No account. No sign-up.
Your photos and the PBgifs you make stay on your phone unless you send them. We don't upload your photos, clips or PBgifs, and we don't see who you send them to. PBgif is made by Chad Braithwaite ("we").
- Camera. To shoot the Live Photo or video you turn into a PBgif.
- Photos. To pick a photo, clip or GIF you already have, and to save PBgifs to a My PBgifs album in Photos.
- Messages. PBgif's Messages app only drops a PBgif into a conversation when you tap it.
- Finding the person. PBgif finds faces and eye-catching spots to aim its moves, using Apple's tools right on your phone. It doesn't recognize who anyone is, and nothing is sent anywhere.
- Edit info and My recipes. So you can change a PBgif later or reuse a recipe, PBgif keeps its settings, and sometimes a small copy of a camera shot, inside the app on your phone.
- A small note in each PBgif. Every PBgif file carries a hidden note: "Made with PBgif", the version and www.pbgif.com. Never your name or anything about you.
You can turn Camera or Photos access off any time in your iPhone's Settings.
Next Ads ↓Small ads, always labeled.
The free version shows ads, always labeled "Ad." They're never on your PBgifs or in Messages. Going paid removes them.
Ads are served by Google AdMob. To show and measure ads, Google may collect your IP address (for rough location), a device or advertising identifier, which ads you've seen or tapped, and basic performance and crash data from the ad system.
Your iPhone asks before any app can use your advertising identifier to track you. If you say no, you still see ads; they're just less personalized.
How Google uses data from apps →
Next The rest ↓The small print.
Counting how PBgif is used
To learn what people like and what's broken, PBgif counts what happens in the app: things like opening it, picking a recipe, making or sending a PBgif, and seeing the Upgrade screen. Each count carries a random ID made on your phone when you first open PBgif, so we can tell how many people use it. That ID isn't tied to your name, your Apple Account or ads, and it resets if you delete the app.
From your internet connection we work out your rough location (country, and state or region) once, then throw the address away. We never get your photos, PBgifs, the words you type, or faces.
The counts go to two places: our own server at pbgif.com, and TelemetryDeck, an analytics service built for privacy.
Along with the counts, PBgif sends a few phone details that help us fix bugs: the iPhone model, iOS version, language and region setting, whether dark mode or bigger text is on, and roughly how much free space is left. None of it says who you are.
When you share PBgif with a friend, the link goes through pbgif.com first with a short random code for your phone, so we can count how many times shared links are tapped. We don't learn who tapped it, and nothing about them is kept.
What we never collect
Your contacts, photos or PBgifs, and there are no accounts. Apart from the ads and the counting above, nothing about you leaves your phone. We don't sell your personal information.
Buying the paid version
Purchases go through Apple. We never see your card or payment details; Apple only tells the app that you've paid.
Checking the date
Seasonal recipes come and go by date. To know the real date, PBgif asks Apple's website for the time when you open the app, at most twice a day. Only that tiny request goes out, with nothing about you or your photos.
Searching your photos by a place
When you type a place name to search your photos, that word is sent to Apple's map service to find the place. Apple's privacy policy covers that.
Sharing a PBgif
A PBgif you send in Messages or share to another app goes where you send it, and that service's privacy policy applies.
Bug reports
Shake your phone in PBgif to send us a bug report. It holds a picture of the screen you were on, a short note of what the app did (which screens opened, what went wrong), your PBgif version and iPhone model. Never the words you typed or anything from your photos. Nothing is sent unless you choose where to send it.
Crash reports
If you've turned on Share With App Developers in your iPhone's privacy settings, Apple shares crash reports with us so we can fix bugs. You can turn that off any time.
Sending us feedback
If you use Send feedback in Settings, we get your note, the PBgif version, and your name or email only if you add them. We use it to read your idea or fix the problem, and to reply if you asked. Want it deleted? Email jello@pbgif.com.
Children
PBgif isn't made for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them.
Deleting your stuff
Delete a PBgif in the app or in Photos. Deleting the PBgif app removes its edit info, My recipes and kept copies from your phone. PBgifs and camera shots saved in Photos stay there until you delete them.
This website
pbgif.com doesn't use cookies, ads or tracking. Like most web servers, ours keeps standard logs (such as IP address and pages visited) to keep the site running and secure. The brand tour loads fonts from Google Fonts, so Google can see that request.
Changes
If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If PBgif ever starts collecting anything new, we'll say so here first.
Questions? Email jello@pbgif.com