Snowlume: Christmas Snow Globe
In short: Snowlume does not collect, store or share personal information, and it contains no advertising, analytics or tracking. The snow globe and everything you do with it (shaking it, tilting your phone, the words you write on its base) stay entirely on your device. The App connects to the internet only to fetch a short list of our current offers from our website, and through Google Play to handle the optional in-app purchase and the daily check for a new version. If you allow notifications, a few reminders about Premium and a notice when a new version is available are created on your phone itself; no server of ours is involved.
1. Who we are
Snowlume ("the App") is a 3D live wallpaper for Android, showing a snow globe that swirls when you shake your phone, with words of your own on its base and an Advent calendar in December. It is developed by For The Fun Game Studio ("we", "us"). This policy explains what information the App handles and why.
2. Information we collect
We do not collect any personal information. Specifically, the App does not collect or transmit your name, email address, phone number, contacts, photos, location, advertising ID or other device identifiers, and it does not require an account or sign-in.
When you shake or turn your phone, the snow and the view follow it. For this the App reads your phone's motion sensors while the wallpaper is on the screen. These readings are used on the device for the picture you are looking at; the App does not save them or send them anywhere. Android does not ask for a permission for these sensors.
3. Information stored on your device
The App saves the following in its private storage on your device. We do not receive any of it, and all of it is removed when you uninstall the App or clear its storage (but see "Android's backup" below).
- The words you write on the globe's base. They are saved in a small file on your device and drawn into the picture there. They are not sent to us or to anyone else, and nobody else can see them unless they see your screen. Please do not write anything you would not want shown on your home screen.
- Your settings, for example the globe, the room, the handwriting and its colour, the calendar pieces you took out, frame rate, quality and battery options.
- How quickly your phone draws the picture, measured on the phone, so the App can pick the right quality for it.
- How often you have used the App and whether it has asked you for a rating, so the rating prompt in section 6 comes at a sensible moment and not again and again.
- Whether you own Premium, so the content stays unlocked when you are offline.
- At what hours of the day you open the App, as a count per hour (for example "opened 3 times around 20:00"). It is used only to pick a sensible hour for the reminders described in section 5, and it is never sent to us.
- Which new version the App last told you about, so each new version is announced once (section 5).
Android's backup. If backup is on in your phone's settings, Android copies the App's settings file, which holds the information above apart from your words, to the backup of your Google account. Android can put it back when you set up a new phone or reinstall the App. Google keeps that copy under your Google account and its settings; we do not receive it.
4. In-app purchases (Google Play)
Snowlume is free to enjoy. An optional one-time "Premium" purchase unlocks additional content, such as more globes, all the Advent calendar's pieces, longer words on the base and more colours. Purchases are handled entirely by Google Play Billing:
- Payment details (such as your card or other payment method) are entered in and processed by Google Play. We never see or receive them.
- The App asks Google Play whether you own Premium so it can unlock the content and restore it on your other devices. The purchase confirmation stays on your device.
- Google provides us with standard transaction records (such as an order number, the product, the price and the country) for accounting, refunds and customer support.
Google's handling of this information is described in the Google Privacy Policy and the Google Play Terms of Service. Refunds are handled under Google Play's refund policies. Parents can require approval for purchases using Google Play's parental controls and purchase authentication.
5. Notifications
The App can show three kinds of notifications. On Android 13 and later it asks for your permission once before it can show any; if you decline, it shows none.
- Premium reminders. If you have not bought Premium, the App may remind you of it a few times: at most four, spread over the first month after you first open the App. The hour is chosen on your device from the opening hours described in section 3, between 10:00 and 21:00, so reminders do not arrive at night. They stop for good once you own Premium, and after the last one.
- New version notices. Once a day, when your phone has a network connection, Android's job scheduler lets the App ask Google Play whether a newer version of the App is available. If one is, the App shows one notice for that version; tapping it opens Google Play's update screen. The check goes only to Google Play (Google Play In-App Updates) and sends nothing about you.
- Offers. When you open the App, and once a day with the new-version check, the App downloads a short list of the studio's current offers (for example a limited-time Premium discount) from our website, forthefungamestudio.com. When an offer on the list starts, the App may show one notice about it. The download sends nothing about you: like any website, our server only sees the request and its IP address, which we do not use.
- All are local notifications, created and shown by your phone. There is no push service, no notification ID, and apart from the offers on our list we cannot send you messages; we do not know whether a notification was shown or tapped. They are quiet (no sound or vibration).
- You can turn them off at any time in your phone's settings (Settings, Apps, Snowlume, Notifications), together or by category ("Offers and news", "App updates").
When a newer version is available, the App's settings screen also shows an "Update now" button that opens Google Play's update screen.
6. Ratings and reviews
The App includes Google Play's built-in rating component (Google Play In-App Review). If it shows Google Play's rating prompt, the prompt is provided and controlled by Google Play, and we do not receive any personal information through it. Any review you choose to post is public on Google Play and covered by Google's policies.
7. Permissions
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
POST_NOTIFICATIONS | Lets the App show the notifications described in section 5, only if you allow it. |
com.android.vending.BILLING | Lets Google Play handle the optional Premium purchase. |
INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Added by the Google Play libraries so they can reach Google Play. The App itself only downloads the offer list described in section 5 from our website. |
BIND_WALLPAPER | A system permission that lets Android run Snowlume as a live wallpaper. It does not grant the App any access to your data. |
BIND_DREAM_SERVICE | A system permission that lets Android show Snowlume as a screen saver, if you choose it in your display settings. It does not grant the App any access to your data. |
The only runtime permission the App asks for is the notification permission above. It does not request access to the camera, microphone, contacts, location, photos or storage.
8. Third-party services
The App contains no advertising networks and no analytics or tracking SDKs. The only third-party components are Google Play Billing, Google Play In-App Review and Google Play In-App Updates, all provided by Google LLC as described above.
9. Children's privacy
Snowlume is suitable for all ages (a snow globe, no violence) and is designed to comply with Google Play's Families Policy and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13. The App shows no ads, and purchases can only be made through Google Play, which gives parents controls to approve or restrict them. If you think a child has sent us personal information (for example by email), contact us and we will delete it.
10. Your rights (GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA/CPRA and similar laws)
Because we do not collect personal information through the App, we generally hold nothing to access, correct or delete. The information in section 3 is on your device, and you can delete it at any time by clearing the App's storage or uninstalling it; a copy in your Google account's backup (section 3) follows your Google account's backup settings. We do not sell or share personal information. If you email us, we use your message only to reply to you and delete it when it is no longer needed. You can ask us at any time to delete your correspondence.
11. Security
Your words and settings are kept in the App's private storage on your device, and purchases go through Google Play's secure billing system.
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy, for example when the App adds new features. The "Last updated" date above shows when it last changed. Significant changes will also be noted in the App's release notes on Google Play.
13. Contact
For The Fun Game Studio
Email: support@forthefungamestudio.com
Website: forthefungamestudio.com