ScreenUncle Privacy Policy

Effective date: 20 October 2026

Developer: AKD Softwares ("we", "us")

Contact: enquiry@akdsoftwares.com

ScreenUncle ("the app") is an Android app that helps you spend less time on your phone. You set a daily time limit for the apps you choose, and when a limit is reached the app is blocked until midnight. This policy explains what the app does with information.

The short version

Your information stays on your phone. We never receive it.
There is no account, no advertising, no analytics and no tracking. Nobody, including us, can see how you use your phone through ScreenUncle.
A backup of your limits, settings and recent usage can be kept in your own Google account. It is on by default and you can turn it off at any time in Settings. We cannot see it.

What the app uses, and why

How long each app is open (Usage access). To show your time today and in Stats, and to know when an app reaches the limit you set. You grant this in your phone's Settings, and the app reads only which app is in front and for how long.
The list of apps on your phone. Only the apps that have a launcher icon, so you can choose which ones to limit. It is read on your phone and never sent anywhere.
Display over other apps. To show the "limit reached" screen and the halfway popup on top of the app you are using, and, if you use Reels & Shorts counting, the small scroll counter and the break reminder. It is not used to read anything on your screen.
Reels & Shorts access (optional, Android Accessibility Service). Only if you turn it on, in your phone's Accessibility settings, after the app has explained it. It lets ScreenUncle tell when Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts is open, so it can count your scrolls and time, show the counter, and, if you choose, take you back out of them. It listens to Instagram and YouTube only, and only sees the names of on-screen elements and scroll events. It does not read what you type, the text on your screen, your messages, your feed or what you watch, and it does not act in any other app. It stores only counts and times on your phone and sends nothing anywhere. You can switch it off at any time in your phone's Accessibility settings, and the app works as before without it.
A background service and a start-up receiver. A small notification-backed service checks which app is open so limits keep working, and it starts again after your phone restarts.
Notifications. A halfway popup, a heads-up before a limit, a note when a limit is reached, a morning thought and an evening well done. They are created on your phone. There is no push server.
Fingerprint or face unlock (optional). A shortcut for the app lock. Your phone does the check and the app never sees your fingerprint or face.
Unrestricted battery (optional). A phone setting that helps limits keep working when the phone is idle. It does not involve any data.

What is stored, and where

Everything the app stores is kept in its private storage on your phone:

your limits (the apps you chose and the minutes you set), your daily goal, your theme and your notification choice;
your usage for the last 30 days, so Stats can show how your days add up;
if you use Reels & Shorts counting, how many times you scrolled and how long you spent on Reels or Shorts each day for the last 30 days (numbers only), the apps you chose to block them in, and your break-reminder choices (on or off, and after how many scrolls);
your app PIN, if you set one. The PIN itself is never stored. Only a random value and a one-way scramble of the PIN are kept, in Android's secure storage, so it can be checked but not read back;
whether you have seen the first-run introduction.

The internet

ScreenUncle does not ask for permission to use the internet and has no server. The app itself sends nothing about you to us or to anyone else. Two things on your phone can still involve Google, and they are described below: Backup, and Google Play.

Backup

Backup is on by default, and you can turn it off at any time in Settings. While it is on, ScreenUncle keeps a copy of your limits, settings and the last 30 days of usage in your phone's own Android Backup. Android uploads it to your Google account when your phone is idle on Wi-Fi, roughly once a day, and only if backup is turned on in your phone's Google settings. It is protected by your Google account and, on Android 9 and newer, encrypted with your phone's screen lock. It is also moved when you set up a new phone.

We cannot see or read that copy, and it is never sold or shared. Your PIN, your fingerprint or face data and the introduction are never part of it. After you reinstall the app, ScreenUncle asks whether to bring the copy back.

If you turn Backup off, the app removes its copy. Uninstalling the app does not delete what your Google account already holds, so to be sure nothing remains, delete the stored backup in your Google account's backup settings. How Google stores and protects backups is covered by Google's privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy).

Google Play and crash reports

If you installed ScreenUncle from Google Play, Google's own terms and privacy policy apply to Google Play. If you have chosen to share usage and diagnostics data with Google, Google Play may give us anonymous crash and performance reports for the app, for example the phone model, the Android version and where the app stopped working. They are not meant to include your limits, your usage or your PIN, and we use them only to fix problems.

What we do not do

We do not collect, upload, sell or share your usage, your list of apps or any personal information.
We do not use advertising, analytics or tracking libraries, and we do not build a profile of you.
We do not read what is on your screen, your messages, your contacts, your location, your photos or your files. The only use of Android's Accessibility Service is the optional Reels & Shorts feature described above, limited to Instagram and YouTube, and it reads no text or content.
ScreenUncle is a tool for managing your own phone use. It is not a monitoring or parental-control app, and it cannot be used to watch another person, because it sends no information anywhere.

Security

Your data stays in the app's private storage on your phone, and your PIN is kept only as described above. The app lock stops other people from opening the app or changing your limits. It cannot stop someone from uninstalling the app, force-stopping it, clearing its data or switching off its permissions in your phone's Settings.

How long we keep information, and deleting it

We keep no information about you, so there is nothing to delete on our side. On your phone the data stays until you remove it: uninstalling the app, or clearing its storage in your phone's Settings, deletes all of it. Removing a limit deletes that limit. If you used Backup, you can delete that copy in your Google account's backup settings.

Your choices

Turn any permission off at any time in your phone's Settings. Limits stop being enforced while the required ones are off.
Switch all notifications off with the Alerts switch in ScreenUncle's Settings.
Hide the Reels & Shorts counter with its switch in Settings, or stop Reels & Shorts counting and blocking altogether by turning ScreenUncle off in your phone's Accessibility settings.
Turn Backup off in Settings, remove any limit from its screen, or change or remove your PIN.
Because we hold no personal information, there is nothing we can export or correct for you. If you have a question or a request about your privacy, write to us at the address below and we will answer.

Children

ScreenUncle is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new effective date. If a change affects what the app does with your information, we will say so in the app's release notes.

Contact

AKD Softwares, enquiry@akdsoftwares.com