Privacy Policy

Sway helps you pace your alcohol intake by estimating how much alcohol is in your system from what you log. This policy explains what data the app handles and where it goes. In short: nowhere.

It covers Sway on Android and on iPhone and Apple Watch. Both are built from the same core and handle your data the same way: on the device, no server, no account, no analytics.

What the app stores

To do its job, Sway stores the following on your device only:

• Drinks and food you log (type, volume, strength, timing)
• Body parameters you enter (weight, height, sex, and age, which is stored only for men because it only affects the estimate for them), used solely to estimate the alcohol still in your system, and the size you count as one standard drink, used only to show that estimate as drinks
• Your settings (target zone, units, reminder preferences, and on Android the driving-limit display)
• Finished sessions and the ratings you optionally give them (overall, hangover, memory)

Where the data goes

• Your data lives on your device. Sway has no server, no account system, and no network access for your data. Nothing is ever sent to the developer. There is nowhere for it to be sent.
• Android backup. Your data is included in Android's own backup so you keep your history when you switch or reset a phone. On Android 12 and newer this backup is end-to-end encrypted with your device's lock screen. Neither Google nor the developer can read it. A device that can't provide that encryption is excluded from cloud backup entirely. Android versions older than 12 are excluded from cloud backup too; there you keep your history with the in-app Export and Import instead. Device-to-device transfer, which you start yourself when moving to a new phone, stays local.
• iPhone backup. Sway's data file sits in the app's own storage, so it is included in your iPhone's backup when you have one turned on, and your history follows you to a new phone. iCloud Backup is encrypted in transit and on Apple's servers, but Apple holds the key unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection, which makes it end-to-end encrypted. A backup to your own computer never leaves that computer. Either way the backup is yours: in iOS Settings you can leave Sway out of it, or turn it off entirely.
• Apple Watch. If you use the watch app, your phone sends the current session and your body parameters to your own paired watch, and a drink you log on the watch goes back the same way. That exchange is device to device, not through a server.
• Feedback mail. The feedback link in Settings opens your own mail app with the address and a subject line already filled in (the app version and your phone's system version), and nothing is sent unless you write the mail and send it yourself.
• No analytics, no tracking, no ads. The app contains no third-party SDKs that collect data.
• Uninstalling the app removes your data from the device. A copy may remain in your own backup until it expires or you delete it from your Google or Apple account.

Permissions and background behavior

• Notifications: used for the ongoing session status and the check-in reminders you configure. You can decline the permission or turn either off in settings.
• Reminders that cut through a loud night: on Android a check-in vibrates strongly; on iPhone it arrives as a time-sensitive notification with the default sound. You choose the style, or turn them off.
• Foreground service (Android): while a session runs, a small service keeps the status notification current and fires your reminders on time. It starts only when you start a session and stops when the session ends. It does not use sensors, location, or the network.
• Start after reboot (Android): if your phone restarts mid-session, the app restores the session notification. Nothing else runs in the background.
• Live Activity (iPhone): while a session runs, the status can sit on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, drawn on your device from what you logged. Swipe it away or turn it off whenever you like. Check-in reminders are handed to the system in advance rather than kept alive by a background process, and nothing here uses sensors, location, or the network.

Your controls

Both apps keep these in Settings, under Data & privacy.

• Export shares your complete data as JSON with any app you choose. Data you export leaves the app's control.
• Import loads a previously exported JSON file, replacing everything currently in the app (after a confirmation).
• Delete all removes everything and resets the app to a fresh state, immediately.

Health disclaimer

What Sway shows you about the alcohol in your system is a population-average estimate, not a measurement. It must never be used to decide whether you are fit to drive or to make any other safety decision.

Changes and contact

Material changes to this policy will be noted in the app's release notes.

Questions: support@swayapp.no