Privacy policy

Directive Labs, LLC · Effective date: November 4, 2026 · Last updated: November 4, 2026

Directive Labs, LLC ("we," "us," "our") is a small North Carolina company. We make apps and Home Assistant add-ons. This policy covers our website, directivelabs.app, and each product listed below.

The short version

• What we collect: only what a product needs to work. Some of our products send us nothing at all.
• Why: to run and improve our products, keep them and your account secure, answer your emails, and follow the law.
• What we never do: sell your information or share it for advertising, show ads, use ad SDKs, track you across other companies' apps or websites, or share your information with data brokers.
• How to delete: each product section below shows the steps. You can also email support@directivelabs.app.

How to read this page: the shared sections apply to everything we make. Then each product has its own complete section. If you use one product, read the shared sections and that product's section.

Each product at a glance

Who we are and how to reach us

Directive Labs, LLC
North Carolina, USA
Email: support@directivelabs.app

• Use this address for any privacy question or request, for every product.
• It is also our designated address for requests under Nevada law (see Your choices and rights).

What we never do

• We don't sell your personal information or share it for advertising.
• No ads, ever. Our products never show ads, not even for our own other apps. Our website shows no ads. Neither ever contains ad SDKs (advertising or ad-tracking code made by other companies). We don't use your information for advertising, including when we advertise our own apps elsewhere.
• We don't track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• We don't share your information with data brokers.

Today, also: we don't add analytics or crash-reporting tools to our products. If that ever changes, we'll update this policy first (see Changes to this policy). If you test an app through TestFlight, Apple shares crash and usage data with us; see TestFlight. If you turn on usage and diagnostics sharing on your phone (on iPhone, Share With App Developers in Analytics settings; on Android, usage and diagnostics sharing), Apple or Google shares overall usage and crash statistics about our apps with us. We see totals, not who you are.

Who we share information with

We share information only with the services that run parts of our products, and only what each one needs.

Service providers that handle information for us

In plain words: they may use your information only to do this job for us, and they must keep it safe. These providers have agreed to data-protection terms that let them use the information only to provide their service to us, and that require them to keep it secure.

Expo builds our apps and delivers app updates for PreOrder Pal and Serotonin Swipe. Expo processes app-update checks for us as described in its privacy policy (see App updates for PreOrder Pal and App updates for Serotonin Swipe).

Services your device contacts directly

Some features connect your device straight to another company:

• the services that supply book cover images in PreOrder Pal;
• Open Library's book search, only if our own lookup service can't be reached;
• Google Sign-In and Sign in with Apple (optional ways to sign in to PreOrder Pal);
• Apple's App Store and TestFlight (to get and test our apps).

These companies handle what they receive under their own privacy policies.

When the law requires it

We may disclose information if the law requires it, for example in response to a valid court order, or to protect someone's safety.

If our company changes

If Directive Labs, LLC is merged, sold or reorganized, the information we hold may move to the new owner as part of that deal. We'll tell you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

Testing our apps with TestFlight

Some of our apps are in testing through Apple's TestFlight. If you install a test version, Apple shares some information with us, as described in Apple's "TestFlight & Privacy" notice:

• crash logs and usage data, such as your device model, a device identifier and the number of times you've used a test build;
• any feedback you send, including your comments and screenshots;
• your name and email address with that information, unless you joined through a public link.

What happens to it:

• We use this only to find and fix problems and to improve the app.
• Apple doesn't allow us to share it with anyone else, and we don't.
• Apple keeps beta feedback for one year and may keep crash and usage data until the bugs are fixed.

Your choices and rights

• See and change your information: in the app where the product has an account (for example, PreOrder Pal's Profile screen), or by emailing us.
• Delete your information: each product section explains how. You can also email us.
• Withdraw permission:
  • You can turn off an app's access to your camera or photos at any time in your phone's Settings (on iPhone: Privacy & Security).
  • You can stop a sign-in connection in your Apple Account or Google Account settings, or by deleting your account.
  • Each app section lists its permissions.
• Other requests: depending on where you live, you may have the right to ask for a copy of your information, to have it corrected or deleted, or to object to how we use it.
  • Email support@directivelabs.app.
  • We may ask you to write from the email address on your account so we know the request is yours.
  • We'll respond within 30 days.
• Nevada residents: we don't sell covered information (the personal information Nevada law protects). You can still send a request about it to support@directivelabs.app.

We won't treat you differently for making a request.

How long we keep information

• Each product section says what it keeps and for how long.
• Support emails: unless a product section says otherwise, support emails you send us are kept for up to 2 years after the conversation ends, then deleted, unless we need them longer to handle a legal claim.
• Email to support@directivelabs.app is forwarded to one company mailbox. The same rule applies to that copy.

Do Not Track and tracking by others

In plain words: we don't track you across other apps or websites, so a browser's "Do Not Track" setting doesn't change anything here.

• Some browsers can send a "Do Not Track" signal. Because we don't track you across other apps or websites, we don't respond differently to it.
• We don't add other companies' tracking tools to our products or our website.
• Services your device contacts directly, such as Google Sign-In, Sign in with Apple and the services that supply book cover images, receive your requests and your device's IP address (the internet address your device uses) and handle them under their own privacy policies.
• We don't let them use our products to track you for advertising.

Children and teens

In plain words: most of our products are not made for children under 13. Serotonin Swipe can be used by children with a parent's permission. It asks no one for their name, email or any other details, and your photos stay on the iPhone. Its only connection to a company we chose is an app-update check, used only to keep the app working and up to date.

• Our products are not directed to children under 13, except Serotonin Swipe.
• Serotonin Swipe collects only what its app-update check needs: a random ID for the install and the iPhone's IP address, which the law counts as personal information. We use them only to deliver app updates and to see overall counts of installs per version (the law calls this support for internal operations). We never use them to identify or contact anyone, build a profile, advertise or track anyone, and the check carries nothing else (see App updates).
• Apart from that, we don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
• If you believe a child under 13 has given us personal information, email us and we'll delete it.
• Each product's section gives its own minimum age.
• Serotonin Swipe asks Apple for your age group where the law requires it (see its section). Our other apps don't ask an app store for your age; if one starts to, we'll update this policy first.

Where your information is stored, and who we serve

• Our database is in the United States.
• Our apps are offered in the United States only.
• Cloudflare delivers our website through its worldwide network.
• Our email is hosted by Google Workspace.

Security

• Information travels between our apps and our servers over encrypted (HTTPS) connections.
• No system is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security.
• If a security breach affects your personal information, we'll notify you as the law requires.

Changes to this policy

• If we add features that use information differently, such as purchases or analytics, we'll update this policy before they launch.
• We change the dates at the top whenever this policy changes.
• For important changes, we'll also tell you in the app or by email where we can.

Our website (directivelabs.app)

The short version

• What we collect: nothing ourselves.
• Why: our host, Cloudflare, needs basic technical details to deliver the pages and protect the site.
• What we don't do: add cookies, browser storage, analytics, forms or ads to the site.
• How to delete: there is nothing of yours on the site to delete. For emails you send us, see How long we keep information.

What happens when you visit

• What we collect: nothing. We don't add cookies, browser storage, analytics, forms or ads to the site. Every file comes from directivelabs.app itself; the text uses your device's own fonts.
• Links to other sites: some pages may link to our own product pages on GitHub or to app stores. Nothing from those sites loads until you click. Once you do, that site's own privacy policy applies.
• Our web host: Cloudflare delivers the site.
  • Like any web host, it processes your IP address and the technical details your browser sends with each request (such as the page requested and your browser type) to deliver the pages and protect the site from attacks.
  • Cloudflare does this as our service provider, under its data processing terms.
  • As part of hosting, Cloudflare shows us overall traffic counts, not who visited.
• Emails you send us: if you email support@directivelabs.app, we receive your email address and what you write. See How long we keep information.

PreOrder Pal

PreOrder Pal is a mobile app for tracking book pre-orders and wishlists. You can use it as a guest or with an account.

The short version

• What we collect: with an account, your email, display name, avatar color, sign-in details, and the pre-orders, wishlists and settings you add. As a guest, what you add stays on your device. For everyone, guests included: your book searches, and short-term request logs (IP address, approximate location, device details) kept up to 7 days. When the app opens, it also checks for app updates (see App updates).
• Why: to keep your lists in sync across your devices, look up books, keep your account and our service secure, and answer your support requests.
• What we don't do: the app has no analytics, crash-reporting, advertising or tracking tools (app-update checks aside; see App updates). It doesn't use your phone's location (GPS), your contacts or your advertising ID.
• How to delete: Profile → Delete Account deletes your account and everything saved in it from our database right away. Request logs expire within 7 days. You can also use our account deletion page or email us.

Information we collect

If you create an account

• Email address: used to sign in and for messages about your account (for example, the email that confirms a new account).
• Display name and avatar color: shown on your profile.
• Account ID: a random identifier that links your data to your account.
• Sign-in details:
  • If you sign up with email, your password is handled by our sign-in provider (Supabase) and stored only in hashed form; we never see it.
  • (Hashed means turned into a code that can't be turned back into your password.)
  • If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name and email address from them.
  • If you choose Apple's "Hide My Email," we receive a private relay address (an address from Apple that forwards to you) instead of your real one.

Content you add (saved to your account when you're signed in)

• Pre-orders: title, author, ISBN, category, store, the price you paid and the list price, release date, status, cover image, cover color, notes, and whether it is a store exclusive or special edition.
• Wishlists and the books you add to them (title, author, ISBN, cover, notes, and the same edition details).
• Your settings: your theme, the stores you add, and the colors you pick for them.

Photos

• If you pick a cover image from your phone's photos or take one with the camera, the photo itself stays on your phone.
• We store only the photo's file address on that phone (not the photo, and not where it was taken).
• So the photo is not uploaded and does not appear on your other devices.

If you use Guest Mode

• As a guest, everything you add is stored only on your device, not on our servers.
• Your phone's own backup (iCloud or Google) may include it; we don't control or access those backups.
• If you later sign in, your pre-orders, wishlists and settings move into your account and are removed from the device's guest storage. Your guest name and avatar color don't move.
• As a guest, the app still contacts our servers for book lookups and once a day to check for book-data updates. Those requests are logged as described under Technical information and don't include anything from your lists.

Book lookups

• When you search for a book by title, author or ISBN, the app sends your search text or ISBN to our own book lookup service, which runs on our hosting provider (Supabase).
• Our service checks our book catalog first. If the book isn't there, our service asks ISBNdb, then Google Books, then Open Library (run by the Internet Archive).
• We save the book details ISBNdb and Open Library return in our catalog. Google Books answers are used for that search only and aren't kept.
• These services receive only the search text or ISBN, sent from our server: not your device's IP address, your account details or anything from your lists.
• If our lookup service can't be reached, the app asks Open Library directly instead, and Open Library can then see your device's IP address.
• Cover images load straight from the service that supplied them (ISBNdb, Google Books or Open Library), so, like any website, that service can see your device's IP address.

Our book catalog

• The catalog holds facts about books, such as title, author, publisher, release date and a link to the cover, and never who looked a book up.
• To answer repeat title searches quickly, we keep ISBNdb's results for up to 24 hours under a scrambled code made from the search (not the search text itself), then delete them.
• Once a week we re-check upcoming books for changes to their release date or title.
• To choose which books to re-check, our server counts how many lists include each book, without recording whose lists they are.

Technical information

In plain words: our host keeps a short log of each request the app makes, for up to 7 days, so the service can run and stay secure.

• Our hosting provider, Supabase, keeps a short-term log of each request the app makes to our servers, so the service can run and stay secure.
• Each entry can include your IP address, an approximate location worked out from it (country, region and city), your device and app details, your account ID if you're signed in, and which part of our service was called.
• It doesn't include what you searched for or what's in your lists.
• These logs are kept for up to 7 days.
• We don't use this information to profile you.

App updates

• Each time the app opens, it asks our app-update service, Expo (EAS Update, run by 650 Industries, Inc.), whether a newer version of the app's code is ready, and downloads it if so.
• The check includes your phone's platform (iOS or Android), the app's version and update details, and a random ID made for this install of the app.
• That ID isn't linked to your account, name or email. It stays the same across app updates and changes if you delete and reinstall the app.
• If the app crashed the last time it opened, the next check also sends that error message once (up to 1,024 characters), so a broken update can be fixed.
• Like any website, Expo also sees your device's IP address.
• Expo uses these checks to deliver updates and to show us overall counts, such as how many installs use each version. We don't use them to track you.

What the app doesn't collect

• Your location, contacts, advertising ID or any hardware identifier. (Our host's request logs do record an approximate location worked out from your IP address; see Technical information. The app-update check sends a random ID for this install; see App updates.)
• The app has no analytics, crash-reporting, advertising or tracking tools. Our app-update service shows us only overall counts of update checks, and gets an error message only after a crash, as described in App updates.

Permissions

• Camera: asked only when you tap Take Photo, to photograph a book cover.
• Photos: the app uses the system photo picker, so it doesn't ask for access to your photo library.
• The app doesn't ask for location, contacts, microphone or notifications.
• Turning access off:
  • You can turn off camera access at any time in iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera. On Android, use your phone's app settings for PreOrder Pal.
  • If you signed in with Apple or Google, you can also remove PreOrder Pal's access in your Apple Account or Google Account settings. Deleting your account does this for Apple automatically.

How we use your information

• To provide the app's features and keep your pre-orders, wishlists and settings in sync across your devices.
• To create and secure your account and let you sign in.
• To answer your support requests.
• To detect and prevent misuse of the service.

Services PreOrder Pal uses

Keeping and deleting your data

• While you have an account, we keep your account data.
• Deleting a single pre-order, wishlist or wishlist item erases it from our database right away. Deleting a wishlist also erases the books in it.
• Items you added as a guest:
  • When your guest data moves into your account, we keep a small record for each moved item. It holds no content, only the type of item and when it was first created.
  • If you later delete that item, the record stays until you delete your account, so that an old copy left on a phone can't bring the item back.
• Deleting your account in the app: go to Profile → Delete Account.
  • This immediately and permanently deletes your account, pre-orders, wishlists, settings and guest-move records from our database, and clears the app's data on that phone.
  • If you signed in with Apple, the app also revokes its Sign in with Apple access (on Android, the app shows you Apple's steps to do this yourself).
  • It can't be undone.
• Without the app: see how to request account deletion, or email us.

Security

• Our database only lets each signed-in user read and change their own data.
• Our book catalog holds no information about users, and the app can't read it directly; only our book lookup service can.

Payments

PreOrder Pal is free. It has no in-app purchases, and we receive no payment information.

Age

You must be at least 13 to use PreOrder Pal (see our Terms).

Homedial and Homedial Backdrop (Home Assistant add-ons)

Homedial and Homedial Backdrop are free add-ons for Home Assistant, the smart-home software you run on your own equipment.

Homedial was called DLabs Thermostat, and Homedial Backdrop was called DLabs Core, during testing. Some names inside Home Assistant, such as entity IDs, still start with "dlabs".

In this section, "Homedial" means Homedial and Homedial Backdrop together, unless we name one of them.

The short version

• What we collect: the add-ons send us nothing. If you email us, we have your email and what you write. If you join a beta, we also keep your beta emails and your "I agree" reply.
• Why: to answer support emails, fix bugs you report, and run any beta.
• What we don't do: the add-ons have no accounts, analytics, update or license checks, error reports, or connections to our servers.
• How to delete: remove the add-ons with the guide's "Removing Homedial cleanly" steps; Home Assistant may still keep past readings under your own history settings. Email us to delete your emails.

Getting Homedial

• You get Homedial through HACS or from our GitHub page. Both are run by GitHub, which handles your download (including your IP address) under its own privacy policy.
• GitHub shows us overall traffic counts for our page, such as views, unique visitors and downloads. Homedial adds no tracking of its own.
• If you star, watch or copy (fork) our GitHub page, GitHub shows your username publicly, under its own terms.
• Bug reports go to support@directivelabs.app by email, not through GitHub. Please leave out personal details.

What the add-ons do with your information

• They send nothing to us. There are no accounts, analytics, update or license checks, error reports, or connections to our servers.
• Everything stays in your Home Assistant:
  • the devices and sensors you choose for Homedial (your thermostat, room temperature sensors and optional sensors);
  • your settings, the add-on's current mode and target, and its last change;
  • Homedial Backdrop's theme and alert settings (including any alert message you type);
  • the add-ons' log lines.
• Homedial Backdrop's dashboard reads the signed-in Home Assistant user's ID in your browser only to check an exempt-user list, which is empty unless you fill it.
• Your thermostat's own service: Homedial changes your thermostat through Home Assistant. If your thermostat uses its maker's cloud, your existing Home Assistant connection for it sends those changes to the maker, under the maker's privacy policy.

What we keep about beta testers

Our first private beta closed on October 25, 2026 before any invitations were sent, so we hold no tester information from it. This section applies to any future beta.

• Your email address and our email conversation about the beta (invitations go out from our business email, Google Workspace).
• Your "I agree" reply, our record that you accepted the beta license.
• Bug reports you email to support@directivelabs.app. We ask you to remove names, addresses and other personal details first.

The beta files are sent as email attachments, so there is no download site and no download log.

How long we keep it

• Beta emails and bug reports: deleted 12 months after the beta ends.
• Your "I agree" reply (which includes your email address): the one beta email we keep longer, as our record that you accepted the license terms that continue after the beta. We keep it until we have confirmed how long that record is needed, and will then state the period here.
• To have your other beta emails deleted sooner, email support@directivelabs.app.

Removing Homedial

• The guide's "Removing Homedial cleanly" steps remove the add-ons from your Home Assistant.
• Home Assistant may keep past readings according to your own history settings.

Age

Homedial is meant for adults who control their home's heating and cooling. Any beta is open only to people 18 or older (see the beta license).

Serotonin Swipe

Serotonin Swipe is an iPhone app that helps you sort your photos by swiping: keep, delete or decide later.

The short version

• What we collect: nothing about you. Your photos and everything the app saves stay on your iPhone. The app's only connection to a company we chose is an app-update check, which sends a random ID for this install, the app's version and update details, and your iPhone's IP address (see App updates). (Test versions: Apple shares crash and usage data, any feedback you send, and usually your name and email; see TestFlight.)
• Why: the app reads your photo details on your iPhone only, to build your piles and show each photo or video on your screen.
• What we don't do: the app never uploads your photos. It doesn't read photo locations, and it looks at what's in your photos only on your iPhone, when you ask for smart piles. It has no accounts, ads, analytics, crash-reporting or tracking tools.
• How to delete: in the app, Settings → Erase my data. Deleting the app also removes what it saved on your iPhone (copies can remain in your own iPhone or iCloud backups). Neither touches your photos.

What the app reads and saves

• Photo access:
  • The app asks for access to your photo library. You can allow all photos or only some.
  • It needs permission to change your library only so that it can delete the photos you choose, through iOS's own confirmation.
• What it reads:
  • For each photo or video: its identifier (the code iOS uses to find it), creation date, type (including whether it's a screenshot), length, width and height, and whether it's a favorite.
  • Your album names and photo counts.
  • Which photos are hidden (only to leave them out), which photos belong to a burst, and which are in Apple's Selfies, RAW and Long exposure albums.
  • It uses these to build your piles and show the photo on screen. Videos play on your iPhone.
  • It doesn't read photo locations or keep file names. It looks at what's in your photos only if you use smart piles (below).
• Age check (where the law requires it, Texas today): when you first open the app, after Erase my data, and before a big change to the app, it asks Apple for your age group. Apple answers on your iPhone. The app uses the answer only for that check. It doesn't save your age group, and never sends it to us or anyone; it saves only that the check was done, which app changes it has already asked about, and the app's App Store age rating (a number about the app, not about you).

• Smart piles (Pro, optional):
  • If you tap "Find smart piles," your iPhone checks the photos stored on it with Apple's on-device tools, only while the app is open.
  • It looks for documents and receipts, photos that may be blurry, and look-alikes.
  • A photo kept only in iCloud is skipped, not downloaded.
  • The app saves only a few results on your iPhone: how many lines of text a photo has (never the words), Apple's photo quality score, whether Apple marks it as a utility photo (like a receipt), and which photo looks like another.
  • It doesn't look for faces.
  • No photo or text leaves your iPhone. Nothing is deleted without your review and iOS's confirmation.
• What it saves, on your iPhone only: your keep, delete and later decisions, your undo history, your progress through each pile, your session settings, your daily counts (for today's progress, Stats and milestones), your "never delete" (protected) list, your smart pile results, your app settings and milestone progress, your badges and the counts behind them (such as which days you used the app and when your sessions ended), your tokens, the decorations and scenes you unlock and place, and similar records the app keeps to show your progress and keep your place.

• Your own backups: the app's saved data can be part of your iPhone or iCloud backup, which Apple runs and we can't access.
• Turning access off: you can change or turn off photo access at any time in iPhone Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos → Serotonin Swipe.

What leaves your iPhone

• The app has no servers of ours. Its only connection to a company we chose is the app-update check below.
• Other than that, the only connections are the ones iOS makes for you (a purchase check with Apple, an iCloud download, a share you start, or a link you tap in About, which opens our website in your browser).
• Photos kept in iCloud: if a photo is stored only in your iCloud, iOS downloads it from your iCloud when the app shows it to you, like the Photos app does; a video downloads only when you tap Play or Share. That download is between your iPhone and Apple; we receive nothing.
• Sharing: if you tap Share, iOS's own share sheet opens. You choose where the photo or video goes, and iOS gives that app or person a copy. We don't see where it goes or receive a copy.
• It has no accounts, ads, analytics, crash-reporting or tracking tools.
• Test versions: if you test it through TestFlight, Apple shares crash and usage data, any feedback you send, and usually your name and email. Feedback screenshots can show your photos, so check them before you send (see TestFlight).

App updates

• Each time the app opens, it asks our app-update service, Expo (EAS Update, run by 650 Industries, Inc.), whether a newer version of the app's code is ready. If one is, the app downloads it and uses it the next time it opens.
• What the check sends: your iPhone's platform (iOS), the app's version and update details, and a random ID made for this install of the app. Like any website, Expo also sees your iPhone's IP address.
• What it never sends: your name, your Apple Account, your photos or their details, your decisions, piles or settings, or anything else the app saved. The check doesn't send error reports.
• The random ID isn't linked to you, your Apple Account or anything in the app. It stays the same across app updates and changes if you delete and reinstall the app.
• How it's used: only to deliver app updates and to show us overall counts, such as how many installs use each version. We don't use it to identify, contact or profile anyone, for ads, or to track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• Our safeguards: the update check is the app's only connection to a company we chose; it carries nothing beyond the items above; and the app has no analytics, crash-reporting, advertising or tracking tools. Expo handles the check as described in its privacy policy.
• Without internet, the app works as usual; it just doesn't update.

Deleting photos

• The app deletes a photo only when you confirm it on the review screen, and iOS then asks you to confirm again.
• If you mark a burst on its burst card, deleting it deletes the photos in that burst too, except Favorites, photos you sorted yourself, protected and hidden ones; iOS shows how many.
• Deleted photos go to the Photos app's Recently Deleted album, where Apple keeps them for about 30 days.
• If you use an iCloud Shared Library, deleting a shared photo removes it from the Shared Library for everyone. It stays in Recently Deleted for 30 days, and only the person who added it can delete it for good. The app warns you before you delete.

Erasing your data

• In the app: Settings → Erase my data deletes everything the app saved on your iPhone: your decisions, undo history, pile progress, session settings, app settings, milestone progress, daily counts, protected list, smart pile results, badges, tokens, decorations and scenes, and similar records. It never touches your photos.
• Always free: Erase my data is free in every version of the app. You never need Pro to delete your data.
• Deleting the app also removes everything it saved.

Testing

If you test Serotonin Swipe through TestFlight, see Testing our apps with TestFlight above.

Purchases (Pro)

• Pro is bought through Apple's App Store, and Apple handles the payment. We never receive your card or other payment details.
• The app checks with Apple, on your iPhone, whether Pro is unlocked. It doesn't save that answer.
• Restore purchase unlocks Pro again on any iPhone signed in to the App Store with the same Apple Account.
• If Pro is shared through Apple's Family Sharing, Apple runs it. We don't receive your family's details.
• Erase my data doesn't remove Pro.

Age

Serotonin Swipe can be used by children with a parent or guardian's permission (see our Terms). The app asks no one, including children, for their name, email or other details, and your photos and everything the app saves stay on the iPhone. Its only connection is the app-update check described in App updates, used only to keep the app working and up to date.

Contact

support@directivelabs.app (also shown in the app's About screen, with links to this policy and our Terms).