Crossette

Privacy policy

Updated:

This policy describes the Crossette beta app and the crossette.org site as they are now. Before we release a version that sends data anywhere, we will update this policy.

Who we are

Crossette is a cross-stitch tracker and chart maker. For anything about your data, write to [email protected].

In short

  • The app does not send us your charts, marks, notes or files. It goes online only for anonymous usage statistics (section below); the links in About open your browser and mail app.
  • The app has no accounts, ads or tracking across apps. You can turn usage statistics off in Settings.
  • Your charts, marks and everything you do with them stay on your device.
  • The crossette.org site sets no cookies and loads no counters or analytics.

What the app stores on your device

  • Projects and charts: name, grid, threads, symbols.
  • Files you open with "Choose a file" or send to the app from other apps (Share, Open in): an unchanged copy of the original file: PDF, OXS, ZIP or a PNG or JPEG picture. SAGA, XSD, DIZE and HVN files are kept in the library as they are; the app can't open them yet. Such files from an archive are also kept with the project. If you delete a saved file from the library, it is removed from the device once nothing else uses it. Files are read on the device and are not sent anywhere.
  • Stitch marks and a change journal: the journal powers undo and recovery after a crash.
  • Chart fixes: which thread you chose for a symbol on the Fix screen, stored with the project's original file.
  • The Threads stash: which threads you have, how many skeins, the minimum, where you keep them and a note; the shopping list and what you marked as bought.
  • Parking: the order of work by blocks or rows, and where threads are parked.
  • Project tags and the library sort you chose.
  • Goal of the day: how many stitches a day you aim for and when your day starts.
  • Stitching sessions for statistics: when you started and stopped, how many stitches you marked, the device time zone.
  • Progress photos: pictures you attach yourself to a project or a stitching session, taken with the camera or picked from your photos. The app keeps a smaller copy (JPEG, up to 2048 pixels on the long side) and removes the photo's metadata, including where it was taken.
  • Author details for chart PDFs: the name and contact you entered yourself. They are printed in PDFs of your own charts — on the cover and at the foot of the pages — and are part of the backup file along with your other settings. They are not in statistics, "Share the project" or "Send to the developers".
  • Settings: language, theme, chart view, grid thickness and similar options.
  • Two random identifiers in the iOS keychain, one for the device and one for the app installation. They tell this device's records and sessions apart, are not linked to you or to advertising identifiers. The device identifier marks every change, so it is in backup files and in "Share the project" files; these files reach us only if you send them to us yourself. These two identifiers are not in statistics, diagnostic reports, "Send to the developers" or the email to support.

App data may be included in your iPhone or iPad backup (iCloud or a computer) if you have backups turned on. Apple or your computer keeps that backup under your settings; we have no access to it.

To delete everything the app stores, delete the app from your device.

Diagnostics: only when you press the button

The Diagnostics screen can put together a report on how the app performs:

  • system version;
  • speed, frame rate and memory measurements;
  • counts of tracker events;
  • launch and project-opening times;
  • results of the checks.

The report may include a chart name. It contains no file contents, and internal identifiers are replaced with placeholders.

During the "Hour of stitching (battery)" check the app reads the battery level and Low Power Mode. This stays in the report on your device.

The report leaves your device only if you press "Copy report" or "Share report" yourself. You choose who gets it and how.

The import screen likewise lets you share an import report, again only when you press the button: the file name and size, the result and how it was read. The file itself is not attached. If you send it to us, we keep it like any other email (see below).

In Settings → About, "Send diagnostics" puts together a file: the app and system version and the device type; the state of automatic backups — whether they are on, whether a folder is chosen and reachable, when the last verified backup was made, its size and whether it was later found damaged, and how the attempts since then ended; how much space projects, original files and backups take and how much is free on the device; and the app's log on this device — errors, sync events, automatic backups, launches and a crash mark. It contains no chart, project, folder or file names, no paths and no identifiers. The file opens in the system Share sheet and goes only where you send it.

In the "Marks from another app" sheet, the "!" icon — "Send to the developers" — puts together a file we use to find and fix mistakes in bringing marks over. The file is made only when you tap "Make the file" yourself, and it goes only where you send it with Share; the app itself sends nothing. The file contains:

  • the pictures you chose, as the app read them; photo metadata — place, date, device — is removed from them;
  • the PDF you chose is not included; the pages that were read go as pictures, and only if the chart is your own or free; pages of a chart you bought are not included;
  • the project's chart without its title, author or copyright — only your own or a free chart; a chart you bought is not included;
  • a report: the app version and interface language, the system and device model (for example, "iPhone 15"), when the file was made, for a PDF the number of pages and their size, and what the app read in each picture — the grid, the place on the chart, the mark colour, how many squares were marked and how many you corrected by hand.

The file has no phone name, device or installation identifiers, project or chart names, notes, other projects or location. The files we receive are kept in the studio's private storage, used only to find and fix mistakes, and not made public.

Usage statistics

To understand which features people use and where it gets in the way, it sends anonymous statistics: when the app is opened, which screens are opened, which buttons are tapped (without their text), which settings are changed and what was done — for example, that a chart was imported or a project reached 100 marks. Taps on the chart itself are not recorded.

Each event carries the app version and build type (TestFlight or development), the system (iOS, iPadOS, Android) and its version, the device model, the interface language, the region from your phone's settings (not one derived from your IP), and your appearance and accessibility settings (theme, text size, bold text, reduced motion, screen reader). The statistics also include error reports without file paths or addresses, how long the app takes to start and to open a project, and low-memory warnings.

Events are tied to a random installation ID, not to you or your account. They contain no charts, file names, notes, email address or IP address. There are no advertising identifiers and no tracking across apps.

The processor is PostHog (servers in the EU, Frankfurt). How long events are kept is set by the PostHog plan.

Statistics are on by default. You can turn them off in Settings with "Send anonymous usage statistics". At the moment you turn them off, one last event is sent to record that statistics were turned off, and then sending stops. The Diagnostics report (section above) still leaves your device only when you press the button.

Backups

In Settings → Backups, "Back up now" puts all projects into one .crossette file right on the device: charts, marks, project settings and tags, the thread stash, shopping list and goal of the day, plus original files, attachments and progress photos while the file stays within 60 MiB; the app tells you what was left out. "Share the project" in the Project sheet makes a file of one project the same way, with its progress photos and without the stash, and "Export CSV" in project statistics makes a table of sessions. The file goes only where you send it with Share: to Files, a drive or email. It does not reach us unless you send it to us.

"Restore from a file" reads such a file on the device and merges the data: each stitch and each stash record keeps the later one. The file is checked before anything changes and is not sent anywhere.

Automatic backups. If you turn on "Automatic backups" and choose a folder, once a day, when something has changed, the app writes the same kind of file there by itself and keeps the last five backups; original files and progress photos sit next to them in a sources folder. You choose the folder. If it is in iCloud Drive, Google Drive or another cloud, that cloud keeps the backups under your settings and its own terms; we have no access to them. You can turn automatic backups off or change the folder at any time.

Goal of the day reminder

If you turn on "Remind me of the goal", iOS asks for permission to send notifications. The reminder is one local notification a day while the goal is not met: the app creates it on the phone. There are no push notifications; the app gets no push token and nothing is sent from a server.

Camera and photos

The app asks for camera access only when you take a progress photo or a picture for a new chart yourself; iOS shows the request with the line "To photograph your stitching progress or a picture for a new chart". To add a picture from your photos, iOS asks for photo access with the line "To add progress photos and to make a chart from your photo". The app takes only the picture you chose and does not look through the rest of your photos.

"Chart from a photo" processes the picture on your phone and does not send it anywhere. The app keeps only the resulting chart. The original photo is not stored: the temporary copy is deleted as soon as the chart is created or you cancel, or, if the app was closed midway, the next time it starts.

You can withdraw these permissions in iOS Settings; everything except progress photos and "Chart from a photo" keeps working.

Microphone and voice commands

On the chart screen, voice commands are turned on with the microphone button. iOS then asks for microphone access with the line "To hear voice commands on the chart screen. Sound never leaves your phone." and for speech recognition with the line "To recognise voice commands on your phone." Speech is recognised on the device only: if your phone cannot recognise the app's language without the network, voice commands stay off. The microphone listens only while the button is on. Sound and recognised words are not saved and are not sent anywhere. You can withdraw these permissions in iOS Settings; everything except voice commands keeps working.

About

In Settings → About, "Privacy policy" opens this page in your browser. "Write to support" opens an email to [email protected] in your mail app. The subject has the app version; the email has the version and build, the system, the device model, the app language and, if different, the system language. It has no device name or device identifiers. You see all of it before sending and can delete any of it. The email is sent only if you send it.

Beta testing through TestFlight

The beta is distributed through TestFlight, an Apple service. Apple processes testers' data under its own terms and shows us part of it in App Store Connect:

  • if we invited you by email, the name and address you gave us;
  • installation date, number of sessions and crashes, device model and system version;
  • crash reports, which iOS sends automatically;
  • feedback you send with the TestFlight button: text, screenshots and device details (for example battery level, time zone, connection type, free space).

We use this only to fix bugs and improve the app. When the beta ends, we remove testers from TestFlight. For what Apple does, see Apple's privacy policy and the TestFlight app.

Emails to us

Email to [email protected] is forwarded by Cloudflare Email Routing (Cloudflare, Inc., USA) to our mailbox. On the way, it passes through Cloudflare servers, including outside Kazakhstan. We see what you send: your address, your name if you give it, the text and any attachments.

We use emails to reply to you and to run the beta. We do not pass them to third parties or use them for mailing lists. We delete beta correspondence no later than three months after the beta ends, and other emails when you ask.

The crossette.org site

The site is static pages. It sets no cookies, loads no counters, analytics or fonts from other servers, and has no forms.

The site is hosted by Cloudflare. Like any web server, Cloudflare receives your IP address and browser details to deliver pages and protect the site from attacks. Cloudflare handles this data under its own privacy policy; we do not collect it.

What will change later

We are building sync between devices and a server backup. Both will be optional: without signing in, the app will keep working on the device only.

If you turn sync on, the server will receive:

  • your email address or your Sign in with Apple or Google identifier;
  • the list of your devices: model, system and app version;
  • your projects, charts, marks and progress photos.

Before that version ships, we will update this policy with where the data is stored, for how long, and how to delete your account.

Your rights

You can ask what data we hold about you, and ask us to correct or delete it. Write to [email protected]. We never receive the data inside the app, so only you can delete it, by deleting the app.

Children

The app is not directed at children. We do not collect data about anyone, children included.

Changes

The version date is at the top of this page. We will note significant changes on this page and in the release notes of the app.