Privacy Policy

Who We Are

Sync Puzzle is a jigsaw puzzle game made and run by Ibrahim Zakaria, an independent developer based in Lebanon ("we", "us"). This policy explains what the Sync Puzzle app for Android and iOS collects, why, which outside services help us run it, and how to delete your data. Questions are welcome at ibrahimzakaria1122@gmail.com.

The Short Version

You can play without giving us your name, email address or a password. We keep your game progress on our servers under a random account ID so it can sync, and so it can follow you to a new device if you link Google Play Games or Game Center. Your own photos stay on your device unless you host a co-op game with one. We use a handful of outside services to show ads, send optional reminders, handle purchases and, on Android, measure how the game is used and catch crashes – they are all listed below. You can delete your account from inside the app at any time.

Your Account

The first time you open the app, it automatically creates a guest account for you on our servers. It is identified by a random account ID, and the key that keeps you signed in is stored on your device. No email address, password or real name is needed, and the app does not offer email sign-in.

You can link your account to Google Play Games on Android or Game Center on iOS, either from Settings or from a short step that appears after your first win. If you are already signed in to Play Games or Game Center on your device, that step can link your account automatically, without asking. Linking lets your progress follow you to another device. When you link, we store your Play Games or Game Center player ID so we can recognise you later. We don’t store your Google or Apple email address, password or gamer name.

What We Store on Our Servers

Tied to your account ID, our servers keep: your display name (it is "Player" until you choose one) and avatar color; your puzzle history, including which pictures you solved, piece counts, how long each took, when you solved it (including the hour of day on your device, used for time-of-day achievements) and whether you used hints; your level progress, stars, streaks, weekly goal, stats and achievements; your points and gems balance, a history of what you earned and spent, and the Puzzle Pals you own and have equipped; a record of each purchase we credited (the product, the store’s transaction ID, what it granted and whether it was later refunded – never payment details); the co-op rooms you hosted or joined, with room codes, results and the state of the board during the game; and your Play Games or Game Center player ID if you linked one.

Each time you start a session, the app also records basic device details on your account: whether you play on Android or iOS, your device model, your operating system version and the app version. We use these to understand which devices the game runs on.

Your Photos

When you turn one of your own photos into a puzzle and play it by yourself, the photo stays on your device. We don’t upload it and have no way to see it. The app only opens your camera or photo library when you choose to pick or take a picture, and saving or sharing a finished puzzle only happens when you tap to do it. When you choose one of your own photos, the Android usage statistics described below record only a short fingerprint of it (a hash), never the image itself.

Co-op is the exception. If you host a co-op room using one of your own photos, the app uploads a full-resolution copy of that picture to our cloud storage (Cloudflare R2) so the friend who joins can open the same board. The copy is re-saved by the app as a plain image, so it does not carry the original file’s camera or location details. Our servers only hand out a link to the picture to people who are in that room, and your friend’s device keeps its own copy, just as if they had picked the photo themselves. Joining someone else’s room never uploads anything from your device, and rooms that use the game’s built-in pictures upload nothing at all.

The uploaded picture is not deleted automatically. A room stops being playable once it expires, but the file stays in storage, and our servers will still give a link to it to the people who were in that room. Deleting your account removes the room record, so the app can no longer fetch the picture, but the file itself stays until we remove it by hand. If you want a photo you shared in co-op deleted, email us and we will delete it – it is easiest for us to find if you ask before deleting your account.

Analytics and Crash Reports

On Android only, the app includes Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics. Both start as soon as the app opens, before the ads consent step, and the app currently has no setting to turn them off. Firebase Analytics receives your account ID and events about how you use the game: which screens you open, tutorial progress, puzzles started and finished (with piece count, time taken and whether hints were used), points and gems earned and spent, completed purchases (which product only), ads watched, the results of account linking and the consent step, and taps on notifications. Firebase also collects some device information on its own, such as your device model and operating system, an app instance ID, your approximate location (country or region, worked out from your IP address) and, where available, your device’s advertising ID. If the app crashes, Crashlytics sends a report with technical details about your device and the state of the app, tagged with your account ID. The iOS version of Sync Puzzle does not include Firebase.

Push Notifications

We use OneSignal to send notifications on both Android and iOS. When the app starts, it registers your device with OneSignal under your account ID, together with a push token and basic device details that OneSignal’s software collects (such as device type, operating system, language and time zone). Once a day, our server uses your play stats to decide whether to send you a reminder through OneSignal – for example when your streak is about to run out, when you are close to your weekly goal, or when you haven’t played for a while – and normally sends no more than one of these a day.

The app never shows the system permission prompt on its own. It only asks after you tap "Yes, remind me" on an in-game prompt that appears after a win. On Android 12 and older, the system lets apps show notifications without asking, so they may be on by default there. To turn notifications off, use your device’s settings for Sync Puzzle – there is no switch inside the app yet.

Ads

Sync Puzzle is free and shows ads from Google AdMob: a banner on the main menu screens, a full-screen ad every few puzzles, and optional rewarded ads you can choose to watch for a free hint or a doubled reward. Before any ad is requested, the app runs Google’s consent process. If you are somewhere privacy law requires consent for ads, such as the European Economic Area or the UK, you will see Google’s consent form, and you can change your choice later in Settings, in the Privacy and Ads section, under Ad Privacy Settings (that row appears wherever it applies). On iOS you may also be asked whether to allow tracking. Saying no to either still lets you play, with less personalized ads.

AdMob receives information such as your IP address, details about your device, how you interact with ads, and your device’s advertising ID if your device settings and consent choices allow it. Google uses this to show and measure ads, to prevent fraud and, if you allow it, to personalize ads. We set AdMob to block ads rated for mature audiences. The one-time Remove Ads purchase turns off the banner and the full-screen ads. Rewarded ads stay available, because you only ever see them when you choose to.

Purchases

You can buy points, gems and bundles, and a one-time Remove Ads upgrade. Payments are handled entirely by the Apple App Store or Google Play – we never see or store your card or payment details. We use RevenueCat to confirm purchases with Apple and Google: it receives your account ID and the details of each purchase, then tells our server what to credit to your account. If a purchase is refunded, the store lets RevenueCat know and we take back the points or gems it granted.

The Leaderboard

The in-game leaderboard can be seen by everyone who plays Sync Puzzle. It shows your display name, how many Puzzle Pals you have, and the furthest world and level you have reached. Every account is included by default and the app does not yet have a setting to hide yourself. If you would like to be taken off it, email us and we will remove you. Please pick a display name you are happy for other players to see.

Co-op Games

When you play co-op, the other player in your room sees your display name and avatar color, and your piece moves are passed between your two devices through our servers in real time. There is no chat.

Content Updates

On Android, each time the app starts it checks our servers for small content and bug-fix updates, downloads one if it is available, and applies it the next time you open the app. Every update is digitally signed and checked before it is used. The check only tells our servers which platform you are on, along with the network details any internet request carries, such as your IP address – it does not include your account ID. This does not run on iOS at the moment.

Services We Use

We don’t sell your personal information. We share it only with the services below, which process it to run the parts of the game they power, and when the law requires us to. Each one handles data under its own privacy policy. Showing you personalized ads, if you allow it, may count as sharing under some laws, such as California’s – you can limit it with the ad choices described above.

Supabase – hosts our database, sign-in and server functions, so it holds all of the account data described above. Android and iOS.

Cloudflare (R2 storage) – stores the pictures that co-op hosts share. Android and iOS.

Google AdMob – shows and measures ads. Android and iOS.

Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics – usage statistics and crash reports. Android only.

OneSignal – push notifications. Android and iOS.

RevenueCat – confirms purchases with Apple and Google. Android and iOS.

Google Play Games on Android and Apple Game Center on iOS – optional account linking. On Android, achievements you unlock may also be reported to Play Games.

Apple App Store and Google Play – deliver the app and process payments.

Where Your Data Is Processed

These services run servers in several countries, so your information may be stored and processed outside the country where you live, including in the United States.

How Long We Keep It

We keep the account data on our servers for as long as your account exists. Nothing expires automatically, including guest accounts you have stopped using – it is removed when you delete your account. Co-op photos stay in storage until we delete them by hand (see Your photos above). The services listed above keep the data they receive under their own retention rules, and deleting your account does not automatically erase it from them. Our hosting provider may also keep technical logs and backups for a limited time.

Some things live only on your device: the cached copies of photos you picked (apart from one you shared as a co-op host), solo puzzles you are in the middle of, and your settings. The app also keeps a local copy of your stats and wallet. All of this stays until you uninstall the app or clear its data.

Deleting Your Account

You can delete your account at any time, whether you play as a guest or have linked Play Games or Game Center. Open Settings with the gear button on the home screen, scroll down to Danger Zone at the bottom, tap Delete next to "Delete my account", type DELETE and confirm. You need an internet connection. This permanently erases your account and everything tied to it on our servers: your profile and device details, solve history, level progress, stats, streaks and achievements, your points, gems and Pals, your purchase records, the co-op rooms you hosted and your place in rooms you joined, and your Play Games or Game Center link. It can’t be undone.

A few things are not covered. Purchases belong to your Apple or Google account, so deleting does not cancel or refund anything. A photo you shared as a co-op host stays in storage until we remove it (see Your photos above). Data already sent to the services above stays with them – email us and we will ask them to delete what they can. And data on your phone stays: the app immediately starts you on a new guest account, and the stats still stored on your device may be uploaded to that new account the next time you finish a puzzle. To clear your device as well, uninstall the app or clear its data. More details, including what to do if you have already uninstalled, are at https://sync-puzzle-game.ibrahimcoder87.workers.dev/delete-account/.

Children

Sync Puzzle is not directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect personal information from them. Our ads are set up for a general audience aged 13 and over, with ads for mature audiences blocked. If you believe a child under 13 is using the app, email us and we will delete their account.

Your Choices and Rights

You can delete your account in the app at any time. You can also email us to get a copy of the data tied to your account, to correct your display name (the app has no option to edit it yet), to be taken off the leaderboard, to have a co-op photo you shared deleted, or to ask us to request deletion of your data from the services above. Please tell us your display name and which platform you play on so we can find your account. Depending on where you live, for example in the European Economic Area, the UK or California, you may have further rights, such as to object to or restrict some uses of your data, and to complain to your local data protection authority. We will answer within the time the law requires.

You can control ad personalization with Ad Privacy Settings (where it is offered), your device’s advertising ID settings and, on iOS, the tracking permission. Notifications can be turned off in your device’s settings. There is no in-app switch for the Android usage statistics or crash reports – if you object to them, email us.

Why We Use Your Data

We use your data to run the game you asked for – your account, progress, sync, co-op, the leaderboard and purchases; for our legitimate interest in keeping the game working, safe and fair, and in understanding how it is played (usage statistics, crash reports and device details); and with your consent where the law requires it, such as for personalized ads and notifications.

Changes to This Policy

If what the app does with your data changes, we will update this policy and publish the new version in the app and on our website.

Contact Us

Ibrahim Zakaria, Lebanon. Email: ibrahimzakaria1122@gmail.com. Website: https://sync-puzzle-game.ibrahimcoder87.workers.dev – the Privacy Policy is at /privacy/, the Terms of Service at /terms/ and account deletion at /delete-account/.