providers and transfers

Supabase hosts the trial, purchase-check, daily check-in and supporter service in Frankfurt and processes data on our behalf. Hosting and network providers may process connection and security logs. Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging delivers the update notifications, Google Play Integrity checks the app copy when a trial starts, and Google Play provides the in-app update check and review prompt. Open-Meteo provides the weather forecast and city search for the optional StandBy Weather face. Apple's ShazamKit service matches the audio signature for song recognition, and Supabase also hosts the service that gives the app its short-lived ShazamKit key. Telegram delivers the developer’s private sale notifications. Google Play handles purchases under Google’s terms and privacy policy; Dotch receives purchase status and signed purchase information to manage access, but not card or bank details.

Media apps can supply HTTPS artwork addresses. Fetching artwork contacts the image provider, which can receive normal connection information. Reply and call actions are handled by the originating app and Android. Feedback opens an email draft; DotGrid receives your email address, message and any attachments you choose only when you send it.

Dotch has no advertising SDK and no third-party analytics: the only Firebase component is Cloud Messaging, used for update notifications, and Firebase Analytics collection is switched off (the daily check-in above is Dotch’s own and holds no advertising ID). Dotch does not sell this data and does not use it for targeted advertising. Providers may process data outside your country under their terms and safeguards. This policy site has no developer-added analytics or tracking scripts; its hosting provider can process connection logs.

Retention and deletion

Notification, media, call, calendar, clipboard and audio information is used locally for active features; Dotch does not maintain a server archive of it. Song recognition keeps no sound and no list of recognized songs. The edge panel’s people and copied texts stay on the phone until you remove them in the panel, clear the app’s data or uninstall it. The messaging registration for update notifications is held by Google, not by Dotch; clearing the app’s data or uninstalling it removes it from the phone. Local settings and access documents remain until reset, removal or replacement as applicable. The protected trial identifier and original dates are retained while needed to enforce one trial per device and operate the service. They do not automatically expire when the 14-day trial ends.

The “Delete my data on the server” button on the app’s trial and purchase screen removes your supporter name and e-mail and this device’s check-in record at once. The trial start date (one trial per device) and the purchase check stay on the server.

Request access, correction or deletion at orh4nyz@gmail.com. We may need limited information to locate the protected record and verify the request. Data we no longer need is removed. A minimal anti-abuse record may be retained where necessary and permitted to prevent repeat trial claims or meet legal obligations; we explain an applicable retention reason in response. Resetting UI preferences does not delete trial or purchase records. Google Play manages its purchase records separately.

Support emails are retained only while needed to address the request, related issues or applicable obligations. See the privacy request page for contact instructions.

Some features change the phone's own settings: they can hide pop-up notifications, the lock-screen media player and status bar icons. Dotch gives them back when you switch it off or use Uninstall in its settings. If you remove Dotch from Google Play or the home screen instead, Android does not tell the app, so these stay changed; you can turn them back on in the phone's settings.

Security and your choices

The service uses HTTPS, protected server access and signed trial documents. These reduce risk; no system guarantees absolute security. You can switch off Dotch, disable features, hide the island in selected apps, revoke permissions or choose not to start a trial or buy. Privacy rights vary by location; contact us to exercise them.

Children and updates

Dotch is not designed as a service directed to children under 13. Contact us if you believe a child supplied personal information so we can review and address it. This policy may change when features or data processing change. The effective date identifies the current version; material changes will be reflected in app and store disclosures where applicable.