Privacy Policy
Effective October 4, 2026
Sapling helps a family notice and support their own child's development. It works by keeping a private record of what the child did and said, and by using that record to plan the next activities. The record is yours. This page says what we collect, what we do with it, who else touches it, and how to get it deleted.
What we collect
- Your account. Your name, email address, and a password we store only as a hash. Optionally the role you go by in the family, such as "mom" or "grandpa".
- Your child's record. The child's first name, birth date, pronouns, and time zone. Everything you record about them: notes you type or dictate, marks on planned activities, check-ins, photos of their work or of filled-in paper sheets, and the results of activities they play in the app.
- Voice. When you record a voice note, the phone transcribes it on the device or through Apple's speech service. We store the text. We do not keep the audio.
- Photos. Photos you attach are stored so the app and the family can see them and so Sapling can read them. We do not access your photo library beyond what you choose to attach.
- Device. A push notification token, if you allow notifications, so the app can remind you of the day's plan.
We do not collect location, contacts, advertising identifiers, or analytics about how you use the app. There are no ads and no tracking.
How we use it
To run the app: show the record to everyone in your family, plan the child's activities, read what you record, and answer your questions in the thread. Sapling's planning, reading and replies are done by an AI model, and the pictures, spoken words and short clips in activities are made by AI services. The part of the record a request needs is sent to the service that handles it, only for that request. The app asks each parent for permission before any of it is sent.
Who else handles it
| Service | What it does |
|---|---|
| Convex | Hosts the database and file storage in the United States. |
| Anthropic | Runs the AI model that plans activities, reads notes and photos, and writes replies in the thread. Data sent to it is processed under its commercial terms and is not used for training. |
| OpenAI | Draws the pictures in activities from a written description. |
| ElevenLabs | Turns the words in activities into speech. |
| fal | Makes short animated clips for activities from a picture and a description. |
| Apple | Speech transcription on the phone, push notifications, and the App Store. |
| Expo | Delivers app updates and push notifications. |
| Cloudflare | Serves the website and sends account email. |
We do not sell data, and we do not share it with anyone else.
Children
Sapling is made for parents and caregivers. Adults create the account and record the child's information. A child may use the app only in Kid Mode, a locked activity screen that collects nothing from the child beyond the result of the activity, which goes into the record the adult keeps. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child directly. If you believe a child has created an account, write to us and we will delete it.
Your family
Anyone you invite with your family code sees the whole record and can add to it. Each entry shows who wrote it. Remove someone by writing to us; we will remove their access the same day.
Keeping and deleting it
We keep the record as long as your account exists. Delete your account in the app: open Family and tap Delete account (on the web: Settings, then Delete account). Your account and every way to sign in to it are deleted at once. If you are the last parent in the family, the whole record goes with it, photos and generated media included; if others remain, the shared record stays with them. You can also write to hello@sapling.day from your account email and we will do it for you within 30 days. You can ask for a copy of everything we hold.
Security
Data travels over encrypted connections and is stored on encrypted disks. Passwords are hashed. Access to the database is limited to the people who run Sapling.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we will say so in the app and update the date at the top.
Sapling · hello@sapling.day