Your data stays with you.

Effective November 13, 2026

This policy explains what the ShutUp app does with your information. The short version: ShutUp does not collect, sell or share your data, and we don't run a server that receives it. What ShutUp stores stays on your iPhone.

What ShutUp stores on your iPhone

To work, ShutUp keeps the following in its own storage on your device:

The apps, categories and websites you choose to lock or never lock, for Night Out, Closing time, the closing times and daily limits you add, and Close now. Apple's Screen Time gives ShutUp these as private tokens, not names. The block screen is told the name of the app you're opening, to pick what it says, and doesn't save or send it.
The kind of app you say each one is when you pick it (food, shopping, scrolling and so on), which decides its roasts and what counts toward Money saved.
Your Night Out, Closing time and daily limit times, schedules and temporary unlocks.
A log of each night: how many times you tried to open a locked app, which one (as a private token), when, and how many unlocks you took. This powers the morning recap and your monthly Wrapped.
Your rule for the night, if you write one (for example "Don't text Jake").
Your settings: such as how mean the roasts get and the average orders Money saved uses.
Your streaks, coins, stars and the moon's outfits.
Your practice and sober-check scores (typing speed, reaction time, memory length), used to judge challenges against your own sober baseline.
If a friend holds a code for your night, a one-way scrambled version (hash) of the code, never the code itself.

None of this is sent to us or anyone else.

Closing time and Money saved

Closing time locks the apps you pick every night, and you can add more closing times, daily time limits and a one-off Close now. Their schedules, taps and unlocks are stored on your iPhone like a Night Out's. For a daily limit, iOS tells ShutUp only that the minutes you set are used up, never what you did in the app. Getting back in can mean typing a sentence ShutUp shows you; what you type is checked on your iPhone and never sent anywhere. Money saved is an estimate: when the block screen stops you on an app you marked as food delivery or shopping, ShutUp counts it, on your iPhone, and multiplies by the average order you set. ShutUp keeps the count, the time and the private token, not the app's name. Nothing about your spending, orders or accounts in other apps is ever read, and none of it leaves your phone.

Save it for the morning

If you write a text down instead of sending it, ShutUp keeps the text and the recipient you picked (their name and the phone number or email you chose) on your iPhone, and deletes it after 7 days. Picking a recipient uses iOS's contact picker, which shows ShutUp only the one contact you choose. ShutUp never sends a saved text: in the morning, sending it opens Messages or Mail for you to send yourself.

Personal roasts

On iPhones that support Apple Intelligence, you can turn on personal roasts. They're written on your iPhone by Apple's on-device model, using your rule for the night. Nothing is sent to Apple or to us, and the roasts are kept on your phone for that night.

Smart start (optional)

ShutUp can remind you to start a Night Out on the evenings you usually go out. It works this out on your iPhone from your own Night Out history; that history never leaves your phone. If you turn on Bar detection, ShutUp asks for location access set to Always, so iOS can tell it when you've arrived somewhere on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday night (or a night you usually go out) while ShutUp is closed. ShutUp uses only the time you arrived. It never looks at where you are, never stores a location or a place, and never sends your location anywhere, including to us. The only thing it keeps is when it last nudged you, so it can stop at two nudges a week. A nudge never starts a Night Out by itself: you tap Start. You can turn Bar detection off in Setup, or turn off location for ShutUp in Settings, at any time.

Off-limits (optional)

You can pick up to three contacts to make off-limits during a Night Out. ShutUp asks for access to your contacts to do this, and with iOS's limited access it only sees the people you choose. During a night, ShutUp blocks their phone calls using iOS's call blocking (texts still arrive), and renames their contact to a warning such as "Jake · not tonight", optionally with ShutUp's moon as their photo. Before renaming, ShutUp saves their first name, last name, nickname and photo in its own storage on your iPhone (which is included in your iPhone's backup like the rest of ShutUp's data), with a copy of the names and a small version of the photo in your iPhone's Keychain so they can still be put back if you delete and reinstall ShutUp, and puts them back after the night. It only changes names and the photo: never numbers, emails or anything else, and it never deletes a contact. If you edit the contact during the night, your edit is kept. The phone numbers of the people you pick are kept on your iPhone so the call blocker can read them. ShutUp never sends your contacts or numbers anywhere, including to us. If your contacts sync with iCloud, the temporary name appears on your other devices until it's put back.

Apple Watch

If you use ShutUp on Apple Watch, your iPhone sends it what it shows (time left tonight, tonight's tries and unlocks, and the moon's lines and outfit) directly over Apple's connection between your phone and watch. It doesn't pass through us.

ShutUp+ purchases

ShutUp+ is bought through the App Store. Apple handles the payment under its own privacy policy, and ShutUp only checks on your iPhone whether you have it. We never see your payment details. Apple gives developers sales reports without your name or contact details.

What ShutUp does not do

ShutUp has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising and no third-party tracking tools. It never reads your messages or what you do inside other apps. It does not use your photos, microphone or camera. It uses your location and contacts only for the optional features above, and only on your iPhone. It does not track you across other apps or websites.

Screen Time permission

ShutUp asks for Screen Time access so it can lock the apps you choose. Apple keeps your app choices private on your device and does not reveal them to ShutUp.

Notifications

ShutUp uses notifications to deliver unlock challenges, reminders and your morning recap. They are created on your device; no notification content passes through our servers.

Siri and Shortcuts

If you start Night Out with Siri or Shortcuts, Apple handles the request under its own privacy policy. ShutUp only receives the instruction to start.

Sharing

If you share a recap, a Wrapped card or a friend's code, you choose where it goes using iOS's share sheet. ShutUp does not receive a copy. Share cards show counts and money saved, never app names or your saved texts.

Crash reports

If you've chosen in your iPhone's settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may send us anonymous crash reports. ShutUp doesn't add anything to them.

Keeping and deleting your data

Your data stays on your iPhone until you delete it. Saved texts are deleted after 7 days. You can hide a recap from the Tonight tab, and deleting the ShutUp app removes everything it stored on your phone, except two small items in your iPhone's Keychain: a note of when your 7 free days of Closing time began, or that an earlier version's free night was used (so reinstalling doesn't start them again), and the Off-limits backup, which ShutUp clears itself once every contact has been put back.

Children

ShutUp is meant for adults. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children.

Changes

If this policy changes, we will update it here and change the effective date above.

Contact

Questions? Email support@shutupapp.com.