Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 10, 2026

Crossword Corner ("we", "our", or "the App") is a crossword puzzle game with story chapters, topic packs and a daily puzzle. This Privacy Policy explains what information the App handles when you play it on Android. The App works without you creating an account or giving us your name, email address or phone number.

Developer Information

Developer: Vertex Studio

Contact Email: contact@vertexstudiodot.com

What the App Stores

When you first open the App we create a random, anonymous player account with Firebase Authentication. It is a random ID, not linked to your identity. Under that ID the App keeps:

• Game progress: which puzzles you have opened and solved, the letters you have entered, time taken, hints and checks used, stars earned and your daily streak.
• Player name: the display name you choose in Settings (the App suggests a random nickname by default).
• Hints and Premium status: your hint balance and whether a Premium subscription is active.
• Preferences: theme, sound and other settings.

Progress is stored on your device first so the App works offline, and is backed up to our database (Google Cloud Firestore) under your anonymous ID so you can continue after reinstalling. Apart from the optional Google backup below, we do not collect your real name, email address, contacts, location, photos or files, and we never sell personal data.

On Android, the App also reads your phone's Android ID and turns it into a one-way scrambled code. We store your display name, hint balance and puzzle progress under that code, so they can come back if you reinstall the App on the same phone, even without a Google account. We never store the Android ID itself, and we do not use this code for advertising.

Google Backup (optional)

You can tap Connect Google (at the start or later in Settings) to link a Google account to your anonymous player ID, so your progress can be restored on a new phone. This uses Firebase Authentication's Google sign-in. We then store the Google account identifier and the email address Google provides, only to find your progress again; we never post anything to your Google account or read your Google data. The App works fully without connecting, and a deletion request (below) removes the link.

Rank Board

The Rank board shows your display name and your star total to other players, together with your position. Nothing else about you is shown. You can change your display name at any time in Settings, and a deletion request (below) removes you from the board.

Information Collected by Third-Party Services

The App uses these services. They may collect limited technical information, and they act under their own privacy policies:

• Google AdMob (free players only): shows advertisements, including optional videos you can watch to earn hints. AdMob may collect device identifiers (including the advertising ID), approximate location derived from IP address, ad interactions and diagnostics. Where the law requires it (for example in the EEA and UK), a consent form is shown before any ad is requested. Premium members see no ads.
• Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics: help us understand which puzzles and features work and fix crashes. They receive anonymous events (such as "puzzle started", "puzzle solved", "hint used" and "paywall viewed") and technical crash details, identified only by a random installation ID. You can turn both off in Settings > Share usage data.
• Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore: provide the anonymous player ID (and the optional Google link) and store the progress described above.
• RevenueCat: manages Premium subscriptions on our behalf. It receives an anonymous app user ID and your purchase information from Google Play, and tells the App whether Premium is active. See RevenueCat's privacy policy.
• Google Play: handles Premium purchases. We never see your payment details; Google Play only tells the App whether a subscription is active.

More about how Google handles this information: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and Firebase privacy information.

Device Permissions

• Internet: to download new puzzles, back up progress, show ads and send anonymous reports. Puzzles you have already opened stay playable offline.
• No camera, microphone, contacts, location, photos or files. The App does not ask for them.

Purchases

Crossword Corner Premium is an auto-renewing subscription sold by Google Play at the price shown in the App. Google Play handles payment; we receive only a confirmation of the active subscription so the App can remove ads and unlock Premium content. Manage or cancel it in your Google Play account settings.

Data Sharing

We do not sell your information. The only data that leaves your device is your anonymous progress (to our database), your display name and star total (to the Rank board), and the technical information described above, sent to Google AdMob, Firebase, RevenueCat and Google Play under their own policies.

Security

Network traffic to our database and to Google services is encrypted in transit. Our database rules allow each anonymous player to read and write only their own progress. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

Delete Your Data

Crossword Corner by Vertex Studio identifies you only by an anonymous Player ID. To delete everything we hold about you:

1. Open the App, go to Settings and copy your Player ID.
2. Email it to contact@vertexstudiodot.com with the subject "Delete my data".

We delete your progress, display name, hint balance and Rank board entry within 30 days and confirm by email. Uninstalling the App removes the copy on your device but not the backup, so please send the email as well if you want the backup removed.

Stop anonymous reports

Turn off Settings > Share usage data at any time. No analytics or crash reports are sent after that.

What is deleted and what is kept

• Deleted: your progress, display name, hint balance, Premium status record, Rank board entry and any linked Google account identifier, on request.
• Kept, by Google Play: your purchase history stays with Google Play under its policies; we never hold it.
• Kept, by Google: anonymous analytics events are held by Firebase for 2 months and crash reports for 90 days, identified only by a random installation ID that we cannot link to you. Advertising data is handled by AdMob under Google's policies; you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your device settings.

Questions or requests: contact@vertexstudiodot.com. We reply within 30 days.

Your Choices

• Turn analytics and crash reports off in Settings > Share usage data.
• Change your ad consent choice when the consent form appears again, or reset your advertising ID in your device settings.
• Change your display name at any time in Settings.
• Subscribe to Premium to remove all ads.
• Ask us to delete your data as described above.

Audience

Crossword Corner is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children under the age of 13/16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

External Links

The App may open links to this policy, the terms, Google Play and our support contact in your browser or email app. We are not responsible for the content of other websites or services.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new "Last updated" date. Please check back periodically.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at contact@vertexstudiodot.com.