homeInv keeps the list of what you own to yourself.
homeInv is a room-by-room home inventory: photos, values, receipts, warranties, and a claim list if disaster strikes. A list of your valuables is exactly the kind of data that shouldn't sit on a stranger's server, so homeInv doesn't use one. This page explains, in plain language, what the app does and doesn't do with your information.
§1
Overview
homeInv was built around one rule: what you own, where you keep it, and what it's worth is nobody's business but yours. There's no account to create, no server holding your inventory, and no advertising or analytics tracking what you do in the app. Everything you enter stays on your device. It only leaves if you sync it privately through your own iCloud account or export it yourself.
This policy covers the limited information the app handles, why, and how you can remove it at any time.
§2
What we don't collect
homeInv has no backend server, so there's nothing for us to collect in the first place. Specifically, homeInv does not:
- Require a name, email, or account to use
- Run analytics, crash reporting, or usage tracking
- Show ads or use advertising identifiers
- Sell, rent, or share your data with third parties
- Upload your photos, items, or values to any server we operate
- Send photos to a cloud AI service for labeling
- Access your location, contacts, or microphone
- Read your photo library beyond the photos you pick
We, the developer, can't see your inventory. There's no dashboard, database, or other way for us to view your rooms, items, photos, receipts, serial numbers, values, or claim details.
§3
What's stored, and where
Everything you enter in homeInv is stored locally on your device using Apple's on-device data framework:
| Record | What it holds | Leaves your device? |
|---|---|---|
| Rooms & containers | Room names and icons, closets, cabinets and other containers, notes, and when you last photographed each room | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Items | Name, category, quantity, condition, brand, model, serial number, purchase date and place, price paid, replacement value, warranty and return dates, notes | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Photos | Room photos, item photos, receipt scans, and damage photos, downsized before they're saved | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Claim details | Date and cause of a loss, insurer, policy and claim numbers, and which items you've marked lost or damaged, with your notes | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Preferences | Appearance, reminder and sync settings, and the date of your last export | No |
| Exports | PDF reports, claim lists, and CSV files you create | Only if you share them |
Values in homeInv are the ones you enter. They aren't an appraisal, and homeInv isn't affiliated with any insurance company.
§4
Camera & photos
homeInv uses the camera only when you tap a button to take a photo: of a room, an item, a receipt, a serial plate, or damage after a loss. Serial and model numbers are read from the camera image on your device by Apple's text recognition. Receipts use Apple's document scanner, which also runs on device.
When you add a photo from your library, iOS's photo picker gives homeInv only the photos you select. The app never gets access to the rest of your library. Photos are downsized and stored inside homeInv's own data, not written back to your library.
§5
On-device photo labels
With homeInv Pro, the app can suggest a name and category for an item from its photo ("Television", "Guitar"). This uses Apple's Vision framework, which runs entirely on your iPhone or iPad. The photo isn't uploaded anywhere for this, and the suggestions aren't saved unless you choose one.
§6
iCloud sync
If you subscribe to homeInv Pro and turn on iCloud Sync in Settings, your inventory, including its photos, also syncs to your own private iCloud database through Apple's CloudKit, the same private-database mechanism apps like Notes and Reminders use. It exists only to keep your own devices in sync. It isn't a shared, public, or homeInv-operated database, we can't access it, and it's covered by Apple's iCloud privacy and security practices, not ours.
You can turn iCloud Sync off in Settings at any time. The change takes effect the next time you open the app, and your inventory then lives on this device only.
§7
Reminders
homeInv can remind you to save a fresh off-site copy of your inventory every 90 days and, with Pro, before a return window closes or a warranty ends. These are local notifications scheduled on your device from the dates in your inventory. They never pass through a server. You can turn them off in homeInv's Settings or in iOS Settings.
§8
Subscriptions
homeInv Pro is an optional auto-renewable subscription. Purchases are processed entirely by Apple through StoreKit and your App Store account. homeInv never receives, sees, or stores your payment details. That relationship is between you and Apple, under Apple's privacy practices. The app only checks whether your subscription is currently active, which is what unlocks Pro features.
§10
Deleting your data
Because everything lives on your device (and, optionally, your own private iCloud), you're always in control of it:
- Delete any room, container, item, or photo from within the app. Deleting a room deletes everything in it.
- Use Settings → Danger Zone → Erase All Data to permanently clear your whole inventory in one step. If iCloud Sync is on, the deletion syncs to your other devices too.
- Ending a claim in Claim Mode clears the claim details and the lost/damaged marks.
- Deleting the app removes its on-device data. If iCloud Sync was on, removing the app's data from your iCloud account follows Apple's standard iCloud data handling.
§11
Children's privacy
homeInv is a recordkeeping tool for homeowners and renters and isn't directed at children. We don't knowingly collect information from children, and since the app collects no information in the first place, there's no data of any kind at stake either way.
§12
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, for example if a future version of homeInv adds a feature that changes how data is handled, we'll update the "Last updated" date above, and the change will apply from that date forward.
§13
Contact
Questions about this policy or how homeInv handles data can be sent to [email protected].