Legal
Spacely Privacy Policy
This policy covers the Spacely Android application. A Simplified Chinese translation is available at 隐私政策（简体中文）. If the two versions differ, this English version prevails.
Short version: Spacely is free and shows ads served by Google AdMob, and it reports a small amount of technical telemetry. Google’s advertising SDK collects your advertising ID, device and usage information and an approximate location inferred from your IP address; the telemetry component collects a limited set of technical identifiers. Both are listed in full in section 3. Neither receives your files, photos, videos, file names, paths, thumbnails or scan results — that content is read and analysed on your phone only, and the part of the app that hosts these SDKs is built without access to it.
What changed: this policy applies to Spacely version 3.1.1 and later, which shows ads (app open, interstitial and native ads) served by Google AdMob. Earlier releases were different: 1.3.x declared no internet permission at all, and 2.x connected to the internet only to report telemetry and did not show ads. We have rewritten this policy rather than leave the old statements standing. Section 3 lists what is collected, and section 6 explains the ads and the choices you have.
Version 3.6.0 adds an install-source check that stays on your device (section 5), and Spacely itself no longer reads memory usage: the memory screen has been removed.
Version 3.8.0 was not released on its own: its changes reach you together with version 4.0.0. It changes no data practice: nothing new is collected, sent or shared. Two things are worth naming because you will notice them. On Android 8 to 10 the app now asks for the storage write permission before it deletes, so that “delete permanently” removes the file itself and not only its entry in the gallery (section 7). And because of that change, Android revokes the storage permissions once when you update from an earlier version — the app will ask again the first time you use a feature that needs them.
Version 4.0.0 collects, sends and shares nothing new. A few things are worth naming because you may notice them. Cleanup notices can now also follow pressing Home or leaving the app for about 30 seconds, and one can appear on your lock screen when the screen turns on (section 7). If the install came from an advertising campaign, these notices stay in the notification shade (sections 5 and 7). And to guard against repeated or accidental ad taps, the app keeps an on-device record of recent taps on full-screen ads (section 5).
1. What this app does
Spacely helps you see where your device storage went and reclaim it: a storage map, a recycle bin you can restore from, swipe-through photo review, junk and large-file cleanup, duplicate detection, cleanup of folders you choose, and optional storage notifications. All scanning, hashing, blur scoring and size measurement happen on your device.
The app is free and contains ads. It also reports a small amount of technical information about the app and device so that we can find and fix problems. There is no account, no sign-in, no subscription and no in-app purchase.
2. Our core commitments
- Your file content never leaves your device. We do not collect, upload, sell or share your files, photos, videos, file names, file paths, folder names, thumbnails, EXIF data or scan results.
- Those things are not merely withheld from our SDKs — they are structurally out of reach. The part of the app that hosts the third-party SDKs — the advertising SDK and the notification and telemetry component — is compiled without our file model on its classpath: file paths and media identifiers are types that module cannot even refer to, and an automated check fails the build if that boundary is crossed. This is not a claim that a third-party SDK is technically incapable of touching a filesystem. It is a claim that Spacely never passes it one, and that the claim is enforced mechanically rather than by good intentions.
- No file is ever uploaded by the app for any purpose. There is no cloud backup, no cloud sync and no server that holds your content.
- Nothing is deleted without you. Deletion goes through Android's own confirmation dialog, and deleted items go to a recycle bin you can restore from.
- No subscriptions and no paywall. Every feature is available to every user.
3. Data collected by the app and its third-party components
The table below lists everything collected, why, and which third party receives it. We keep no server of our own for this app: the data below flows to the third-party services named in section 4, not to us. Spacely’s own in-app event records are not sent anywhere.
| Data | What it is | Why | Shared with a third party |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising ID and other device identifiers | The resettable Android advertising ID, and other identifiers the Google Mobile Ads SDK uses on the device (such as the app set ID). | Serving and measuring ads, frequency capping, and preventing fraud and abuse. | Yes — collected and processed by Google (section 4). You can reset or delete your advertising ID (section 6). |
| Installation identifier | A random identifier (UUID) generated by the notification and telemetry component on first run. It is not the Android ID, not the advertising ID and not a hardware identifier, and it changes if you reinstall the app. | To count installations and app launches for stability and usage statistics. | Yes — the provider of that component. |
| Device and app information | Device model and brand, Android version, app version, SDK version, language and time zone. The Google Mobile Ads SDK also collects technical device information such as device type, operating system and screen characteristics. | Diagnostics, compatibility, and delivering ads that work on your device. | Yes — the provider of the telemetry component, and Google. |
| App activity | App launch records and notification taps, and advertising events — ad impressions, clicks and closes, with the ad unit, ad network and the estimated revenue the ad network reports for that impression (telemetry component). Interactions with ads, such as ad impressions and taps, and app launch information (Google Mobile Ads SDK). | Usage statistics; ad delivery, measurement and fraud prevention. | Yes — the provider of the telemetry component, and Google. |
| Approximate location | A coarse region inferred from your IP address. Spacely requests no location permission and does not read your GPS. | Ad delivery, fraud prevention and regional compliance requirements. | Yes — Google, and the provider of the telemetry component. |
| Diagnostics | Crash logs and performance information: those the Google Mobile Ads SDK collects about its own operation, and — since version 3.6.0 — crash reports for the app itself, collected by Firebase Crashlytics (stack traces, device model, Android version, app version; no file names or paths). | Keeping ads working, and finding and fixing crashes. | Yes — Google (Firebase). |
| Files, photos and videos | File contents, file names, paths, folder names, thumbnails, media identifiers, scan results. | — | Never collected and never shared with any third-party SDK, including the advertising SDK. Read on the device only, to draw the screens you are looking at. |
| Personal information | Name, email address, phone number, account identifiers. | — | Never collected. The app has no account system and no sign-in. |
| Contacts, messages, calendar, health, financial data | — | — | Never collected. The app requests none of the corresponding permissions. |
Google’s description of what the Google Mobile Ads SDK collects is published by Google and may change; where it differs from the summary above, Google’s own disclosure describes Google’s processing. Any in-app event data Spacely records passes through a filter that only permits numeric values and a fixed list of keywords, so a file name or a path cannot be attached to an event.
4. Third-party services
Spacely integrates the following third-party components. Each is an independent controller or processor of the data it collects. Where a component publishes its own privacy terms, they are linked below; where it acts only on our instruction, this policy is the governing statement.
| Component | Purpose | Its privacy terms |
|---|---|---|
| Google AdMob (Google Mobile Ads SDK) and the Google User Messaging Platform | Serving app open, interstitial and native ads, and showing the consent form where one is required. The ads reach the app through the advertising adapter of the component below. The data it collects (section 3) is processed by Google. | Google Privacy Policy How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services |
| Google Firebase (Remote Config, Analytics, Crashlytics) | Delivering the app’s configuration (how often notifications may appear, which ad placements are used), measuring how those notices perform, recording advertising events including the estimated revenue an ad network reports for an impression, and collecting crash reports so we can fix what breaks. Firebase assigns the installation an identifier of its own and receives one label from us: whether this install came from an advertising campaign or not (section 5). | Firebase privacy and security Google Privacy Policy |
| A third-party notification and telemetry component | Local notifications (including the optional storage overview and cleanup suggestions), the advertising adapter described above, and technical telemetry. Its telemetry is uploaded over HTTPS to servers located in Singapore. What it sends is limited to the items listed in section 3 — no files, file names, paths or scan results. | It processes data on our instruction, so this policy covers it. To have that data deleted, see section 9. |
5. What we process locally on your device
The following stays on your device and is used only to provide the features you use. None of it is transmitted:
- Storage and file information — file size, type, last-modified date and containing folder, used to list cleanup candidates, large files and the storage map. We do not read file contents for any purpose other than duplicate comparison.
- Photo and video information — to detect screenshots, possibly blurry photos and duplicates, the app reads images locally and computes perceptual hashes and SHA-256 content hashes. Neither the images nor the hashes leave your device.
- Folders you choose — if you give Spacely access to a folder through Android’s folder picker, it reads the names, sizes and dates of files in that folder only, to list them and to move the ones you select to a recycle-bin folder inside it. Spacely does not read your installed app list. You can revoke folder access in the app at any time.
- Device status — storage capacity and free space, used for the dashboard, the home-screen widgets and the health score; and, since version 3.8.0, the battery level and charging state reported by Android, used only to display the battery home-screen widget. Kept on the device only and never uploaded. Spacely itself does not read memory usage.
- Install source — if Spacely was installed from Google Play, it asks Google Play once where the install came from (the Play Install Referrer). The app keeps only the result — an ordinary install, or one that came from an advertising campaign — and uses it to choose how often notifications may appear, whether cleanup notices stay in the notification shade (since version 4.0.0) and which ad placements are used. The referrer text itself is neither stored nor transmitted, and the result is excluded from Android backups. Since version 3.6.0 that result — the single label ordinary install or from an advertising campaign — is sent to Firebase as a user property, so that the app’s configuration can be delivered per group (section 4). Nothing else about the install is sent.
- Notification content — the figures shown in notifications, in the optional storage overview and in the home-screen widget (such as free space and total capacity, what is pending in the recycle bin, the measured size of screenshots, videos, audio and large files, photos that can be compressed, Spacely’s own cache, the time since its last cache cleanup and how much used storage has grown) are measured on the device, and a local record of which facts have already been shown is kept so the same one is not repeated. Neither the figures nor that record is transmitted, and the record is excluded from Android backups.
- Ad tap records — since version 4.0.0, the notification and telemetry component keeps an on-device record of the app open and interstitial ads you tapped in the last 24 hours, and while such an ad is on screen it notes when you last touched it. The record is used only to pause these ads, and then cleanup notices, after many taps within 24 hours. A tap that is reported with no touch on the ad just before it is not counted and is only noted on the device. The record, the touch times and that note are not transmitted, and the record is excluded from Android backups. Ad impressions and taps themselves are reported as described in section 3.
- Recycle bin records — which items you moved to the bin, their size and when they expire, stored in the app's private storage so that restore works. The files themselves stay where Android keeps them; nothing about them is uploaded.
- Local records — cleanup history (timestamp, bytes freed, item count), theme and language preferences, notification, reminder and retention settings, stored in the app's private storage. They are removed when you uninstall the app.
6. Advertising, and the choices you have
Spacely is free and shows ads served by Google AdMob, in three formats: app open ads, interstitial (full-screen) ads and native ads. Where and how often ads appear is decided by the advertising SDK and by remote configuration, and may change over time. No feature is locked behind watching an ad, and there is nothing to purchase.
- Consent. Where the law requires it — including the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland — the Google User Messaging Platform asks for your consent before the first ad request. You can change your choice at any time from Settings › Ad and data settings in the app; that entry is shown when the consent platform determines it applies in your region. In these regions, Firebase Analytics follows the choice recorded by that platform (Google Consent Mode); Spacely also treats devices whose SIM or network country (or, if neither is available, region setting) is in these regions as requiring consent. There, until your choice is known, and for any purpose you have not agreed to, Firebase Analytics does not store or read analytics or advertising identifiers on your device. It may still send limited measurement signals without such identifiers (for example, that the app was opened, and the device model and language). This choice does not affect Firebase Remote Config or Crashlytics (section 4). Elsewhere the same entry may show a different form, such as the privacy choices under some US state laws; a choice made there is passed on with ad requests and does not change what Firebase Analytics collects.
- Reset or delete your advertising ID in Android Settings › Privacy › Ads (the exact path varies by manufacturer). Deleting it stops the advertising ID from being used for personalised advertising on your device.
- How Google uses the data. See the Google Privacy Policy and How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
7. Permissions (each one is optional)
Notifications are requested when you first open the app; every other permission that requires your approval is requested only when the related feature needs it. Declining one limits only that feature.
| Permission | Why we ask | If you decline |
|---|---|---|
Photos, video & audioREAD_MEDIA_IMAGES / READ_MEDIA_VIDEO / READ_MEDIA_AUDIO / READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED( READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on Android 12 and below; WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on Android 10 and below, to delete what you confirm) |
Local scanning for gallery cleanup, swipe review, duplicate photos and large media files. | Those features are unavailable; everything else works. Android 14 “selected photos only” access is fully supported. |
NotificationsPOST_NOTIFICATIONS |
Optional local notifications: a storage overview in the notification shade, switched on when you allow notifications (you can switch it off in the app’s settings), showing free space and total capacity, and when expanded measured figures such as what is pending in the recycle bin and the size of screenshots or large files; notices that each state one fact measured on the device, such as free space, recycle-bin items still using storage or new screenshots — up to 15 a day, or up to 40 a day if the install came from an advertising campaign (section 5), and only while the screen is on and unlocked, except that one may be sent when the screen turns on while the phone is still locked, so it can appear on your lock screen (how much of it shows there follows your Android lock-screen notification setting); recycle-bin expiry notices; and a daily reminder (off by default). Since version 4.0.0 these notices can be swiped away, except on installs from an advertising campaign, where they stay in the shade until tapped (on Android 13 and earlier they cannot be swiped away). Checks run on system events such as unlocking, the screen turning on, pressing Home or Recents, charging, installing or removing apps, restarting the device or new photos and videos, about 30 seconds after you leave the app, and on a periodic background check; what to show is decided and composed on the device. No notices are sent after ads have been tapped many times within 24 hours (section 5). | No notifications. |
NetworkINTERNET / ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE |
Requesting ads and sending the telemetry described in section 3. Not required by any cleanup feature. | Not a permission Android asks you about. Scanning, cleaning, the recycle bin and the storage map all work with no working connection. |
Advertisingcom.google.android.gms.permission.AD_IDACCESS_ADSERVICES_AD_IDACCESS_ADSERVICES_ATTRIBUTIONACCESS_ADSERVICES_TOPICS |
Declared by the Google advertising SDK so it can use the advertising ID and Android’s Privacy Sandbox interfaces for ad delivery and measurement. | Not a permission Android asks you about. Reset or delete your advertising ID in Android Settings to limit its use (section 6). |
Install sourcecom.google.android.finsky.permission.BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE |
Declared by Google’s Install Referrer library so the app can ask Google Play where the install came from (section 5). | Not a permission Android asks you about. |
Start after restartRECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED |
After the device restarts, puts back the storage overview if it is on, and gives the notification component one chance to check whether there is anything to tell you. Android’s WorkManager library also uses it to reschedule background checks. It never opens a screen or starts a foreground service at startup. | Not a permission Android asks you about. If the storage overview is off, there is nothing to restore. |
Background workWAKE_LOCK / FOREGROUND_SERVICE |
Declared by Android’s WorkManager library, which runs the periodic background check and recycle-bin expiry. Spacely itself runs no foreground service. | Not a permission Android asks you about. |
Spacely requests no camera, microphone, location, contacts, SMS or call-log
permissions. It runs no foreground service: the optional storage overview is an ordinary
notification you switch on and off. Background checks and recycle-bin expiry use Android’s
WorkManager library, which declares WAKE_LOCK and FOREGROUND_SERVICE in the
app package. The package also contains
com.spacely.phone.cleaner.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION, a signature-level
permission added by the AndroidX library that only Spacely itself can hold; it keeps the app’s
internal broadcasts private and gives no access to anything on your device.
Media deletions are executed through the Android system delete confirmation dialog, and files in folders you chose are first moved to a recycle-bin folder you can restore from. Spacely never silently deletes anything you have not selected and confirmed.
8. Children
Spacely is intended for users aged 18 and over. It is not directed to children and is not designed for children, and it is not enrolled in Google Play's Families programme. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has used the app on your device, resetting the advertising ID and clearing the app's data removes the identifiers described in section 3 from that device.
9. Retention, international transfer and deletion
On your device: local data (cleanup history, recycle-bin records, preferences) is removed when you uninstall Spacely, and you may clear it immediately via Settings › Apps › Spacely › Storage.
On third-party servers: the data listed in section 3 is held by the providers named in section 4, on servers that include locations outside your country — the telemetry component uploads to servers in Singapore, and Google operates globally. Google’s retention practices are described in its own policy, linked in section 4.
Telemetry retention. The retention period for the telemetry described in section 4 is set by the provider that operates those servers, not by us, and we do not publish an estimate in its place. What we can tell you is what is sent (section 3), where it is stored (Singapore) and how to have it removed: email Spacely2026@proton.me and we will pass the request on and confirm the outcome back to you.
Requesting deletion: email Spacely2026@proton.me with the subject “Data deletion request”. Because we hold no account of yours, we will ask you for the information needed to identify the records held by our providers, and we will pass the request on and confirm the outcome to you. We aim to respond within 30 days.
10. Your rights
Where applicable law (such as the GDPR, the UK GDPR, the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) or the CCPA/CPRA) grants you rights of access, correction, deletion, objection, portability and withdrawal of consent, you may exercise them by contacting us at Spacely2026@proton.me. Where consent is the basis for processing — personalised advertising in the regions that require it — you may withdraw it at any time from Settings › Ad and data settings (section 6). We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising beyond the advertising described in this policy.
11. External links
The “Privacy policy” entry in the app's settings opens this page using the browser installed on your device. Your browser's visit to this page is governed by that browser's and this page host's privacy terms.
12. Changes to this policy
If we update this policy we will change the “Last updated” date on this page. Material changes — in particular any change to what is collected or to who it is shared with — will be announced in the app before they take effect.
13. Contact
Spacely2026@proton.me