Dotsmith — Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2026-10-18
This privacy policy applies to the mobile app "Dotsmith" for Android:
- Google Play: package com.simonj.pixelart, developer "Global Utility App Maker"
The app is developed and operated by Kyu-Hee Jang (Google Play developer name: Global Utility App Maker).
Contact: wkdrb2100@gmail.com
OVERVIEW
Dotsmith does not require an account, and we do not sell personal information. You draw pixel art and animated sprites, can turn a picture you pick into pixels, and export PNG images, sprite sheets and GIF animations. Your projects are kept in the app's storage on your device. The app also uses Google services and an advertising mediation partner for analytics, crash reporting, remote configuration, and advertising.
INFORMATION STORED ON YOUR DEVICE
For each project the app keeps its name, canvas size, layers (name, visibility, lock and opacity), frames with their pixels and timing, frame rate and loop setting, palette, background setting, a revision number, and creation, update and Trash times. With the project it saves its newest undo steps (up to 100), so pixels you changed or erased can remain in this history until it is replaced. The app also keeps a small thumbnail of each project and up to 10 earlier versions per project (without undo history), taken after about every 10 minutes of drawing and when you leave a changed project. A project imported from a file, duplicated or restored from an earlier version is saved as a new project without undo history. There is no fixed limit on the number of projects. If a saved project cannot be read, the app lists it as damaged; you can share its file or delete it.
The app keeps a list of permanently deleted project IDs (with a revision number and deletion time) so that restoring an older backup does not bring them back; this list is kept without a limit.
The app may also store basic operating information such as your editor settings (grid, onion skin, tool and brush size), up to 24 saved palettes (when you add more, the oldest in the list is removed), whether the sample project and the introduction cards have been shown, a count of finished exports, cached advertising settings and a cached More Apps list.
The developer does not run a server that receives your projects. The app reads developer-controlled advertising settings and a More Apps list from Google Cloud Firestore, but it does not upload your projects or project names. When you open "More apps" in the menu, app icons are loaded from the web addresses in that list.
PICTURES, FILES AND PERMISSIONS
The app does not request camera, microphone, location, contacts, Bluetooth, health data, or notification permissions, and it does not ask for access to all your photos. It uses internet access and the Android advertising ID permission for the services below, and vibration for short haptic feedback.
When you choose "Import image" or create a palette from an image, the Android photo picker opens and only the picture you choose is given to the app; the picker places a copy of that picture in the app's cache, which the app deletes after reading the picture (if that deletion fails, the copy can stay in the cache until Android clears it). The picture is decoded and scaled on your device, and of the picture's metadata the app uses only its orientation. Only the resulting pixels (or, for a palette, its colours) are saved; the app does not upload the picture.
When you import a project file, restore a backup or import a palette file, the Android file picker opens and only the file you choose is read by the app. The name of an imported palette file is used as the palette's name.
On Android 12 and older, when you tap "Save to Photos" and storage access has not been granted, the app asks for it; this access is needed to add the image to your device's photo library. If you deny it, the image is not added and you can use Share instead. On newer Android versions, no permission is asked.
ANALYTICS, CRASH REPORTING, AND ADS
Google Firebase Analytics may process limited app-usage and technical information, such as app launches and screen views; creating a project (how it was made, a size range, whether it is square); editing sessions (first tool, ranges for frames, layers, steps, removed two-finger strokes, gesture undos and duration, mirror mode); undo and redo; editor setting changes and their values; picture import choices (mode, fit and colour reduction) and picker results (picked or cancelled); palettes added (source and a colour-count range); export results (format, scale, frame range, time range, file-size range and destination), export failures and cancelled steps; storage permission results; Trash actions, earlier-version restores, backups and restores (count ranges); save errors, recovered projects, unreadable undo history and empty new projects that were discarded; launch ads shown; menu, About and More Apps opens and review taps; ad revenue events (ad format, value, currency and precision); app version, device type, and app-instance identifiers. These events do not include project names, colours or pixels.
Google Firebase Crashlytics may process crash reports and related technical information needed to diagnose app problems.
The app shows ads through Google AdMob. A banner may appear at the bottom of the Projects screen. Full-screen ads may appear when the app opens or returns to the foreground, and occasionally on the Projects screen after you finish an export (never after the first export since you installed the app). The app does not start a full-screen ad while a project is open in the editor. AdMob may also request ads from the Liftoff (Vungle) mediation network. Google and Liftoff may process advertising identifiers and device, app, consent, network, and ad-performance information to provide and measure ads, and may use an IP address to estimate an approximate location even though the app has no location permission.
ADVERTISING CHOICES
The Google Mobile Ads SDK is started when the app launches. Before the app requests any ads, it checks Google's consent message (UMP). Where consent is required (for example in the EEA and UK), personalized ads are requested only if your choices allow them; otherwise ads are non-personalized. Where Google reports that consent is not required, ads may be personalized. If the consent result does not allow ad requests, or the consent check has not completed, the app does not request ads. If the consent message cannot be loaded, the app still requests non-personalized ads, and "Privacy choices" is not shown until the app is started again. Where Google requires it, the menu shows "Privacy choices", which reopens the consent message so you can change your advertising choice. The app works whatever you choose.
STORAGE AND YOUR CONTROL
You can undo and redo edits in the editor. On the Projects screen, long-press a project and choose "Delete" to move it to Trash ("Undo" in the message that follows brings it back). Projects stay in Trash until you remove them; the app does not empty Trash on its own. In Trash you can restore a project, or, after a confirmation, "Delete forever" one project or "Empty trash". Deleting forever removes the project's saved files, including its undo history, thumbnail and earlier versions, and adds its ID to the deleted-ID list. A damaged project can also be deleted forever from its long-press actions, and a new project you leave without drawing anything is removed. Saved palettes can be deleted in the Palettes sheet. You can also clear the app's data in Android settings or delete the app. Local data may be included in a Google or device backup depending on your backup settings; uninstalling normally removes the active copy but may not remove an older backup.
Exported PNG images, sprite sheets (with an optional JSON file), GIFs, project files (.pxs, which include the project's undo history), palette files and "Back up library" files are written to the app's cache. Names of exported images and "Save project copy" files include a short form of the project name. "Save to Photos" adds the image to your device's photo library, and "Share" sends a file through the system share sheet to a destination you choose. When the app starts, it removes these cache files once they are more than 24 hours old, and unfinished temporary files; files whose age it cannot check may be kept. The app does not delete images saved to your photo library or copies you shared elsewhere.
A "Back up library" file contains each readable project file, including projects in Trash, with its undo history, plus a list of project names, IDs, revisions and Trash state, and the deleted-ID list. It does not contain earlier versions, thumbnails, saved palettes or settings, and damaged projects are left out. Restoring a backup adds a project from the file, or replaces the one on this device, when the file's copy has a newer revision than both the device's copy and any deleted-ID entry for it. It removes a project from this device when a deleted-ID entry, from the file or the device, has a newer revision than the device's copy (unless the file has an even newer copy), and it combines the two deleted-ID lists.
Because we do not receive your projects, we cannot delete them for you; the controls above remove them from the app. For questions about data processed by Google or Liftoff, or to ask us for help with a privacy request, contact us at the address below.
Data processed by third parties is retained according to their service settings and policies. We use these services under their applicable terms, and we ensure that third-party service providers with whom we share user data provide the same or equal protection of that data as stated in this policy.
- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Firebase privacy information: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy
- Google advertising technologies: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads
- Liftoff Privacy Policy: https://liftoff.io/privacy-policy/
SECURITY
Your projects and cache files are kept in the app's private storage on your device, which the operating system protects from other apps; they are not separately encrypted by the app, so protect your device with a screen lock. Images you save to your photo library can be seen by other apps that have access to your photos. Apart from the limited analytics events described above, the app does not upload your saved data. Communication between the app and Google services and the ad mediation partner uses encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS). No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we limit what the app collects to what is described in this policy.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Exported images and animations may look different in other apps; for example, a GIF holds up to 256 colours, so some colours may be merged, and partly transparent pixels become solid or clear. Check your files before you rely on them. Only import and share pictures and artwork you have the right to use.
CHILDREN
The app is intended for users aged 18 and over and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
CHANGES
We may update this policy if the app or its services change. The date above shows the latest revision.
CONTACT
Kyu-Hee Jang (Google Play developer: Global Utility App Maker)
Email: wkdrb2100@gmail.com