gbaDesuYo! Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 29, 2026
Privacy First
gbaDesuYo! stores the games you add, your progress, and your app settings locally on your device. The sections below explain when app data is handled by Apple services, a destination you choose, or my support service.
Data Stored on Your Device
gbaDesuYo! stores the following data locally. Your device's backup settings may also apply.
- Games: Copies of the games you add, together with their title screens.
- Progress: In-game saves, save states, and the point where you last left each game. A save that gets replaced is kept for 30 days.
- Library & Playback: Favorites, pinned items, recently played games, soundtrack favorites and removed songs, stations, and the current queue.
- Settings: Your appearance, playback, Spotlight, iCloud, and sound choices.
- Contact Draft: Your email address and unfinished Contact message are saved on your device until you clear those fields.
- Trial Access: gbaDesuYo! saves Apple's trial purchase identifier and timing information on your device to enforce the single 30 day trial. This record is not synced to your other devices and may remain after you reinstall the app.
Adding Your Games
When you choose iCloud Drive or Files, gbaDesuYo! adds only the files selected in Apple's file picker. Games you place in an Automatically Add to Games folder, on your device or in iCloud Drive, or open in gbaDesuYo! from another app, are added the same way, as are saves you add with their games or with Import Save.
If a selected file is stored in iCloud or another File Provider, iOS or that provider may download it first. gbaDesuYo! then keeps a copy in its local storage. Your games are uploaded only to your own iCloud, and only while Sync with iCloud and Include Games are on.
iCloud
While Sync with iCloud is on, gbaDesuYo! keeps your in-game saves, save states, the points where you last left your games, and your library choices in your iCloud, so your devices signed in to the same Apple Account share them. Library choices are favorites, pins, recently played games, and soundtrack favorites and removed songs. With Include Games on, your games are kept in your iCloud too.
This data moves only between your devices and Apple's iCloud, which stores it under Apple's privacy practices. It is never sent to me, and I can't access it.
With Sync in Background on, iOS may run gbaDesuYo! briefly while it's closed to keep syncing; it does nothing else then.
Turning off Sync with iCloud stops syncing and keeps what is already in iCloud. iCloud Storage in gbaDesuYo!'s Settings shows what gbaDesuYo! keeps in iCloud, and lets you remove games from iCloud, delete saves of games that aren't on your device, or delete all of gbaDesuYo!'s data from iCloud.
Game information
Game details, descriptions, and artwork come from information included with the app and from the games you add. Showing them does not send anything from your device.
The Emulator
Your games run on gbaDesuYo!'s own emulator, which I wrote from scratch. It contains no code from mGBA or from any other emulator and runs entirely on your device. The emulator never connects to the internet or sends anything from your device. The features that do, such as iCloud syncing, are described in this policy.
Voice Search
When you tap a search microphone, gbaDesuYo! temporarily uses microphone audio to turn your speech into search text on your device. gbaDesuYo! does not save that microphone audio. iOS may download a required speech language model.
The Microphone and Speech Recognition switches in gbaDesuYo! control whether Voice Search uses access that iOS grants. Turning either switch off stops that use without changing the separate system permission. Open gbaDesuYo!'s page in iOS Settings to revoke or restore that permission.
iOS Search (Spotlight)
The separate Games and Songs switches control which library entries gbaDesuYo! adds to iOS's private, on-device Spotlight index. Indexed fields can include the game or song title, developer, publisher, genre, favorite status, and artwork. gbaDesuYo! also provides an app shortcut for searching your library; this is separate from the in-app indexing preferences.
The Spotlight index stays on your device, is not sent to gbaDesuYo! or Apple, and is not synced to your other devices. Turning off Games or Songs in gbaDesuYo!'s Settings removes that kind of indexed entry. iOS controls whether gbaDesuYo! and its shortcut appear in Search. Open gbaDesuYo!'s page in iOS Settings, then tap Search to manage that system setting.
Purchases
Apple provides product prices and confirms your trial and purchases. gbaDesuYo! uses this information to unlock and restore your access, and keeps purchase access information on your device.
Apple processes payments. gbaDesuYo! does not receive your card or billing details.
Contact
When you tap Send, your email address and message are sent securely to my support service so I can reply. The service also uses your IP address to limit repeated submissions.
A cloud hosting provider stores the support request, and an email provider delivers a copy to my support inbox. These providers handle the request only to provide hosting, delivery and security for me, and they are bound by data processing terms to protect it at least as well as this policy describes. Clearing the form or deleting the app does not delete a request already sent.
I review support email weekly and manually delete messages and saved copies more than 90 days old. A message may remain until the next weekly review. Server copies are deleted separately during manual cleanup once they are more than 30 days old, and may remain until that cleanup runs.
Hosting backups are kept for five days after creation and may temporarily contain deleted requests. The hosting provider retains searchable app logs for seven days, and the email provider may retain mail and connection logs for up to 25 days. Other provider records follow their own retention policies. Deleting an active request does not immediately remove these separate records.
You can request deletion of support correspondence using Contact Me or by replying to a support email. I handle these requests manually and may ask you to confirm control of the email address used to contact me.
Tracking & Analytics
gbaDesuYo! does not include advertising or analytics and does not use your data to track you across other companies' apps or websites.
Exports and AirPlay
When you export games, saves, or soundtracks, iOS saves the files in the place you choose. When you select an AirPlay output, iOS sends playback to that device. The selected destination handles the data it receives under its own privacy practices.
Soundtrack export and Save to Files run entirely on your device. gbaDesuYo! creates each file from the game you added and saves it only where you choose, and it never sends what you export to me. Sync with iCloud is separate: if you turn it on and include your games, they are kept in your own iCloud, as the iCloud section explains. Export and Save to Files are meant only for using the music and games you own yourself, as the Terms of Service explain under Soundtrack Export.
Deleting Your Data
You can delete individual games, songs, or save states from within gbaDesuYo! Deleting a game removes its local copy, title screen, library record, soundtrack information, save states, and the point where you last left it. Its in-game saves stay on your device, so adding the same game again brings your progress back. While Sync with iCloud and Include Games are on, deleting a game also deletes it from iCloud and your other devices, and its saves stay in iCloud.
Erase Library in Settings removes every game, soundtrack, in-game save, save state, and resume point from your device, and turns off Sync with iCloud. Data in iCloud and files still waiting in an Automatically Add to Games folder are kept.
When your library changes, gbaDesuYo! asks iOS to update or remove the related Spotlight entries. iOS controls when that system index finishes updating.
You can clear the saved Contact draft by clearing its fields. The local trial record cannot be erased from the app because it prevents the single trial from being reset, and may remain after you reinstall. Requests already sent to support and purchase records held by Apple are handled separately.
Your Rights
Dennis Juman, an independent developer in the Netherlands, is responsible for the personal data in support requests. You can reach me with Contact Me or at direst-toolbox2c@icloud.com.
I use your email address and message to answer your request (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR), and your IP address to protect the contact service against abuse, which is my legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).
The hosting and email providers may process support requests outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States. These transfers rely on the safeguards the GDPR provides for, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision.
You have the right to access, correct, or delete your data, to restrict or object to its processing, and to receive it in a portable format. Contact me to use these rights. You can also lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) or the data protection authority where you live.
Changes to This Policy
If anything changes about how the app handles your data, I'll update this page and the date at the top. The app is built with your privacy in mind, so data collection is kept to an absolute minimum.
Contact
Have questions about this privacy policy?
Use Contact Me in gbaDesuYo!'s Settings, or the contact form on this site, to reach me.
When you send a message with the contact form on this site, Cloudflare Turnstile checks that it comes from a person and processes technical data such as your IP address for that check.
About Translations
gbaDesuYo!'s translations are bundled with the app. Changing the app language does not send text to a translation service. I only check the English text for accuracy, so other translations may be incomplete or imperfect and newer text may appear in English.