Cove Field Guide · Cove Family Field Guide

Your discoveries.
Your fieldbook.

Both apps keep your field records on your iPhone.

Effective October 6, 2026 · Version 1.0

This policy applies to Cove Field Guide and Cove Family Field Guide, provided by HOPPING DISTRIBUTION LLC, and explains the separate practices of this support website.

What stays on your device

Journal titles, notes, dates, selected photo copies, linked guide entries, and any location pin you explicitly add are stored in the app's private local storage. In Cove Family, activity selections and completion marks are also stored locally; badges are calculated from saved outings.

The apps do not upload these records to the developer or an app server. They have no user accounts, advertising, analytics, tracking SDKs, subscriptions, or in-app purchases. The two apps use separate local storage and do not share or synchronize journals or progress.

Photos and camera

You select individual images with Apple's photo picker; the apps do not request broad photo-library access. Camera permission is requested only when you choose to take a journal photo. Each saved copy is resized and redrawn as a JPEG, removing the original EXIF and GPS metadata. Your original library images are unchanged.

Selecting an image stored only in iCloud may require a download through Apple's services. Neither app analyzes photos to identify species or assess edibility.

Optional location

No location is requested while browsing. Tapping Add current location requests permission if needed and a single current position for the entry. Coordinates and estimated accuracy are stored locally. There is no background tracking, route recording, remote map service, or automatic sharing of pins.

You can use either app without granting location permission, remove a pin while editing its entry, and manage permission in iPhone Settings. Apple's location services operate under Apple's policies.

AI illustrations

The guide illustrations are generated during app development and bundled for offline viewing. Your journal photos, notes, pins, and Family progress are never sent by either app to an AI service. The illustrations are labelled and cannot establish a species identification or whether a find is safe to eat.

Adults and family outings

Cove Family is designed for adults leading children outdoors. It does not ask for child names, ages, accounts, or profiles. There are no public posts, leaderboards, or social sharing features. Adults control entries, optional photos and pins, and activity completion. Journal text is freeform; avoid adding personal details you do not need.

Badges reflect the activities marked complete in saved outings on that iPhone. Editing or deleting those outings updates progress. The app does not send progress to us or to other users.

Retention, backup, and deletion

Journal files use iOS data protection and are excluded from device backups and cloud sync. Records remain until you delete them, erase app or device data, or remove the app. There is no journal export or developer recovery service in this release. App removal or device loss can permanently remove your records; keep original photos separately if you need a lasting copy.

You can edit or delete individual entries and remove saved photos or pins. Deletion removes the associated app photo copies; original images in Photos remain unchanged. Use Delete all journal data to erase the app's journal and any Family activity progress. In Cove, find it in Field notes. In Cove Family, open Grown-up notes from Activities.

External websites and Apple services

Cited sources, provider terms, and support links open only when you choose them. External websites may receive ordinary connection information such as your IP address under their own policies; the apps do not attach your journal or pins to those links. iOS photo downloads, location services, and Apple diagnostics are governed by your device settings and Apple's policies. Neither app runs its own diagnostic collection service.

Contacting support

If you email jacob@hoppingdistribution.com, we receive your email address and the information you choose to send and use it to respond. Support correspondence is not used for advertising. You do not need to send precise locations, private journal records, or children's details. You may contact the same address to ask us to delete support correspondence.

This website

This static support website uses no analytics, forms, embedded media, or cookies set by us. GitHub Pages hosts it and may process ordinary request logs under GitHub's privacy statement. Website hosting is separate from the apps' local journals.

Changes

If a future release changes these practices, we will update this policy and the App Store privacy information before introducing the new practices. Any new permission required for a feature will be requested in the app.