Privacy Policy
This document is a translation of the Korean original. If there is any difference in meaning, the Korean original prevails.
Last updated: November 5, 2026
Oneuldal Studio ("the Studio") makes and runs Dot by Dot (점점, "the App"). This document explains what information the App handles.
1. Writing and drawings never sent to our servers
What you write and draw in your diaries, notebooks and Star Notebooks, the photos you add, and your notebook names and covers are stored only on your device and in your own backup storage. They are never sent to the Studio's servers, and the Studio cannot see them.
When you share a notebook, it goes straight to the app you pick in your device's share sheet. The Studio does not receive what you share.
2. Accounts and sign-in
When you first start the game, a nameless account (a Firebase anonymous account) is created automatically. It has no name or email and is used to save your game progress under an account number.
If you like, you can connect a Google or Apple account. You can play without connecting one. When you connect, the Studio receives:
- Google: email, name and profile photo URL
- Apple: a user number assigned by Apple and your email (if you choose "Hide My Email", the relay address Apple creates). We do not receive your name
We use this only to keep you signed in, to tell accounts apart, and to find your account if you ask us to delete it without the App. It is kept only in the sign-in service (Firebase Authentication), not with your game progress.
When you connect an Apple account, we exchange the one-time code from Apple for a refresh token and keep it on the Studio's server. We use this token only to disconnect Sign in with Apple when you delete your account, and even the App cannot read it. The token gives no access to your iCloud or Apple account information.
3. Game progress saved on our server
So you can pick up where you left off on another device, we save the following game progress on the Studio's server (Google Firebase, Seoul). It is identified only by your account number, and only the owner of that account can read it.
- Coins, items you've bought, level and experience, buddies and hearts, quests, letters, attendance, and best game scores
- The name the game calls you (nickname)
- Backup record: time of your last backup, where it is (Google Drive or iCloud), number of diary pages and notebooks
- Your gems, items bought with gems, and gem pack purchase records (order number, product, number of gems, and whether it was refunded). Only the Studio's server can change your gems.
For accounts not connected to Google or Apple, progress is deleted automatically after 60 days without play. However, accounts that have bought gems are never deleted automatically.
4. Backup
Your diaries and notebooks are backed up to your own Google Drive (the App's hidden folder) or iCloud (the App's hidden folder). The Studio cannot see what you back up.
To back up to Google Drive, we ask for permission to access only the App's own folder (drive.appdata) when you connect your Google account. With this permission, the App cannot see any other files in your Drive. The Drive access token stays on your device and is not stored on the Studio's servers.
5. Settings kept only on your device
Settings such as language, sound, vibration, where you last were, tips you've already seen, and bookmarks are stored only on your device. They are removed when you delete the App.
6. Purchases
The paid items in the App (Remove Ads and gem packs) are bought through Google Play or the App Store. The Studio never receives payment details such as card numbers.
To verify purchases and let you restore them even on a new device, RevenueCat handles the following, identified by your game account number:
- The product, purchase date, store, order number and purchase verification details, and whether it was refunded
RevenueCat Privacy Policy: https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy
Gems are used up when you spend them, so they can't be brought back with the store's Restore purchases. Instead, they are saved to your game account on the Studio's server. To keep your gems when you change devices or delete the App, connect a Google or Apple account. If a gem pack is refunded, we remove that many gems, and if you don't have enough, we take back the items you most recently bought with gems first.
7. Usage statistics
To improve the App, we use Google Analytics for Firebase to count which features are used and how often, for example how often you write in your diary, how many stickers you add, game scores, talks with villagers and time spent on screens, along with values such as the App language, your level and the buddy you walk with.
We never send what you write or draw in diaries and notebooks, your photos, your nickname, notebook names or your email.
To find and fix crashes and errors, the App sends error reports through Firebase Crashlytics. A report includes where in the code the error happened, the device model, OS version, App version, the time, and an installation ID that Crashlytics creates for each device. It never includes what you write or draw, your nickname or your email.
8. Advertising
The App is free to use and shows ads. Ads are provided by Google AdMob. Once you buy Remove Ads, ads no longer appear. The App has two kinds of ads:
- Interstitial ads: occasionally, when you leave a building for the town or after a game. They don't appear during your first 3 days, and once one appears, another won't for 10 minutes.
- Rewarded ads: only when you choose to watch one to double your diary coins or continue a game
While showing ads, Google may collect and use your device identifier (advertising ID), device information and approximate location based on your IP address. Google handles this information directly and the Studio cannot view it. In AdMob, the Studio only sees aggregate figures such as how many times ads were shown.
- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
The Studio requires Google to handle this information only to the extent that a level of privacy protection equivalent to this policy is maintained.
You can reset your advertising ID or turn off personalized ads in your device settings.
- Android: Settings → Google → Ads
- iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking
On iOS, the App asks for tracking permission (App Tracking Transparency) before showing the first ad. Only if you allow it is the advertising identifier (IDFA) used for personalized ads. You can keep using the App and its ads even if you don't allow it, and you can change your answer anytime in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
European Economic Area and the UK
In these regions, the App asks for your consent before showing ads. After you answer, you can choose again anytime in the App under Settings → More → Ad settings.
9. Children
The App is not made primarily for children. Because we can't control who sees it, ads are limited to content suitable for all ages.
10. Permissions the App requests
| Permission | Used for |
|---|---|
| Photos (iOS photo library) | Adding photos to your diary. On Android, the App reads only the photos you pick in the photo picker |
| Tracking (iOS) | Personalized ads. You don't have to allow it |
The App does not access your location, contacts, microphone or camera.
11. Sharing and service providers
The Studio does not sell your information or hand it to others. We use the services below to run the App, and each handles information under its own privacy policy. Your game progress is stored on servers in Seoul, but these services' other servers may be located outside your country, including in the United States.
| Service | What it does | Information handled |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase | Sign-in, saving game progress, server features such as account deletion, usage statistics | Account info, game progress, usage statistics |
| Google AdMob | Advertising | Advertising ID, device info, approximate location |
| RevenueCat | Verifying and restoring purchases | Purchase records, account number |
| Google Play, Apple App Store | Payments | Purchase records |
| Google Drive, iCloud | Backup (your own storage) | Diaries and notebooks you back up |
| Google, Apple | Connecting accounts (sign-in) | Sign-in info |
12. Retention and deletion
- Content on your device: deleted when you delete the App.
- Game progress on our server: for accounts connected to Google or Apple, kept until you delete your account. For accounts not connected, deleted automatically after 60 days without play, except accounts that have bought gems.
- Deleting your account: on an account connected to Google or Apple, use Settings → Account → Delete account in the App. We immediately delete your game progress on our server, your sign-in info, your Sign in with Apple connection and token, your gems and gem pack purchase records, and your purchase record at RevenueCat. The App also deletes the diaries and notebooks on that device, and the account's backup wherever that device can reach it (Google Drive, or iCloud on iPhone).
- Backups: stored in your own Google Drive or iCloud, so you can also delete them yourself. For Google Drive, go to Drive settings → Manage apps → Dot by Dot → Delete hidden app data. For iCloud, go to your iPhone's Settings → iCloud storage management.
- If you bought gems without connecting an account: you can't delete the account in the App, so email oneuldalstudio@gmail.com with the order number from your store receipt (on Google Play, it starts with GPA.). Once we confirm it, we delete your game progress on our server, your gems and purchase records, and your sign-in info.
- Payment history: kept by Google Play and the App Store, so you can get Remove Ads back with Restore purchases after reinstalling. Gems and items bought with gems live in your game account, so they are deleted along with your account and can't be restored.
- Usage statistics: only feature names and numbers remain, without your game account number, and they disappear after Google Analytics' retention period.
Even without the App, you can request deletion on our account deletion page. To delete or view any other information, contact oneuldalstudio@gmail.com.
13. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we will update this document and its last updated date. Important changes will also be noted in the App's update notes.
14. Contact
Privacy contact: Oneuldal Studio