Privacy Policy

Effective date: 7 July 2026 · Last updated: 22 September 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how the 中國象棋・名局解說 (“Chinese Chess”, “the App”, “we”, “us”) mobile application handles information when you use it on your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

TL;DR — the App collects no personal data. It has no accounts, no ads and no tracking. From version 1.2 (and on the website) it sends anonymous usage counts — which features are used, with no identifier of any kind — so we can tell what to improve; you can switch that off in the ℹ️ card. Everything else works offline, apart from the optional online play mode, which relays chess moves between two players.

Download / 下載： 中國象棋・名局解說 on the App Store

1. Data we collect

No personal information. We do not collect anything that identifies you or your device.

• We do not use advertising or third-party tracking or analytics SDKs, and we do not track you across apps or websites.
• We do not require an account, sign-up, or login.
• We do not ask for your name, email, contacts, or any identifier.

Anonymous usage counts

So we know which parts of the App are used, it sends short, anonymous messages to our own server when something happens — for example “the app was opened”, “a game against the computer was started at 普通 level”, “an endgame puzzle was solved” or “the 名家 pack shelf was opened”. Each message contains only:

• the name of the event and, at most, one short label (such as a difficulty level or a collection name — never a move, a game you played, or anything you typed);
• the platform (iOS, Android or web) and the App version.

It contains no user ID, device ID, advertising ID, session ID, IP address or location (not even your country), so no two messages can be linked to each other or to you. To count daily users without an ID, the App remembers on your device the last day, week and month it reported, and says “used today” at most once a day. The counts are stored in Cloudflare Workers Analytics Engine for up to three months, and are only ever looked at as totals.

You can turn this off at any time: ℹ️ → untick 「傳送匿名使用統計」.

2. Data stored on your device

The App stores the following locally, inside the app’s own sandbox:

• Your current game and any games you save.
• Your progress on puzzles and lessons.
• Your settings — board/interface language (Traditional / Simplified / English), light or dark theme, and sound on/off.

This data stays on your device and is removed when you delete the App. If you have enabled Apple’s iCloud backup, your app data may be included in your personal iCloud backup, which is governed by Apple’s Privacy Policy, not ours. On Android, if you have enabled backup to your Google Account, the same applies under Google’s Privacy Policy.

The game records, endgame puzzles, and commentary shown in the App are bundled with the App and load from your device — no network request is made to browse or replay them. The one exception is on iOS: the optional 名家對局 master-game packs are downloaded from Apple’s servers (Apple On-Demand Resources) the first time you open one. That download goes to Apple, not to us, and carries nothing about you.

3. Online play (optional)

The App includes an optional online play (線上) mode. It runs only when you tap 線上 and create or join a room using a short room code.

When you play online:

• Your moves and the room code you share are relayed through our server so the two devices stay in sync. Our relay runs on Cloudflare Workers.
• The relay holds the current game’s move list only for the lifetime of that room/session, so a reconnecting player can catch up. It is not written to any long-term database.
• The data exchanged is limited to chess moves and the room code. It contains no personal information and is not used to identify, profile, or track you. There is no account and no chat.
• Standard network metadata (such as your IP address) is processed transiently by Cloudflare to route the connection, as with any internet service. See Cloudflare’s Privacy Policy.

Apart from online play and the anonymous usage counts (Section 1, which you can switch off), the App needs no network and is fully usable offline, aeroplane mode included.

4. Purchases

Some content packs are sold as in-app purchases. Payment is handled entirely by Apple’s App Store (or Google Play, where offered); we never see your payment details, name, or account. The App only asks the store which of its products you own, so that it can unlock them on your device.

5. System permissions

The App does not access your camera, microphone, contacts, photo library, location, calendar, reminders, health data, or motion data. It uses network access only for the optional online play described above, the anonymous usage counts in Section 1 and, on iOS, the pack downloads in Section 2. On Android the only permission it requests is Internet access.

6. Third-party components

The App is built with common open-source libraries (e.g. React and OpenCC for Traditional/Simplified Chinese conversion) that run on your device and do not collect or transmit data. Apart from the app stores themselves (Sections 2 and 4), the only third-party service is Cloudflare, which hosts the online-play relay (Section 3) and receives the anonymous usage counts (Section 1).

7. Children’s privacy

The App is suitable for all ages (rated 4+ on the App Store). Because we collect no data, we do not knowingly collect any data from children.

8. Data retention and deletion

We operate no user database, so there is no personal data to retain or delete. All app data lives on your device; deleting the App deletes it. The transient online-play relay data disappears when the room/session ends. The anonymous usage counts (Section 1) cannot be tied to you, so there is nothing of yours in them to delete; they expire after three months.

9. Your rights

Because we do not collect or process personal data, statutory rights such as access, rectification, deletion, restriction, portability, and objection do not apply here. You retain full control over the locally-stored data on your device.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes take effect when posted at this URL. The “Last updated” date above will reflect any changes.

11. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

• Email: [email protected]
• Developer: Heion Technologies
• Jurisdiction: Hong Kong SAR

This policy is provided in English and Traditional Chinese. A Traditional Chinese version is available. In case of conflict between language versions, the English version prevails.