Kept Around stores the things you save into it: links, photos, screenshots, files, your notes and titles, your collections, and your settings.
Sorting, image titles, receipt and recipe reading, and answers about your saved items run on your iPhone using Apple's on-device model framework; the app configures no cloud model service. Text recognition on photos and screenshots also runs on your iPhone. The app is built without developer servers, analytics, advertising, or third-party tracking code: there is no Retroflare Studios service that receives your content, and no account with Retroflare Studios exists. The one exception is voluntary: if you email support, that message goes from you to us.
Current builds sync your items, their original files, and your collections through your own iCloud account (Apple CloudKit, private database) so they can reach your other devices. That data is handled by Apple under your Apple account and the iCloud terms; the app sends it only to your own iCloud, never to Retroflare Studios. If sync hits a problem it pauses rather than risking your local copy, and you can keep using the app offline.
With your permission, the app imports your screenshots and saves items you share to it. Your photo library stays in the Photos app; hiding screenshots inside Kept Around never deletes them.
Three situations, each started by something you saved or tapped:
In each case the website sees an ordinary browser request, and its own privacy policy applies.
Home Screen search (Spotlight) holds a copy of item titles, item text, recognized text, and tags so saved things appear in search. The index lives on the device, entries are removed when items are deleted, and the feature is on by default with a switch in Settings ("Show items in Home Screen search"). Widgets read the same on-device library to show a collection on your Home Screen. The optional Face ID lock is off by default; the check happens entirely on the device and nothing is stored beyond the setting itself. When you use Siri or Shortcuts with Kept Around, iOS handles your request under Apple's own policies, and the app only answers with results from the on-device library.
Beyond the sync and website contacts above, items leave the app in ways you choose: the share button on an item, and the zip export in Settings, which packs your whole drawer or one collection (original files and their text) into a single file that you place wherever you like.
Deleting an item removes it from this device. When sync is on and the deletion finishes syncing, it also removes the item's content and original file from your iCloud sync data; a small deletion marker (an ID and a deletion stamp, no content) remains so your other devices remove it too. While sync is paused, your iCloud copy stays unchanged until sync resumes. How long Apple retains deleted iCloud data is covered by Apple's own terms.
The app keeps technical counters and sync status details on your device, such as how many items were titled, item IDs, and pause reasons; pause reasons can include file names taken from error messages. This information is stored only on the device and is never sent to Retroflare Studios automatically; you can choose to share it yourself, for example when you contact support.
Questions or requests: [email protected]. Kept Around is made by Retroflare Studios.