Privacy Policy

Effective date: 2026-06-14

The short version

Staged is built local-first and no account is required— every feature of the game works without one. To race head-to-head, the app shares a small “racing card” with nearby players through a cloud relay (your display name, car details and photo, driver avatar, and a coarse location) so they can find and race you — this happens for everyone, with or without an account, and is described below. If you choose to sign in, the optional account also backs up your profile, garage, and run history so they survive a new phone. None of this is ever sold, shared with advertisers, or used for advertising or tracking. There are no analytics, no advertising SDKs, and no trackers in the app. You can delete your account and all of its cloud data yourself, in the app, at any time.

Data stored on your device

Your race history, reaction times, personal bests, driver name, car details, and settings are stored in local storage on your iPhone. If you never sign in, this data stays on your device — the one exception is the car photo and driver avatar you race with, which are uploaded to power head-to-head matchmaking (see below). Deleting the app removes all of the local data.

Optional account & cloud backup

Signing in (with Apple, Google, or email/password) backs up the following to the developer’s project on Google Firebase (Firestore and Cloud Storage), keyed to your account: your sign-in email address and display name, a user ID, your garage (car names, details, notes, and car photos), your run history, and a few app preferences. Sign in with Apple’s private relay addresses are fully supported.

This data exists for one purpose: restoring your own profile across devices. Access is restricted to your account — other players never see it, and the developer does not sell it, share it with third parties, or use it for advertising, analytics, or tracking. It is retained until you delete it: Profile → Delete Account removes the authentication record and all cloud data immediately, no email or support request needed. Signing out simply stops syncing; your local data stays on the phone either way.

Head-to-head racing and the cloud relay

Earlier versions connected the two phones directly over the local network. Because that proved unreliable at real-world distances and with wireless CarPlay, head-to-head racing now uses a lightweight cloud relay on the developer’s Google Firebase project (Realtime Database and Cloud Storage).

When you open Find Opponent, the app publishes a short-lived racing card so nearby players can find you: your display name, your selected car’s details (name, make, model, trim, notes), your car photo and driver avatar, the race mode, and a coarse location (an approximate area bucket, not your exact coordinates). To show your car and avatar to other racers, those two photos are uploaded to Firebase Cloud Storage and shared as links — this happens for every player, including those without an account, and only for this purpose. The racing card is removed when you leave the screen; photos uploaded without an account are not linked to any personal profile and are retained in the developer’s Firebase project. During a race the phones exchange only what the race needs — countdown timing, clock-sync messages, and results — through the relay. None of this is sold, shared with advertisers, or used for analytics or tracking; signing in and choosing Profile → Delete Account removes your uploaded photos along with the rest of your cloud data.

Location (optional)

If you grant Location access, Staged uses it for proximity matchmaking: while you are on the Find Opponent screen, the app derives a coarse area bucket from your position and includes it in your racing card (above) so nearby players can discover you, and it shows the distance to a discovered opponent. Your exact coordinates never leave the device — only the approximate bucket does, and only while you are looking for a race. GPS speed in roll-on mode (so the tree can arm when both cars match speed) is read on-device and is never transmitted. The app works without Location.

Motion (optional)

If you grant Motion access, Staged reads the device’s accelerometer on-device to detect your launch instead of a screen tap. Motion data never leaves your phone. The app works without it.

Over-the-air updates

The app periodically checks Expo’s EAS Update service for updated JavaScript bundles (bug fixes and improvements). These requests include standard, non-identifying metadata such as the app version and platform — the same kind of information any app update check sends. See Expo’s privacy policy for details on their handling of those requests.

Crash reports and beta feedback

While Staged is distributed through Apple TestFlight, crash reports and feedback you choose to submit are collected by Apple under Apple’s privacy terms and shared with the developer in aggregate, only with your consent.

Children

Staged requires no account. The App Store age rating is 4+. Without an account, the only data that leaves the device is the racing card described above (used solely so nearby players can find and race you); the optional account stores only what is described above, for backup purposes only.

Changes to this policy

Any changes will be posted at this URL with an updated effective date. Material changes will be noted in the app’s release notes.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email me@alejandrochaves.dev.