Grow Tracker
Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 17, 2026 · Grow Tracker for Android (app.growtracker.journal)
1 Who We Are
Grow Tracker ("the App") is a grow journal for plants of every kind, operated by Swap Widget LLC ("we"). If you have any questions about this policy, email swapwidget@gmail.com.
2 Your Grow Data Stays on Your Device
Grow spaces, plants, stages, feedings and waterings, notes, photos, climate readings, harvests, recipes, products, varieties, reminders, expenses and sales are stored in the App's private storage on your phone. Grow Tracker has no sign-in and no cloud sync of its own, and none of this information is ever sent to us. Photos you take are saved inside the App's storage. If you turn on Save photos to gallery in Settings, photos you take with the camera are also saved to your phone's gallery (Pictures › Grow Tracker), where your gallery app, and any photo backup you use such as Google Photos, can see them. Deleting or rotating a photo in the App leaves that gallery copy as it is.
When you use the "AI chat" import, you copy a prompt into a chat app of your choice and paste the reply back yourself. Grow Tracker doesn't send anything on its own; what you share in that chat app is covered by that app's own policy.
3 Data We Do NOT Collect
4 Backups Are Files You Control
Export and Import. Settings › Export backup creates one zip file with your records and photos and saves it wherever you choose through Android's file picker, such as your phone's storage or a cloud drive. We never receive it. If you save it to a cloud service, that service's privacy policy applies to the copy. Import reads a file only when you pick it. A backup never contains your Grow Tracker Plus purchase.
Automatic backups (Grow Tracker Plus). If you turn them on, you pick one file with Android's file picker, for example in Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive or on your phone. Grow Tracker then replaces that one file with a fresh backup daily or weekly, and has access to that file only. Before writing, it checks on your phone that the file doesn't already hold a different backup, and asks you before replacing one. The storage app you chose uploads it under its own privacy policy. We never receive it. Turning automatic backups off gives that access back; the file itself stays where it is.
Android device backup. Android's own backup may copy the App's data to your Google account, as it does for most apps. You control that in your phone's settings. Photos and your Grow Tracker Plus status are left out of it.
5 Support Messages You Send
Only when you choose to. Settings › Support & feedback lets you send us a bug report, a feature request or a question. When you tap Send, the App sends your message, its type, the App's version and your Android version to our server at api.swapwidget.com, run by Swap Widget LLC. Nothing is sent unless you tap Send, and no grow data, photos or contact details go with it.
A random ID instead of an account. The first time you use that page, the App makes a random code on your phone. It's sent with your messages so you can see your own requests and our replies, and our server keeps only a scrambled (hashed) form of it. It isn't linked to your name, email, Google account or advertising ID. Uninstalling the App or clearing its data makes a new one.
The public updates log. When we reply to a request or start work on it, the request and our reply appear in the App's Updates log, which everyone using Grow Tracker can see, without your name and with only a short piece of the random ID. Please don't put personal details in a message.
6 Real Weather (Optional)
Off unless you turn it on. Settings › Real weather lets windows, greenhouses and outdoor beds show the weather outside and sends frost and heat alerts. When you turn it on, you type where your plants are: a ZIP or postal code, or a town. The App never asks for location permission and never reads your phone's location.
Finding the place. What you type is looked up by your phone's built-in place search (Android's geocoder; on most phones that's Google's location service, which receives only the text you typed). You pick the right place from the list it finds.
What's sent. The App rounds the place's position on your phone to about 10 km and sends only that to our server at api.swapwidget.com, inside the request rather than in the web address. Our server fetches the forecast from MET Norway (the Norwegian Meteorological Institute) and keeps one copy per area for everyone there, so MET Norway sees our server, never you. Our server doesn't log the place or store it with anything that identifies you.
On your phone. The place's name, its rounded position and the latest forecast stay on your phone until you turn Real weather off, which deletes them. Sunrise and sunset times are worked out on your phone. Weather data from MET Norway, under the CC BY 4.0 licence.
7 Ads (Google AdMob)
The free version shows small banner ads inside the Plants list (after your grow spaces) and the Journal (after every ten or so entries), provided by Google's Mobile Ads SDK. The Library, Ledger, Settings and plant pages have none. To choose, show and measure ads and to prevent fraud, Google's SDK automatically collects and shares with Google:
| Data | Examples | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Approximate location | IP address, used to estimate a general area | Advertising, analytics, fraud prevention |
| App interactions | App launches, taps, ad views | Advertising, analytics, fraud prevention |
| Diagnostics | Launch time, hang rate, energy use | Advertising, analytics, fraud prevention |
| Device identifiers | Android advertising ID, app set ID | Advertising, analytics, fraud prevention |
This data is encrypted in transit. Google's use of it is described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy. None of your grow data is given to the ads SDK.
Your choices. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, the App asks for your consent through Google's consent tool before personalized ads are used. Where the law gives you a right to opt out, such as in some US states, the same tool offers it. You can change your choice at any time in Settings › Privacy options (shown when it applies where you are). You can also reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's Settings › Privacy › Ads. Without an internet connection no ads are requested and the App still works fully.
8 Purchases (Grow Tracker Plus)
Grow Tracker Plus is a one-time purchase, not a subscription, handled entirely by Google Play. Google processes the payment; we never see your card or payment details. The App receives only Google Play's confirmation that your Google account owns the purchase, and keeps a small note on your phone so the ads stay off and automatic backups keep running. It checks with Google Play to restore the purchase on a new phone or after reinstalling. Google Play's terms and the Google Privacy Policy apply to the purchase.
9 Permissions
- Internet and network state: used only by the ads and Google Play purchase components, by the Support & feedback page when you open it or send a message, and by Real weather when it's on.
- Notifications: requested only if you turn on reminders. Reminders are worked out on your phone from your own records.
- Storage (Android 8 and 9 only): requested only if you turn on Save photos to gallery. Newer Android versions need no permission for it.
- Location: never requested. Real weather uses a place you type in instead.
- Files: the App never asks for access to your files. Backups go through Android's file picker, one file you pick at a time.
- Home-screen widget: shows what's due from the records on your phone and never uses the internet.
10 Keeping and Deleting Data
- Grow data: kept on your phone until you delete it in the App, clear the App's storage, or uninstall. Backup files stay wherever you saved them until you delete them.
- Ads data: kept by Google under its own retention policies. You can reset your advertising ID at any time.
- Purchases: your purchase record is kept by Google Play with your Google account.
- Weather: the place you typed (rounded) and the forecast stay on your phone until you turn Real weather off. Our server keeps forecasts per area, not per person, for a few hours.
- Support messages: kept on our server while they're useful for improving the App. To have yours deleted, email us the date and text of the message and we'll remove it.
Apart from support messages you choose to send (and forecasts kept per area, not per person), we hold no data about you, so there's nothing else for us to hand over or delete on our side. If you have a question or request about your privacy, email us and we'll help, including pointing you to Google's tools for ads data.
11 Security
Your grow data is protected by Android's app sandbox on your device. Ads and purchase data travel to Google, and support messages and weather requests to our server, over encrypted connections. Keep your backup files somewhere you trust, since anyone with a copy can read them.
12 Children's Privacy
Grow Tracker is intended for people aged 13 and over and is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children.
13 Changes to This Policy
If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top and publish the new version at this address. Significant changes will also be mentioned in the App's release notes.