A cozy word puzzle game for Android.
Effective date: November 11, 2026
Change log: the September 13, 2026 revision clarified existing purchase-restoration and local-reset behavior. The September 14, 2026 revision adds the retention periods below and links the data-deletion page. Neither adds a data category or a service provider. The September 22, 2026 revision describes network addresses, the purchase identifier and anonymous daily totals, and names two ad mediation partners, AppLovin and Unity Ads, that AdMob may pass an ad request to. The September 29, 2026 revision adds the store campaign that referred an Android install, the app update identifier, device language, screen size and text-size setting, and the ad revenue reported for an ad shown, to the anonymous analytics, and describes the master Reminders switch and a note when an event begins. The October 20, 2026 revision adds Google Analytics for Firebase, which the Android app uses from version 1.4.8 to measure app use and our Google Ads campaigns, and describes its consent choices, its sharing with Google Ads, its retention and how to ask for its data to be deleted. The October 25, 2026 revision adds a third game milestone sent to Google Analytics for Firebase, completing your eighth puzzle. The October 26, 2026 revision describes the link between Google Analytics for Firebase and our AdMob account, and adds two game milestones sent to Google Analytics for Firebase: completing your fifteenth puzzle and opening the app on the day after you installed it. The November 5, 2026 revision corrects the developer’s name; nothing else changed. The November 11, 2026 revision describes a comparison of two versions of the game’s first days on new installs and adds, to the anonymous analytics, which version an install was given, the number of days since the game was installed, and whether a card, button or line of that version was shown or tapped. It adds no service provider.
WordShift (“the app”) is a word puzzle game developed by Justin Pearl (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what information the app handles, what is sent off your device, and which third-party services are involved.
WordShift plays primarily on your device, and the core puzzles work offline. We do not ask for your name, email address, or any account. Some features do send a limited amount of data to the third-party services listed below: our own game analytics, app and ad campaign measurement through Google Analytics for Firebase, crash reporting, a cloud backup of your game save, a daily leaderboard, in-app purchases, and ads. We do not sell your personal data for money. Some data is shared with Google for advertising, as described under “Data sharing and selling” below.
All gameplay data is stored locally on your device using your operating system’s app storage:
Settings → Reset All Progress clears gameplay progress and settings, while retaining install/save/support references, which version of the first days the install was given, and purchase retry protection. Reset does not change the Google Analytics for Firebase identifiers. Store purchases can restore afterward. Reset also attempts to overwrite the cloud backup with the reset state; cloud deletion is a separate request.
To understand how the game is played and improve it, the app sends anonymous event data to our backend (Supabase): your random install identifier, platform (Android/iOS), app version and update identifier, your device’s language setting, screen size and text-size setting, event types (for example, “puzzle completed”), and non-identifying event details (for example, which puzzle mode or store product an event relates to, how long a puzzle took, or the revenue the ad network reported for an ad you were shown). The game gives each new install one of two versions of its first days, chosen at random, so that we can compare them; installs that already had the game are in neither. The analytics then also say which version an install was given (or that it is in neither) and whether that version is switched on, how many days ago the game was installed, and when a card, button or line that only one of the versions has was shown or tapped. On Android, the app also reads once which store campaign referred the install (for example, “google-play / organic”), as reported by Google Play’s install referrer; only the campaign source, medium and name are sent, never the full referrer. This does not include your name, email, or contacts. Development and web preview versions of the app do not send these analytics. They are separate from Google Analytics for Firebase, described next.
From app version 1.4.8, the Android app includes Google Analytics for Firebase, a Google service. We use it to understand how the app is used and to measure and improve our Google Ads campaigns for WordShift.
When it is on. It starts switched off. It switches on only in the production build of the Android app, the build released on Google Play (never in development builds, web preview versions or builds made for our test channels; the production build also collects while Google Play delivers it for testing before its release), never on devices we have marked as our own, and only once Google’s consent tool (the same one the app uses for ads) has given an answer. On later launches it follows the most recent answer:
What it collects.
It does not collect your name, email address or contacts, or the words, letters or puzzles you play, and the app does not give it your WordShift install identifier, Support ID or recovery code.
Who receives it. The data goes to Google. We link Google Analytics to our Google Ads account and share key events with it: finishing the tutorial, completing your third, eighth and fifteenth puzzles and opening the app on the day after you installed it, plus the first time the app is opened and Google Play purchases, which Google Analytics treats as key events by default. Google Ads uses them to measure which of our ads led to people installing and playing WordShift, and we use that to improve our ad campaigns. We have turned off personalized advertising for that link, so Google Ads does not receive audiences built from this data. We have turned off Google Analytics’ setting that shares data with other Google products and services, and we do not use Google signals (which would connect the data to signed-in Google accounts). We have also linked Google Analytics to our AdMob account: AdMob, Google’s ad service for the app, receives this Google Analytics data whatever that setting says, and Google Analytics receives the ad revenue AdMob reports for ads shown in the app; Google uses this to report and improve the app’s ad earnings. See Google’s Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
Settings → Reset All Progress does not reset the Google Analytics for Firebase identifiers. To ask us to delete your Google Analytics data, see the data deletion page.
Like any internet service, our backend receives the network (IP) address of each request the app makes. It is used only to deliver the response and to enforce abuse limits (a request counter per address); it is not stored with your game data, analytics events or cloud backup. Sentry receives the address of each crash report and handles it under its own policy. Google receives the network address of each request Google Analytics for Firebase makes; Google Analytics uses it to work out an approximate location and, according to Google, does not log or store the address.
To find and fix bugs, the app sends crash and error reports to Sentry. These may include your device model, operating-system version, app version, and a technical error trace. The Sentry SDK keeps its own random installation identifier on your device to group reports from the same installation; the app does not pass it your WordShift install identifier, name, or any other identity.
When you are online, the app automatically backs up your game save (progress, currency, settings) to our backend (Supabase) under a separate random save credential — for example when you open the app and after you complete a puzzle — so your progress can be restored if you reinstall or switch devices. The backup contains game data, never your name, email, or contacts. Successful backups also privately link your support reference and install identifier to the save so support can locate records from linked devices. Settings → Backup & Restore shows a recovery code you can use to restore the save on another device, and you can ask us to delete your cloud save at any time (see below).
If you play the Daily Challenge, your result (completion time, stars, and hints used) and your random install identifier are sent to our backend to compute an anonymous ranking. No name or profile is displayed.
The app shows ads served by Google AdMob. AdMob may pass an ad request to one of its mediation partners, AppLovin or Unity Ads, when that partner offers the ad; the partner then receives the same kinds of information described below to serve and measure that ad, and follows the consent choice you made in the app. To serve ads, Google may collect and process information including your device’s advertising identifier, an approximate (coarse, IP-derived) location, and app-usage signals, and may use it for personalized advertising depending on your settings and consent. Where required (for example, in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland), the app shows a consent prompt before ads are served, and a Privacy Options entry appears in the app’s Settings (in the About section) so you can review or change your consent at any time. From app version 1.4.8 on Android, the same prompt and the same Privacy Options entry also cover Google Analytics for Firebase (see above). On iOS, the app asks for permission through Apple’s App Tracking Transparency prompt before any tracking for ads. You can also reset or limit ad personalization in your device’s settings. If you purchase Remove Ads or Patron’s Key, or hold an active Supporter subscription, automatically shown ads (interstitial and banner) are turned off; reward ads only ever play when you choose to tap a reward button. See Google’s Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
Purchases (for example, “Patron’s Key”, “Remove Ads”, amber packs, hint packs, the one-time starter bundle, cosmetic bundles, the season premium track, the Keeper’s Edition, and the monthly “Supporter” subscription) are processed by Google Play Billing (or Apple’s App Store on iOS) and managed through RevenueCat. We receive a record of your in-app purchase history for this game — which products were purchased and when — so we can unlock or grant them and restore eligible entitlements. Local transaction references help finish interrupted grants without granting a purchase twice. Restore Purchases does not recreate spent amber or hints; progress and saved balances use Backup & Restore. RevenueCat assigns an anonymous app-user identifier to your store purchases so they can be restored. We do not receive or store your name or payment card details.
How Google uses information from apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
If you enable reminders, the app schedules local notifications on your device (a daily puzzle reminder, a streak nudge, an occasional check-in, a weekly-quest reminder, and a note when an event begins). These are generated on your device; no push-notification server is involved. You can disable them anytime in the app’s Settings or your system settings.
WordShift is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. The story gradually introduces dark-fantasy/horror themes intended for ages 13 and up. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.
We do not sell your personal data for money. We share data with the service providers listed above so they can run the features described in this policy.
We also share limited data with Google for advertising. The ad SDKs (Google AdMob and its mediation partners) use data to serve and measure the ads shown in the app. From app version 1.4.8 on Android, Google Analytics for Firebase shares key events, such as finishing the tutorial, completing a puzzle milestone or opening the app on the day after you installed it, with our linked Google Ads account so we can measure and improve our own ad campaigns for WordShift, and its data is available to our linked AdMob account. Some privacy laws, including some US state laws, may treat sharing data for advertising as a “sale” or as “sharing” of personal information. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, you can refuse or withdraw this for Google Analytics for Firebase with Privacy Options in the app’s Settings. Elsewhere, the app has no in-app switch for it: your device’s ad settings limit how your advertising ID is used, but Google Analytics for Firebase still records app use under its app instance ID and shares the key events described above with Google Ads. You can ask us to delete your Google Analytics for Firebase data as described on the data deletion page, and you can email us at the address below with any other privacy request.
info@iridescent-games.com
If we change this policy, we will update the effective date above and note the change in the app’s release notes.