Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 24, 2026

WholeBean ("WholeBean," "we," "us," or "our") is an iOS app that helps you identify, save, and learn about the coffee beans you discover in the real world. This Privacy Policy explains what information the app handles, how it is used, who it is shared with, and the choices you have.

We've written this policy to mirror how the app actually works. WholeBean is built local-first: your collection lives on your device, and information is sent off the device only for the specific purposes described below.

1Summary

WholeBean requires you to sign in before use (Sign in with Apple, Google, or email and password).
The bean bag/label photos you take are processed on your device to read text, and the recognized text is sent to Google's Gemini AI service to identify the coffee and generate summaries and brewing suggestions.
Your collection (beans, tasting notes, experiences, photos, and optional café locations) is stored on your device and, when you are signed in, synced to your private, account-scoped cloud storage so it follows you across reinstalls and devices.
We use third-party providers — Apple, Google, and Supabase — to provide sign-in, AI features, maps, payments, and cloud sync.
We do not sell your personal information and do not use it for advertising.

2Information we collect

a. Account information

To use WholeBean you sign in with one of:

Sign in with Apple — we receive a unique Apple user identifier and, only on your first sign-in, the name and email address you choose to share. If you use Apple's "Hide My Email" feature, we only ever receive the relay address.
Google Sign-In — we receive a unique identifier and the name and email associated with your Google account.
Email and password — we receive the email address and password you provide to create an account.

We store your name (when provided) and email to label your profile and identify your account. Passwords are never stored by us in plain text; they are handled by our authentication provider (Supabase) using industry-standard hashing.

b. Coffee collection content

When you use the app you may create:

Photos of coffee bags and labels (captured with the camera for scanning), and an optional profile avatar photo you choose from your photo library.
Bean details identified from your scan: roaster, name, origin, process, varietal, roast level, and tasting notes.
Experiences — your personal notes about how you enjoyed a coffee.
Café / venue locations — if you choose to tag where you had a coffee, we store the venue name, address, and map coordinates you select.
A derived taste profile — aggregate trends (favorite origins, roasts, brew methods, flavor families) computed from your saved beans.

c. Location information

If you choose to tag a café using the venue search, WholeBean may request "When In Use" location access to bias map search results toward places near you. This is optional and best-effort — venue search works without it, and you can decline or revoke the permission in iOS Settings at any time. We only store the coordinates of venues you explicitly select, not a continuous record of your location.

d. Subscription information

WholeBean offers an optional WholeBean Pro auto-renewable subscription. Purchases are processed entirely by Apple through the App Store using StoreKit. We do not receive or store your payment card details. We do receive and store your entitlement status (whether you have an active Pro subscription, the plan, and renewal/expiration dates) so we can unlock Pro features and keep them consistent across your devices.

e. Technical and on-device data

A session token is stored securely in the iOS Keychain to keep you signed in.
AI-generated summaries and suggestions are cached locally (in app storage / UserDefaults) so they don't have to be regenerated each time.

We do not include third-party advertising or analytics SDKs that track you across other apps and websites.

3How your information is used

We use the information above to:

Authenticate you and keep you signed in.
Identify coffees from your scans and generate summaries, flavor profiles, and brewing recommendations.
Save, display, and sync your collection, experiences, and taste profile.
Show maps for café locations you've tagged.
Provide and manage the WholeBean Pro subscription and its features.
Maintain, debug, and improve the reliability of the app.

We process this information to provide the service you request and to operate the app. We do not use your content to train our own models.

4On-device processing

WholeBean performs as much work as possible on your device:

Text recognition (OCR) of your bag/label photos uses Apple's on-device Vision framework. The image itself is processed locally; only the recognized text is sent onward for bean identification.
Your collection is stored locally first (using SwiftData) and works as your primary, offline-capable copy.
Your taste profile is computed on-device from your saved beans.

5Third-party services and sharing

WholeBean relies on the following service providers. Each receives only the information needed to perform its function.

Google — Gemini AI (bean identification & insights)

To identify a coffee and generate summaries, flavor analysis, and brew recommendations, we send the text recognized from your label and the bean's identifying details (e.g., roaster, name, origin) to Google's Gemini generative AI service, which uses Google Search grounding to research the coffee. We also send aggregate, de-identified taste-profile trends (not your raw bean list) to generate your personalized taste summary. Your use of this feature is subject to Google's privacy practices. We do not send your photos, account credentials, or precise location to Gemini.

Google — Sign-In

If you choose Google Sign-In, Google handles authentication and returns your identity token, name, and email.

Apple

Sign in with Apple for authentication.
MapKit to power café/venue search and display.
App Store / StoreKit to process WholeBean Pro purchases. Apple manages all payment details.

Supabase (cloud backend and storage)

When you are signed in, your account, collection, experiences, tagged venues, photos, and subscription status are stored in our backend hosted on Supabase (database, authentication, and private file storage, located in the United States). Your data is scoped to your account and protected by row-level security so that only your authenticated session can access it. Photos are stored in a private storage bucket and served only via short-lived signed links to your own account.

We do not share your personal information with any other third parties except as required to provide the service, comply with the law, or protect our rights.

6Cloud sync and account scoping

WholeBean keeps a working copy of your collection on your device and syncs it to your private cloud storage so it survives reinstalls and follows you across devices. When you sign out, the app clears the local copy from the device; your data remains in your cloud account and is restored when you sign back in.

7Data retention

Collection content and account data are retained while your account is active so the app can sync and restore your data.
On-device caches (such as AI summaries and your session token) remain on your device until you sign out, clear them, or delete the app.
Subscription status is retained as long as needed to provide and account for Pro features.

You can request deletion of your account and associated cloud data as described below.

8Your choices and rights

Location: Grant or revoke "When In Use" location access in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services. Venue tagging is optional.
Photos: You choose which photos to capture or select. You can manage Photo Library access in iOS Settings.
Sign out: Signing out removes the local copy of your data from the device.
Subscription: Manage or cancel WholeBean Pro any time in iOS Settings → your Apple ID → Subscriptions. Canceling stops future renewals; it does not by itself delete your collection.
Account and data deletion: To delete your account and the data stored in your cloud account, contact us at the email below. Depending on your region, you may also have rights to access, correct, port, or delete your personal information; we honor applicable requests.

If you signed in with Apple or Google, you can also review or revoke WholeBean's access from your Apple ID or Google account settings.

9Children's privacy

WholeBean is intended for adults interested in coffee and is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

10Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including transport encryption (HTTPS), secure on-device storage of your session token in the iOS Keychain, account-scoped row-level security in our backend, and private, signed-link access to your stored photos. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11International users

Our backend and AI providers process and store data in the United States and other locations where our providers operate. By using WholeBean, you understand that your information may be transferred to and processed in countries that may have different data-protection laws than your own.

12Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, provide additional notice within the app. Your continued use of WholeBean after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

13Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:

Email: support@wholebean.app
Website: https://wholebean.app

This policy describes WholeBean's data practices as implemented in the app. The app is built to minimize the data that leaves your device and to keep your coffee collection private to your account.