This policy explains what information EquaCross (“EquaCross,” “we,” “us”) collects when you use the EquaCross website at equacross.com and the EquaCross apps, and how it’s used.
Summary
- Accounts are optional. You can play every free mode without one. An EquaCross Plus membership needs an account so it works on all your devices.
- There are no ads and no analytics or tracking.
- Games against the computer, pass and play, and puzzles stay on your device.
- Online games store the name you enter and the game itself on our server so both players can play.
- We don’t sell your information or share it for advertising.
Information stored on your device
EquaCross saves your current game, your daily puzzle results and your settings in your browser’s or device’s local storage, so you can pick up where you left off. This information stays on your device and isn’t sent to us, except for online games and daily puzzle comparisons as described below.
Daily puzzle comparisons
When you solve the daily puzzle, the game sends us your time, how many checks and reveals you used, and your result squares for that puzzle, along with a random ID made on your device. We use them only to show solvers how they compare with everyone else that day. They aren’t linked to your name, email or account, and other players see only totals, medians and averages, never your individual result.
Accounts (optional)
You can sign in with Apple, Google or your email address to keep your stats, daily puzzle results and online games on every device. If you sign in, we store:
- Your email address and the sign-in method you used. If you use Sign in with Apple and choose to hide your email, we receive a private relay address from Apple instead.
- An account ID created by our sign-in service.
- The name you choose to show other players, if you set one, and your profile choices: the avatar and frame you picked and the achievements you showcase.
- Your game stats (such as wins, best move and longest equation) from each device you use, and your daily puzzle results.
- Which online games your account is playing.
- The groups you start or join, and each group’s name and invite code.
- Your friends, friend requests you send or receive, people you’ve blocked, and your personal friend link code.
- Your friends settings: whether your results are private, and which notifications you want.
- If you use the app and allow notifications, a notification token for each phone, which lets us send notifications to that phone through Expo’s push notification service.
- Milestones shown to your friends in their activity feed: seasonal frames you earn, daily streak milestones and achievements you unlock.
- Matchmaking: the queues you join, your matched games and Puzzle Races (including your times), your Duel and Puzzle Race win records and ratings (ratings are never shown to anyone; they’re used only to pair players of similar skill), the last person you were matched with, matches you missed or declined, and race times flagged as too fast to be real.
We use this only to run your account and sync your games. We don’t send you marketing email. Sign-in emails contain a one-time code or link.
Groups. If you join a group, its other members can see the name and avatar you chose, whether you’ve solved each daily puzzle, your daily puzzle streaks, and, once they’ve solved that day’s puzzle themselves, your time, checks, reveals and result squares for it. They don’t see your email address. The person who runs a group can remove members, and you can leave a group at any time.
Friends. You become friends when someone opens your friend link, or when one of you sends a request and the other accepts it. Friends can see the name, avatar and frame you chose, whether you’ve solved today’s daily, your streaks, how many of the last 7 dailies you solved and your total time for them, and your milestones. They see your time and checks for today’s daily only after solving it themselves. If you keep your results private, friends see only your name, avatar and frame. You can remove or block a friend at any time. Blocking also stops friend requests, game challenges and reactions between you. If you report another player, we store the report, the player’s name and the reason, and review it.
Matchmaking. When you find a match, the other player sees the name, avatar and frame you chose and your win record for that mode, unless you keep your results private in Friends settings, which hides your record too. In a Puzzle Race they see your time once they’ve finished, or once the race is over. There’s no chat with people you’re matched with, and you can block or report them from the game.
Notifications. The app only asks to send notifications when you open Friends or after you solve a daily, and you can turn each kind off in Friends settings or switch them off entirely in your phone’s settings. The daily streak reminder is scheduled by the app on your phone and doesn’t involve our server.
You can delete your account at any time from the Account screen in the game. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel an EquaCross Plus subscription; cancel it first in your Apple, Google or website subscription settings. That deletes your sign-in, the stats and results stored with it, your group memberships, your friends and blocks, your notification tokens and your activity. Games saved on your device stay there, and online games keep working on devices that already have them.
Daily challenge links
When you solve the daily, the game makes a challenge link for your result. Anyone who opens the link sees the name and avatar you chose and your time and checks for that puzzle. When someone solves the puzzle from your link, we store the name and avatar they chose alongside your challenge, so you both see the head-to-head and you can see who took your challenge. A challenge link is only shared if you share it.
Online games
When you start or join an online game, we store on our server:
- The name you enter, up to 24 characters, and the avatar you picked, if any. You don’t have to use your real name. Avatars are illustrations from the game, not photos.
- The game: the board, each player’s tiles, scores, the list of moves, and the 6-character game code.
- A scrambled (hashed) version of a random player key. The key itself is created on our server and saved on your device so you can rejoin your game. We keep only the scrambled version, which can’t be turned back into the key.
The other player in your game can see the name you entered, your avatar, the board, the scores and the moves. They can’t see your tiles. Reactions you send during a game are short preset messages; they go straight to the other player and aren’t stored.
In a team game against the computer, you and your teammate share one set of tiles, so each of you sees the team’s tiles and the tiles the other is trying on the board before playing them. Neither of you sees the computer’s tiles.
EquaCross Plus purchases
If you subscribe to EquaCross Plus, the purchase is handled by Apple (in the iPhone app), Google (in the Android app) or Stripe (on the website). We never see or store your card or bank details. RevenueCat manages the subscription for us: it receives your EquaCross account ID and the purchase details from the store, such as the plan, the price paid, the purchase and renewal dates, and whether you’re in a free trial. On the website, Stripe also receives the email address and payment details you enter at checkout.
We store your membership status with your account: whether it’s active, when it ends or renews, whether it’s a trial, and which store it came from. We use it only to unlock Plus puzzles and show the Plus badge. Friends and group members can see that you’re a Plus member if you are, but not your plan, price or dates. Puzzles you play in the Daily Archive and Bonus Packs are saved on your device.
Service providers
Like any website, the services that deliver EquaCross receive standard technical information, such as your IP address, browser type and the time of each request, and may keep it in their logs. We use:
- Supabase, which hosts our server and database for online games and runs account sign-in.
- RevenueCat, which manages EquaCross Plus subscriptions, and Stripe, which processes website payments, if you subscribe.
- Expo, whose push notification service (with Apple and Google) delivers notifications to the app, if you allow them.
- Apple and Google, if you choose to sign in with them.
- GitHub Pages, which hosts this website.
- jsDelivr, which delivers code libraries used for live online game updates and, on the website, the EquaCross Plus checkout.
These providers process information under their own privacy policies. We don’t use them to track you.
How we use information
- To run online games: dealing tiles, checking moves, keeping scores, and telling each player when it’s their turn.
- To sign you in and keep your stats, results and games in sync across your devices.
- To keep games fair, for example by rejecting moves from someone who isn’t in the game.
- To fix problems and keep the service working.
- To answer you when you contact us.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it.
How long we keep it
We keep account data until you delete your account. We keep online game records so players can return to their games. We may delete old or inactive games at any time. If you email us, we keep your message and our reply for as long as we need them to help you.
Children
EquaCross is a general audience game. We don’t ask for anyone’s age, and the only personal information online play asks for is a name, which can be a nickname. Accounts are optional and need only an email address or an Apple or Google sign-in. We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you’re a parent or guardian and think your child has given us personal information, email us and we’ll delete it.
Your choices
- You can play every free mode except online games without sending us any information beyond your anonymous daily puzzle results, and you never need an account for them.
- You can delete your account and its data from the Account screen in the game.
- You can remove everything stored on your device by clearing your browser’s or device’s data for EquaCross.
- You can ask us to delete an online game by emailing us with its game code.
Changes to this policy
If we change how EquaCross handles information, we’ll update this page and the date at the top.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email support@equacross.com.