Your photos stay on your iPhone.
Last updated November 6, 2026 · applies to Holoroll for iPhone and iPad. Where this says iPhone, the same goes for iPad.
- Your photos never leave your iPhone. Holoroll reads them on the phone and never uploads them.
- No account, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. There's nothing to sign up for, no tracking code of any kind, and nothing is sold or shared.
- Your collection, not your photos, is copied to your own iCloud, so a new iPhone picks up where you left off. I can't see it.
- Place names come from Apple Maps, so a photo's location is sent to Apple to name the place.
- A card you send carries the photo, its place name and your name, but never its GPS coordinates.
Who makes Holoroll
Holoroll is made by Andrew Slifer, an independent developer. Questions about this policy or your data go to [email protected].
Your photos
With your permission, Holoroll reads your photo library through Apple's Photos framework to find sets and make cards. Everything it does with your photos happens on your iPhone:
- It finds sets from each photo's date and place, and whether it's a favorite, a Live Photo or a portrait.
- It scores photos with Apple's on-device image analysis, to pick the best photo in a set and to leave out screenshots, receipts and other utility shots.
- It cuts the subject out of a photo for Full Art cards and pack art, and finds cats and dogs for the Pets set, with Apple's Vision framework.
- It compares photos taken close together, also with Vision on your iPhone, so a run of near-identical shots makes one card instead of several.
Holoroll never uploads your photos, and I never see them. It never changes or deletes anything in your photo library. If you give Holoroll access to only some of your photos, it sees only those. Photos in the Hidden album in the Photos app never reach Holoroll, and photos you mark Never show are left out of everything Holoroll shows.
What Holoroll keeps on your iPhone
Holoroll saves its game in a file inside the app. It holds the sets Holoroll has printed and which photos are on which cards; the cards you've pulled, with their foil, stamps and dust; the places your photos come from (each place's name, and its position rounded to about 100 meters); the scores it gave your photos; the photos you've marked Never show; and your settings, such as sound and the name you send cards with.
It also keeps pictures it made from your photos, such as pack art, cut-outs and the card shown in the widget, and a list of which photos have pets in them. All of this stays on your iPhone, apart from the iCloud copy described below.
Apple Maps
To name the places your photos were taken, and to draw the maps on card backs, packs and the Atlas, Holoroll sends a photo's location (its latitude and longitude) to Apple's mapping service. These requests go from your iPhone to Apple with no account or identifier from me, and Apple's privacy policy covers them. I don't receive them.
iCloud
If you're signed in to iCloud, Holoroll keeps a copy of your collection in your private iCloud database, so a new iPhone, or Holoroll installed again, picks up where you left off. It backs up after each pack, when you leave the app, and when you tap Back up now in Settings.
The copy holds the game file described above, plus each card's iCloud Photos identifier, so that your other iPhone can find the same photo in your library. It never includes your photos: the only pictures in it are cards friends have sent you. Apple stores it in your iCloud account, where it counts toward your iCloud storage, and I can't see it or reach it. If you aren't signed in to iCloud, nothing is copied.
Cards you send and receive
When you choose Send as a Card, Holoroll makes a .holocard file that you send yourself, with Messages, AirDrop, Files or anything else you pick. The file holds the photo (about 1,400 pixels across), a cut-out of its subject for Full Art cards, the card's title and place name, its foil, rarity and season stamp, and the name you chose to send cards with. It never includes the photo's GPS coordinates or any other details from the photo file. The person you send it to can keep it and pass it on, like any file. It never goes through me.
Cards you receive are kept on your iPhone and in your iCloud copy. When you open one, Holoroll looks in your own library for a photo from the same moment (the same place name, close in time) to show you were there too. That check happens on your iPhone.
Purchases
Holoroll Collector and season collections are bought through the App Store. Apple handles the payment; I never see your payment details or your Apple Account. Holoroll asks the App Store, from your iPhone, which purchases you own, and whether this copy of Holoroll came from the App Store or is a test version.
Notifications and widgets
Holoroll asks before sending notifications. They're scheduled on your iPhone (a pack is ready, or a trip's anniversary has come round); none come from a server. The widgets show a picture of one of your cards, which Holoroll shares with its widget on your iPhone.
What I receive
- Nothing from the app itself. Holoroll has no analytics, advertising, tracking or crash-reporting code, and no account.
- Crash reports, if you opt in. If you've chosen in your iPhone's settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may pass me anonymous crash reports and usage statistics for Holoroll. You can turn this off in Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.
- Sales totals from Apple. The App Store tells me how many people bought something, never who.
- Visits to this website. This site is hosted by Cloudflare. It has no analytics and sets no cookies. As with any web host, Cloudflare handles your IP address to deliver the pages, under Cloudflare's privacy policy.
- Your emails. If you write to support, I receive your email address and what you send, and use them only to reply. I don't add you to any list.
Deleting your data
- On your iPhone: deleting Holoroll removes everything it saved there.
- From iCloud: open the Settings app, tap your name, then iCloud, then your storage. Choose Holoroll and delete its data.
- Photo access: change it or turn it off at any time in Settings → Apps → Holoroll → Photos.
Because I don't hold any of your data, there is nothing for me to access, correct or delete on my side. If you have a question about your rights under privacy laws where you live (such as the GDPR or California's CCPA), email me and I'll help.
Children
Holoroll isn't directed at children under 13, and I don't knowingly receive information from anyone.
Changes to this policy
If what Holoroll does with data changes, I'll update this page and the date at the top before the new version of the app comes out. If a change means data would leave your iPhone in a new way, the app will tell you and ask first.
Contact
Andrew Slifer · [email protected]