Patches — Privacy Policy
Developer: Gracebyte Studios
App: Patches (com.gracebytestudios.patches)
Platforms: iOS and Android
Last updated: April 9, 2026
1. Overview
Gracebyte Studios ("we", "us", or "our") built Patches as a mobile game. This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information when you use the app.
We are committed to protecting your privacy. Patches is designed to collect as little personal data as possible.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Information You Do Not Provide
Patches does not require you to create an account or provide any personal information such as your name, email address, or phone number to play the game.
2.2 Player Identifier
On first launch, Patches generates a random identifier (a UUID v4) and stores it on your device. This identifier:
- Is not linked to your real name, email address, or any other personal information unless you choose to set a display name (see §2.3)
- Is used to associate your solve times with your player record on our leaderboard service and to enable the Friends feature
- Is restored from cloud save if you reinstall the app or switch devices (see §2.6)
You may optionally set a display name (nickname) of up to 30 characters in Settings. This name is stored on our servers alongside your player identifier and is visible to any player who adds you as a friend.
2.3 Gameplay Data
When you complete a puzzle, we submit the following to our leaderboard service (Supabase):
- Board ID — an identifier for the specific puzzle level
- Solve time — how long it took you to complete the puzzle (in milliseconds)
- Hints used — the number of hint pages you viewed during the solve
- Redraws used — the number of times you repositioned an already-placed block
- Player ID — your device's pseudonymous UUID (see §2.2)
This data is associated with your player identifier but is not linked to your real-world identity unless you have set a display name.
2.4 Friends Feature
Patches includes an optional Friends feature. To add a friend, you share or receive a link containing your player UUID. When you add a friend:
- Their UUID is stored locally on your device
- We query our servers to retrieve their display name (if set)
- When you view the post-game screen or the Friends leaderboard, we query our servers for your friends' best times on that level
Your friends list (as a list of UUIDs) is included in your cloud save payload (see §2.6). No chat, messaging, or user-generated content is supported.
2.5 Local Data
The following data is stored locally on your device only using standard platform storage (SharedPreferences / Secure Storage) and is not transmitted to our servers:
- Puzzle progress (levels completed and perfect-solve records per difficulty)
- Best solve times per level
- Active color theme selection
- Appearance preferences (light/dark mode)
- Whether you have seen the tutorial
- Purchase state (ads removed, theme unlocks, difficulty unlocks)
- Friends list (also synced via cloud save — see §2.6)
- Achievement progress counters (no-redraw streak, daily solve streak, lifetime hints used)
2.6 Cloud Save (Google Play Games / Apple Game Center)
If you are signed in to Google Play Games (Android) or Apple Game Center (iOS), Patches saves your progress to the platform's cloud save service. The save file contains:
- Completed and perfect-solve level records per difficulty
- Best solve times per level
- Your friends list (as a list of player UUIDs)
- Your player UUID and display name
This data is transmitted to and stored by Google (via Google Play Games) or Apple (via Game Center), not by Gracebyte Studios. It is governed by the respective platform's privacy policy.
2.7 Achievements
Patches reports achievement progress to Google Play Games (Android) and Apple Game Center (iOS). Achievement identifiers and progress steps (e.g. number of levels completed) are transmitted to the platform. No achievement data is sent to Gracebyte's servers.
2.8 Advertising Data (Google Mobile Ads)
If you have not purchased the "Remove Ads" add-on, Patches displays advertisements served by Google AdMob. Before showing ads, the app requests your consent via Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP / GDPR consent form). On iOS, App Tracking Transparency (ATT) permission is also requested. Google may collect device identifiers and other data to serve personalised or contextual ads in accordance with their own privacy policy. We do not control the data collected by Google's advertising SDK.
You can review Google's privacy policy at: https://policies.google.com/privacy
To opt out of personalised advertising, use your device's built-in ad personalisation settings:
- iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising
- Android: Settings → Google → Ads
Purchasing "Remove Ads" disables all advertising within the app entirely.
2.9 In-App Purchases
In-app purchases are processed entirely by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play). We do not receive or store your payment information. Purchase verification is handled by the platform's native in-app purchase APIs. Purchased product identifiers are stored in encrypted secure storage on your device.
3. How We Use the Information
| Data | How it is used |
|---|---|
| Board ID, solve time, hints used, redraws used | Calculate your percentile ranking; populate global and friends leaderboards |
| Player UUID | Link your solve records across sessions; enable the Friends feature |
| Display name | Show your name to friends on their leaderboard; identify you when sharing your friend link |
| Friends list | Retrieve friends' best times and display names for the Friends leaderboard |
We do not use any of this data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose other than the gameplay features described above.
4. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not sell, trade, or rent any user information to third parties.
We may share aggregated, non-personally-identifiable statistics (e.g. "puzzle X has been solved N times with an average time of Y seconds") publicly or with partners for analytics purposes.
We may disclose information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities.
5. Data Retention
Leaderboard entries (board ID, solve time, hints used, redraws used, player UUID) are retained indefinitely to maintain leaderboard integrity. If you would like your data deleted, please contact us at gracebyte.studios@gmail.com with the subject line "Data Deletion Request". Because the player UUID is pseudonymous and not linked to your real-world identity by default, we may ask you to provide your UUID to locate your records.
Display names are retained until deleted at your request or until you clear them in Settings.
Local device data can be cleared at any time by uninstalling the app.
6. Children's Privacy
Patches does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or the applicable age in your jurisdiction). The Friends feature does not involve chat, messaging, or public profiles — it is limited to sharing solve-time comparisons between mutually added players. If you believe we have inadvertently collected information from a child, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.
7. Third-Party Services
Patches uses the following third-party services, each governed by their own privacy policies:
| Service | Purpose | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Google AdMob | Banner and interstitial advertising | https://policies.google.com/privacy |
| Supabase | Leaderboard, player identity, friends | https://supabase.com/privacy |
| Google Play Games | Cloud save, achievements (Android) | https://policies.google.com/privacy |
| Apple Game Center | Cloud save, achievements (iOS) | https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/ |
| Apple App Store | In-app purchases (iOS) | https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/ |
| Google Play | In-app purchases (Android) | https://policies.google.com/privacy |
8. Security
We use industry-standard practices to protect the data stored on our servers. However, no method of electronic storage or transmission over the internet is 100% secure. Player identifiers stored on our servers are pseudonymous UUIDs with no direct link to real-world identities unless a display name has been set.
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date at the top of this document. Continued use of the app after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
10. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to request deletion of your data, please contact us:
Email: gracebyte.studios@gmail.com