Privacy policy

Aama ("the app") is published by Surendra Tamang. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use the Aama iPhone app. In short: there are no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no tracking.

Aama is not a medical device and is not a substitute for professional care or emergency services.

Information kept on your device

These settings are saved only on your phone, so the app remembers your choices:

• your sanctuary theme and selected music
• your chosen companion and any name you give them
• how many companion messages you have sent today
• whether you agreed to the AI chat notice
• whether you said you are 16 or older (only that answer; Aama never asks for your birth date)
• the country you picked for crisis helplines
• your mood journal (the moods you log and any notes you add) and which check-in questions you have seen
• your safety plan, including the names and phone numbers of people you add to it
• your sticky notes (the Notes tab) and which of their lines you have ticked off
• what helps you feel calm (for example piano or nature sounds), if you choose some in the welcome or in Settings
• if you turn on the journal lock: that choice only. Face ID is handled by your iPhone; Aama never sees your face data
• if you turn on companion memory: a few short notes from your chats (see below)
• if you choose a music folder in the iPhone app ("Play Folder", part of Aama Plus): a bookmark of that folder and a converted copy of its songs in the app's temporary storage. Aama only reads the audio files to play them; they are never uploaded, and your original files are never changed or deleted. "Remove from Aama" clears the bookmark and the copies.

We cannot see them. Deleting the app removes them. Your conversations with the companion are not saved and disappear when you close the app.

Apple Health (iPhone app, optional)

If you turn on "Save breathing to Apple Health" in Settings, each breathing session of 30 seconds or more is saved to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes (only its start and end time). Aama never reads anything from Health, and this information is not used for advertising or shared with anyone. It stays in Health under your control: you can see or delete it, or stop Aama from adding more, in the Health app (your profile → Apps → Aama).

Companion chat (AI)

When you send a message, the recent messages of your conversation, together with your chosen companion, and its name, are sent over an encrypted connection to the Aama server, which passes them to Google's Gemini API to write a reply. The app asks for your permission before your first message.

• We do not store or log the content of your messages.
• Before your messages (and companion memory notes) are passed to Google, email addresses and long numbers such as phone or card numbers are removed from them. Short numbers like helplines, times and dates stay.
• Google processes messages under the Gemini API Additional Terms. For paid API use, Google says it does not use them to improve its products and may keep them for a limited time to detect abuse.
• Please don't share details that identify you, such as your full name, address or phone number.
• Companion memory is off unless you turn it on in Settings. When it is on, after a chat the conversation is sent once more the same way, so the AI can update a few short notes (for example an exam coming up, or what helps you); the notes are saved on your phone and sent along with your messages so replies can follow up. They are never stored on our server. You can see, delete or turn off the notes at any time; turning it off deletes them.
• If you chose what helps you feel calm, only the names of those choices (for example "piano" or "nature sounds") are sent with your messages, so the companion can offer matching sounds. Nothing else about your music or listening is sent. You can change or clear them in Settings.
• Your mood journal, sticky notes and safety plan are never sent anywhere, including to the AI.
• If you tap "Report this reply" under a reply, your email app opens with that reply written in a new message to our support address. Nothing is sent until you press send.

Deleting your data

Settings → Help & Safety → "Delete all my data" erases everything Aama keeps on your phone (your mood journal, sticky notes, safety plan, companion memory, what helps you feel calm, reminders, the link to your music folder and all settings) and cancels scheduled reminders. Mindful Minutes already saved to Apple Health stay in Health, where you can delete them. There is nothing to delete on our side: Aama has no accounts, chats are not saved, and the one-way codes used to limit chat use clear themselves within a day. Deleting the app also removes everything.

Technical information

• Like any website, our server receives your IP address with each request. We use it to limit how many AI replies one connection can request: we keep a scrambled, one-way code made from it (not the address itself) and a count of replies, for at most one day. This is stored with Upstash, our database provider.
• If you have Aama Plus, the app sends the App Store's signed proof of your subscription with each chat message, so our server can check it and allow the Plus number of replies. The server checks Apple's signature and keeps only a scrambled, one-way code made from the subscription's transaction number and a count of replies, for at most one day. It never receives your name, email or Apple Account.
• To suggest the right crisis helplines, the app may ask our server for your country. The country is worked out from your IP address by our hosting provider; only the country code is returned, and it is not stored.
• The app's website and chat server are hosted by Vercel, which may keep standard request logs under its own privacy policy.

Phone calls and links

Tapping a helpline number opens your phone's dialer; we never see your calls. Links to other sites, such as findahelpline.com, are governed by those sites' policies.

Aama Plus subscription (iPhone app, optional)

Aama Plus is an auto-renewing subscription sold by Apple through In-App Purchase. Apple handles the payment; we never see your payment details or Apple ID. To know whether Plus is active, the app asks the App Store on your phone and keeps that answer on your phone. When you send a chat message, the app also sends the App Store's signed proof of your subscription so our server can allow the Plus number of replies (see Technical information above); it never includes your name, email or Apple Account. Crisis help, your safety plan, the Vent Box, your journal and 4-7-8 breathing are free and never need Plus. You can cancel anytime in your iPhone's Settings → your name → Subscriptions.

Children

Aama is not intended for anyone under 16, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Not medical care

Aama is an emotional support and wellbeing tool. It is not therapy, medical advice or an emergency service. If you are in danger, please call your local emergency number or a crisis helpline.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, we will update this page and its date. Questions or requests: denim_tepid0s@icloud.com