Privacy Policy

Overview

Bead Works ("we," "us," "our") makes a beading pattern design app available on the web, on Android, and (soon) on iOS. This page explains what information the app collects, why, and what control you have over it.

The short version: your patterns and inventory live on your device by default. Nothing leaves your device unless you choose to sign in with Google to sync — and even then, we only ever touch a private folder we create for Bead Works inside your Drive, never your other files. We don't run ads, and we don't sell your data to anyone.

Information we collect

Designs, patterns, and inventory. Anything you create in Bead Works — grids, color choices, bead inventory, shopping lists — is stored locally on your device. This data is never sent to us unless you turn on Google Drive sync (see below).

Google account information. If you choose to sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture from Google, so the app can identify your account and connect to your Drive. We don't use this for anything beyond authenticating you and enabling sync.

Photos. If you use the "Create from Photo" feature, the app accesses a photo you choose (or a picture you take) to convert it into a bead pattern. That image is processed on your device to generate the pattern — we do not upload it to our servers, because we don't operate any servers that store your content.

Diagnostic and crash data (Android/iOS only). On Android and iOS, we use Firebase Crashlytics to automatically collect crash reports and basic device diagnostics (device model, OS version, app version, and the technical details of what caused a crash) so we can fix bugs. This is not used on the web version of the app. Crashlytics data is handled by Google under its own privacy terms — see Third-party services below.

Feedback you send us. If you email us for support or feedback, we receive whatever you choose to include in that email (your address, and the contents of your message).

What we don't collect: we don't run advertising or ad-tracking SDKs, we don't use third-party analytics beyond the crash reporting described above, and we don't access your contacts, location, or any files outside the app's own Drive folder.

How we use it

To run the app. Storing your designs and inventory locally so the app functions.
To sync across your devices. If you sign in, saving and retrieving your designs from your own Google Drive.
To generate patterns. Processing a photo you provide, on-device, into a stitch pattern.
To fix bugs. Using crash reports to identify and resolve issues (Android/iOS).
To respond to you. Replying to feedback or support emails you send us.

We do not use your information for advertising, and we do not build advertising profiles from it.

Google Drive sync

Bead Works uses Google's most restrictive Drive access level available: the drive.file scope. In practice, this means:

The app can only see and manage files it creates itself, inside a single Bead Works folder it creates in your Drive.
The app cannot see, read, or modify any other file in your Google Drive — your photos, documents, or anything else stored there are completely inaccessible to us.
You can revoke this access at any time from your Google Account's connected apps settings, which immediately cuts off the app's access to that folder.
Deleting the Bead Works folder directly in Google Drive removes that synced data from Drive; it does not affect the copy still stored locally on your device.

Third-party services

Bead Works relies on a small number of external services to function. Each is governed by its own privacy policy:

Google Sign-In & Google Drive API — for authentication and optional design sync. See Google's Privacy Policy.
Firebase Crashlytics (Android/iOS only) — for crash and diagnostic reporting. Also governed by Google's Privacy Policy, as Firebase is a Google product.

We don't integrate any advertising networks, analytics SDKs, or data brokers beyond what's listed here.

Retention & deletion

Local data stays on your device until you delete it within the app or uninstall the app entirely, at which point it's removed along with the app.
Synced Drive data stays in your own Google Drive under your control — you can delete the Bead Works folder there at any time, independent of the app.
Crash reports are retained by Firebase Crashlytics per Google's own retention policies; we don't separately archive them.
To request deletion of any information you believe we hold outside of the above (for example, in an email you sent us), contact us using the details below.

Your choices

Use the app without an account. Signing in with Google is optional — the app is fully usable with local-only storage if you never sign in.
Sign out or revoke access at any time from within the app's settings, or directly via Google's connected apps page.
Delete local data by removing individual designs in the app, or by uninstalling the app.
Control photo access through your device's OS-level permission settings for camera and photo library.

Children's privacy

Bead Works is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we'll remove it.

Security

We rely on the security protections built into the platforms we use — Google's infrastructure for sign-in, Drive, and Crashlytics, and your device's own OS-level security for local storage. No method of storage or transmission is 100% secure, but we don't operate our own servers that store your personal data, which limits where that data could be exposed.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Reach us at feedback@beadworksapp.com.