InstaWise privacy policy
Last updated: October 5, 2026
In short
InstaWise works without an account, and everything you can read in it is stored on your device. When you first open the app it asks whether you want to share usage data to help improve it. If you say no, the app collects nothing and makes no internet connection of its own. If you say yes, it sends the data described below to our analytics provider. The data carries no name and no account, it is not used for advertising, and it is never sold. You can change your answer at any time in the app, under About.
Who is responsible
InstaWise is published by Philip Kohn, United States (noboxart.com). Contact: philipkohn@gmail.com
What is collected, and why
Nothing is collected unless you choose Share usage data. If you do, this is collected. None of it is tied to your name, an account or any other identity.
How you use the app. Which sayings you open, the star ratings you give them, which lists and filters you use, and when you open and close the app. Sent by the app as you use it. Used to see which parts of the app and the collection are used, and to decide what to improve and add.
Your search history in the app. The words you search for, with how many results they returned. Sent a moment after you stop typing. Used to find searches that return nothing, so that the collection can grow where readers look.
A recording of the app's own screens, with the places you tap (iPhone and iPad only). See "Screen recording" below. Used to see where the app is confusing or broken.
Crash reports and errors. Sent the next time the app opens after a crash. Used to fix the fault.
The device's condition. Battery level and charging state, low-power mode, temperature state, the memory the app is using and the storage it takes up. Sampled about once a minute while the app is open. Used to find out whether the app is slow or heavy on particular devices.
Device details. Device model, system version, app version, language, time zone and screen size, attached to each of the above. Used to tell a problem on one kind of device from a problem everywhere.
Approximate region (city and country). This is not read from your device. Our provider estimates it from the network address (IP address) that every internet request carries. Used to see where the app is used.
A random identifier. Created by the app on your device the first time you agree. Used to tell one device's reports from another's. It is not your Apple Account, it is not an advertising identifier, and it is not shared between apps.
The app does not ask for your name, email address, contacts, photos, microphone, camera or precise location, and it has no accounts. It does not use the advertising identifier and does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
Screen recording
If you agree to share usage data on an iPhone or iPad, the app records what its own screens show while you use it, as a series of pictures, together with the places you tap. This is called session replay. It lets us watch how the app behaves in real use, which is the quickest way to find a problem.
- It records InstaWise only: never other apps, your Home Screen or notifications.
- What you type into the search field is hidden in the recording. The words you searched for are still shown where the app displays them above the results, and they are collected as usage data (see "Your search history in the app" above).
- Images are hidden in the recording.
- It starts only after you agree, and stops as soon as you switch sharing off.
- The Mac version does not record screens.
What stays on your device
Your star ratings, your answer to the usage-data question, and three counts the app keeps so that it does not ask you to rate it on the App Store too early (how many times you have opened it, how many sayings you have looked at, and how long it has been open). None of these leave your device, whatever you answered. They are deleted when you delete the app.
Who receives the data
One company processes the data for us: PostHog, Inc., an analytics provider, on servers in the United States. PostHog processes it on our behalf, to provide the analytics service. Its privacy policy is at https://posthog.com/privacy
We do not sell the data, we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers, and we do not combine it with data from other companies.
When you tap Open source on a saying, the link opens in your web browser. The website you then visit (for example Project Gutenberg or Wikisource) has its own privacy policy. InstaWise sends it nothing.
How long it is kept
PostHog deletes the data at the end of the retention period of the plan the InstaWise project is on. For usage data that is one year on PostHog's free plan and seven years on its paid plans. For screen recordings it is up to 30 days on the free plan and up to 90 days on the standard paid plan.
Your choices
- Turn sharing off or on. In the app, tap the information button, then the Share usage data switch. The line under the switch says whether sharing is on. Turning it off stops collection at once, and from the next time you open the app it makes no internet connection of its own.
- Deletion. The data carries no name or account, so we cannot find your records from an email address alone. If you want data from your device deleted, write to philipkohn@gmail.com with the model of your device and the dates you used the app, and we will delete the records we can identify.
- Your star ratings are stored only on your device and are deleted when you delete the app.
If you are in the European Union, the United Kingdom or Switzerland
We collect the data described above only with your consent, which you can withdraw at any time as described under "Your choices". The data is processed in the United States by PostHog, Inc. You may ask us for access to, correction of or deletion of your data, and you may complain to your data protection authority.
Children
InstaWise is a reference work for general readers and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has agreed to share usage data, switch it off in the app as described above, and write to us if you want earlier data removed.
Changes
If what the app collects changes, this page will change before the new version is released, and the date at the top will change with it.
Contact
Philip Kohn