Where your reflections actually live.
RetroPals asks you to write down how your week really went. That only works if you trust where it goes. Here is the whole picture, in plain language. For the binding legal version, see the Privacy Policy.
Five things, then the detail
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Your data lives on your device, in a database only the app can read.
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The app works completely offline. Nothing has to be uploaded for it to work.
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Cloud backup is opt-in and off until you turn it on.
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When you use the AI, your prompt is used to write the response and then discarded. Not stored, not logged, not used to train a model.
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There are no ads and no data sales. There is no version of this app where your reflections become someone's advertising input.
Your device is the source of truth
Reflections, goals, habits, notes and companion conversations are written to an on-device database first. Not to a server that then sends a copy back.
That is an architectural decision, not a setting. It means the app is fully usable on a plane, in a basement, or with the phone in airplane mode for a month. It also means the honest answer to what happens if RetroPals disappears tomorrow is that your data is still sitting on your phone.
Cloud backup, only if you ask for it
Backing up to your private cloud space is strictly opt-in. Turn it on and your data syncs across your devices. Leave it off and nothing ever leaves your phone.
It is not all or nothing. Sync is organised by category, so you can back up your goals without backing up your health data, or any other combination you want.
Ownership is enforced on the server, not just in the app. Security rules restrict every stored record to the account that created it. Another user cannot read your data, and neither can an app bug that forgets to filter.
Zero data retention, on every request
A zero data retention policy means your inputs, prompts and the generated outputs are processed in temporary memory and immediately discarded. Nothing is stored, nothing is logged, and nothing is used to train a future model.
That is the policy RetroPals enforces on its AI pathway. Your reflective prompts are used to generate a response in the moment, and then they are gone.
AI runs through OpenRouter, a single gateway to models from many providers. That choice is what makes the rest of this possible: it lets the app route to providers and settings that honour the zero data retention guarantee, and it lets you bring your own key if you would rather the requests be billed and handled on your own account entirely.
If none of this appeals, switch AI features off in Settings. The reflection loop, the goals, the habits and the insights all keep working without it.
Or run the AI on your own account
With the bring-your-own-AI plan you supply your own OpenRouter key. Your usage is billed at cost, directly by your provider, with no markup from us.
Your key is validated and encrypted server-side (AES-256-GCM, with the encryption key held in managed secret storage) and used on your behalf by a secure proxy. It never comes back to any device, including yours.
What never leaves your device
- Your free-text notes, highlights and reflection text are never sent anywhere for research or analytics purposes.
- There is no analytics pipeline reading your reflections. There is no analytics SDK in the app at all.
- There is no advertising identifier tied to anything you write.
If a research study opens in future, it will ask for its own explicit consent, describing exactly that study: what it collects, how long it runs, and how to withdraw. There is no study running at the moment, and no research data is being collected from anyone. Read about the research.
Things you can do at any time
Use it as a guest
No account required to start.
Export or delete
Delete your account, or delete your data while keeping the account, from inside the app or from the web.
Turn any of it off
AI features, cloud sync, individual sync categories, biometrics, reminders, and every step of the reflection itself.
RetroPals is not a medical service
RetroPals is a wellbeing and reflection tool. It is not a medical device, and it does not provide medical, psychological or crisis care. Your companion is an AI, not a clinician, and it will tell you so if you ask it to be one.
If you are struggling, please contact a health professional or a local support service.