Privacy Policy
Effective October 8, 2026
The short version. Little Howl does not collect any data about you. There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no tracking. Your dog, its memories and your step counts stay on your iPhone and in your own private iCloud, which we cannot see.
This policy explains how the Little Howl app for iPhone and its widgets (together, "Little Howl" or "the app") handle information. Little Howl is made by DS Studio LLC ("we", "us"). If anything here is unclear, write to support@littlehowl.app.
What we collect
Nothing. We do not run servers for Little Howl, and the app does not send any information to us or to any third party for analytics, advertising or tracking. We do not sell, rent or share personal data, because we never receive it.
Information that stays on your device and in your iCloud
Your dog and its world
Your dog's name, its growth, personality, discoveries, memories, items and room are stored on your iPhone. If you are signed in to iCloud, this data is synced through your private iCloud database (Apple CloudKit) so it can appear on your other devices. Data in your private iCloud database belongs to your Apple Account; we cannot read or access it.
Steps from Apple Health
If you allow it, Little Howl reads your daily step count from Apple Health (HealthKit) so your walks can become your dog's adventures. It reads step counts only and never writes to Apple Health. Health data is used only inside the app, is never used for advertising or marketing, and is never shared with us or anyone else. Summaries the app derives from your steps (such as which days a walk counted) are kept with your dog's data on your device and in your private iCloud. You can turn this off at any time in the Health app or in iPhone Settings; your dog will keep living happily, it just will not go on walk adventures.
Weather outside the window (optional)
There is an optional setting, off by default, that lets the window in your dog's room show the real weather. If you turn it on, the app asks for your approximate location while you are using the app and sends it to Apple Weather (WeatherKit) to get the current weather. Your location is not stored or synced, and it is never sent to us. The app keeps only a simple note of which hemisphere you are in and whether it is tropical (so the seasons look right, never your coordinates), and this note is cleared when you turn the setting off.
Notifications
Little Howl can send gentle reminders and updates about your dog. These are local notifications scheduled on your iPhone; no push notification service or server is involved.
Photos
If you choose to save a picture of your dog's room, the app asks for permission to add it to your photo library. It can only add pictures you choose to save; it never reads your photos.
Face ID
The app may use Face ID or your passcode to confirm it is really you before "Start over" erases your dog. This check is handled entirely by iOS; the app never receives your face data.
Widgets
The home screen widget reads a small snapshot of your dog from a container shared between the app and the widget on your iPhone. This snapshot never leaves your device.
Purchases
Little Howl Plus and any individual items are sold through Apple's App Store using StoreKit. Apple handles all payments. We never see your name, payment card or billing details. The app only learns from Apple whether a purchase is active so it can unlock what you bought.
Third-party services
Little Howl relies only on Apple services built into iOS: iCloud (CloudKit), Apple Health (HealthKit), Apple Weather (WeatherKit, only if you turn it on) and the App Store (StoreKit). Their handling of data is described in Apple's Privacy Policy. The app contains no third-party SDKs for advertising, analytics, crash reporting or tracking.
Deleting your data
- In the app, open More → Settings → Start over. This erases your dog, its memories, discoveries and walks from your iPhone and from your private iCloud.
- You can also delete the app, and remove its iCloud data in Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage.
- To stop the app reading steps, open the Health app, tap your picture, then Privacy → Apps → Little Howl.
Because we hold no data about you, there is nothing for us to delete on our side, but you are always welcome to ask.
Children
Little Howl is a gentle app suitable for a wide audience. Since it collects no personal information from anyone, it does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU and UK, or the CCPA in California), you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal data held about you. Since we do not collect or hold personal data, these requests can be fulfilled directly in the app and in your Apple settings as described above. You can contact us at any time with questions.
Changes to this policy
If we change how Little Howl handles data, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change means the app would begin collecting any data, we will tell you in the app before it happens.
Contact
DS Studio LLC
support@littlehowl.app