Pet data on your device
HomePet stores your pet’s save on your device: its name, species, food, joy, XP, stage and form, coins, hats, accessories and rooms bought, unlocked eggs and packs, the album of pets raised, daily treat and task progress, streaks, Catch! results, and your sound and reminder settings. It also keeps counters for rewarded ads watched (or free gifts taken) each day, so the daily limits work, and the last answer read from the ads switch described below. These are game records, not account or payment records.
The save is kept in the app’s private storage and is shared only between the app, its home-screen widgets and its live wallpaper on the same phone. HomePet has no account system, developer server, cloud save or online leaderboard, and includes no separate analytics or crash-reporting SDK. The developer does not receive your save.
Advertising and third-party data
HomePet includes Google’s Mobile Ads SDK (AdMob) and Google’s User Messaging Platform (UMP). AdMob provides optional rewarded ads, which you choose to watch for in-game rewards; the game never shows an ad you did not ask for. When ads are allowed, Google can process your IP address (which can indicate approximate location), identifiers such as the Android advertising ID, how you interact with an ad (views and taps), and app diagnostic and performance information. Google uses this information to deliver and measure ads, for analytics, and for fraud prevention and security. UMP processes your consent choices.
Free gifts: at times the app shows no ads at all, and the same buttons give their rewards as free gifts instead. While it does, the Mobile Ads SDK and UMP are not started. The developer chooses between ads and free gifts with a small file on this website (ads.json), which the app reads when it opens, at most every few hours. Reading it is an ordinary web request to GitHub Pages (see “This privacy website” below); nothing about you or your pet is sent with it.
Earlier versions: HomePet 1.0.4 and 1.0.5 showed their rewarded ads through Unity Ads, from Unity Technologies, instead of AdMob. In those versions, when ads were allowed, Unity could process your IP address (which can indicate approximate location), identifiers such as the Android advertising ID, ad interactions, app diagnostics, app usage times and information about in-app purchases, to deliver and measure ads, for analytics and for fraud prevention; your consent choices from UMP were passed on to Unity. Version 1.0.6 removes Unity Ads entirely. See Unity’s game player and app user privacy policy.
Because of the SDK processing while ads are on, the app cannot be described as collecting no data, even though your pet’s save stays on your device. See Google’s privacy policy, how Google uses information from apps that use its services and Google’s Mobile Ads data disclosure. Processing depends on the SDK version, your consent and the advertising configuration.
Ads and consent choices
While ads are on, each time the app opens it asks Google’s UMP for up-to-date consent information and requests no ads until UMP allows it. Where the law requires it (for example in the European Economic Area and the UK), a consent form is shown before any ad, and AdMob follows the choice you make there. In US states with privacy laws, an opt-out you make in the same form (of sale, sharing or targeted advertising) is followed too. Where UMP says it is required, a Privacy choices link in the app’s settings (behind the gear) reopens the form so you can change your choice. Ads are limited to content suitable for general audiences. Ads are optional: the game is fully playable without watching any.
You can reset or delete your advertising ID, or opt out of ads personalisation, in Android’s privacy settings where supported. You can also tap the AdChoices icon on an ad to see why it was shown and how to opt out of personalised ads. Declining personalised advertising or changing an identifier does not necessarily stop all limited-ad, diagnostic or fraud-prevention processing.
Permissions and phone signals
HomePet asks once whether it may send notifications, and uses them only to say your pet is hungry (never between 23:00 and 07:00). You can turn them off in the app or in Android settings. Network access supports ads, consent and reading the ads switch. Light haptics use vibration and can be turned off with sound.
The pet reacts to your battery level and whether the phone is charging. This is read on the device using a standard Android broadcast that needs no permission, and is never stored or sent anywhere. The ads SDK adds advertising-related permissions, such as access to the advertising ID. The app does not request contacts, location, camera, microphone, or access to your photos or files.
Retention and deletion
HomePet has no accounts, and the developer runs no server or database, so the developer holds no personal data about you to delete. Data about you exists in two places: on your phone, and with Google, whose advertising SDK is in the app.
How to request deletion of your data
- Data on your phone (your pet, progress, coins, unlocks, settings and ad counters): in Android settings open Apps, then HomePet, then Storage, and choose Clear data, or uninstall the app. This deletes it immediately and cannot be undone. If Android backup is on for your Google account, Android may also keep a copy of the save in your device backup; that backup is handled by Google under your account’s backup settings, and the developer cannot access it.
- Advertising identifier: in Android settings open Google, then Ads, and choose Reset advertising ID (or Delete advertising ID). Advertisers can then no longer link new activity to your old identifier.
- Data processed by Google (through AdMob and UMP: IP address and approximate location, advertising and device identifiers, ad interactions, diagnostics, and your consent choices): use Google’s controls at Google Account data and privacy and My Ad Center, or the requests described in Google’s privacy policy. Google keeps the data for the periods in its own policy. The developer cannot delete data held by Google but can help you find the right channel: email masoodbarkiwork@gmail.com with the subject “HomePet data request”.
- Data held by Unity Ads (only if you used version 1.0.4 or 1.0.5): ask Unity for access, deletion or an opt-out through the request process in Unity’s game player and app user privacy policy and its FAQ, quoting HomePet (com.masood.homepet) and your advertising ID. The developer can help you find the right channel at the email above.
Clearing game data does not delete data already processed by Google or Unity.
Security
The save uses Android’s private app storage, which other apps cannot read. Google states that the data its Mobile Ads SDK collects is encrypted in transit. The ads switch is read over HTTPS. No storage or transmission method can guarantee complete security.
Children and intended audience
HomePet is intended for teens and adults aged 13 and over, and is not directed at children under 13. The game does not ask for a birth date and offers no account registration, chat or way to share personal information with other players. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child under 13 has used the app, contact the developer at the email below; clearing the app’s storage or uninstalling it removes everything the app itself stores, and Google’s privacy controls apply to data it processes.
This privacy website
This static website contains no analytics scripts, cookies, embedded ads, external fonts or trackers. It is hosted by GitHub Pages, and also serves the app’s ads switch. GitHub processes visitors’ IP addresses (including the app’s when it reads the switch) for security, and may process request and device information under its privacy statement.
Contact and policy changes
HomePet is operated by Masood Ur Rehman. For privacy questions, contact masoodbarkiwork@gmail.com.
This policy will be updated when the app’s features, SDKs or data practices change; the effective date above identifies this version.