In short: TidyTV works between your phone and your own TV on your home Wi‑Fi. We do not have servers, accounts or analytics, and we do not collect your TV data, photos or app list. The only third party is Google AdMob, which shows ads in the phone app (see Advertising).
1. Permissions the app asks for
Permission
Why
INTERNET
To talk to your TV over your local network (remote control, pairing and the optional debugging connection), to open Google Play or the streaming apps you pick, and to load ads.
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE, ACCESS_WIFI_STATE
To check that the phone is on Wi‑Fi and to find TVs on the same network. The app does not use your location.
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE (Android 8–9 only)
To save a TV screenshot to Pictures/TidyTV when you tap Save. Android 10 and later do not need this permission.
Photos for the photo frame are chosen with the system photo picker, so the app only sees the photos you select. It does not ask for access to your gallery, camera, microphone, contacts or location.
On the TV, TidyTV can act as the home screen. To show your apps as tiles, it reads the list of apps installed on the TV. This list stays on the TV.
2. What happens on your network
Finding your TV: the app looks for TVs on the Wi‑Fi network your phone is on (by name, and by checking the remote and debugging ports of local addresses). It never contacts devices outside your local network.
Remote control: after you type the code shown on your TV, the phone and TV exchange key presses, the text you type for the TV, volume and power state. The connection is encrypted with a certificate created on your phone, and the TV's certificate is remembered so another device cannot pretend to be your TV.
Advanced mode (optional): only if you turn on debugging on your TV and allow this phone on the TV screen. Then, when you open the matching screen, the app reads from the TV:
the installed apps and whether each one is on or off;
when each app was last used, for how long and how often (the TV's own usage statistics), so you can see which apps you no longer use;
basic TV details: model, Android version, memory and storage;
privacy settings: the voice assistant, content recognition, usage statistics and microphone access;
a screenshot of the TV screen, when you ask for one.
You can also turn TV apps off and on again, set the TV home screen and screensaver, and restart the TV. Nothing changes unless you tap the button, and every change can be undone in the app.
Photo frame: the photos you pick are made smaller on your phone and sent straight to your TV over your Wi‑Fi. They are not uploaded anywhere else.
All of this goes only between your phone and your TV. It is not sent to us or to anyone else.
3. Data kept on your devices
On the phone: your saved TVs (name, local IP address), the pairing certificate, your settings (language, vibration, quick apps), the list of apps you turned off (so "Restore all" works), and the photos you chose for the photo frame.
On the TV: the home screen look and dock you chose, and the photos you sent.
To delete this data, remove a TV in Settings → Saved TVs, remove photos in the photo frame, or uninstall the app (on the TV, use "Remove TidyTV from the TV" in the app first so the TV's own home screen comes back).
4. Advertising
The phone app shows ads through Google AdMob (Google Mobile Ads SDK). There are no ads on the TV screens. To show and measure ads, and to prevent fraud, AdMob may collect and process:
the device's advertising ID;
the IP address, and the approximate location that can be worked out from it;
device and app information, such as model, operating system, language and app version;
how you interact with ads (views and taps), plus diagnostics and crash data from the ads SDK.
This data is handled by Google under its own policy: Google Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from apps that use its services. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, the app asks for your consent before showing personalised ads, and you can change your choice later. You can reset your advertising ID or opt out of personalised ads in your phone's settings (Settings → Google → Ads, or Settings → Privacy → Ads).
5. Data we collect
We, the developer, do not collect any personal data. TidyTV has no account, no analytics and no crash reporting of its own, and it does not sell data. Apart from Google AdMob (section 4), no data is shared with third parties.
6. Security
The remote connection to your TV is encrypted (TLS). The optional debugging connection works only after you allow this phone on your TV. You can turn debugging off at any time in the app (Tools → "I'm done: turn off debugging") or in the TV's settings.
7. Children
TidyTV is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from them.
8. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.
9. Contact
Questions or requests: cadava.support@gmail.com
TidyTV is not affiliated with Google, Amazon or any TV manufacturer. Android TV and Google TV are trademarks of Google LLC.