Privacy policy

Turn Aside keeps everything on your phone. It has no accounts, no ads and no analytics, and it can't send your information anywhere: the app doesn't even have permission to use the internet.

Last updated 14 October 2026.

Who we are

Turn Aside is a free app made by Redeemer Church New Plymouth, Aotearoa New Zealand. If you have a question about this policy or your information, email [email protected].

What the app keeps, and where

To work, Turn Aside remembers a few things on your phone only:

the apps you chose to limit, your reading app, and your settings (level, times, how to count, mode, Sabbath days, reminder time);
how many minutes you've spent in your limited apps today, as one total (not which app or what you did there), and how far through your current reading you are. If you count by one sitting, it also keeps the time you last left a limited app, to know when a sitting has ended;
your streak and points: one small record per day of how many readings you finished, how many minutes you read, whether you skipped, and whether Turn Aside was running that day;
the end time of a Wilderness Fast, if you start one.

This information never leaves your phone. It isn't sent to us or anyone else, and it isn't included in your phone's backups. Uninstalling the app, or clearing its storage in Android's settings, deletes all of it.

The permissions it asks for, and why

Accessibility: So Turn Aside can see which app is open, and pause your limited apps when your time is up. It also notices that you scrolled, tapped or touched the screen while your reading app is open (not where, and not what's there), so only real reading counts towards your time. It never reads what's on your screen or what you type. Apart from your total minutes in your limited apps (and, if you count by one sitting, when you last left one), it keeps nothing about what you did in other apps.
Usage access: To double-check which app is really in front, so your reading app is never paused by mistake.
Notifications (optional): For the daily reminder, if you leave it on: one notification at the time you choose, only if that day's reading isn't done. It's made on your phone by Turn Aside itself; nothing is sent anywhere to make it.
Run at start-up: Android clears the reminder's alarm when your phone restarts, so Turn Aside sets it again when the phone starts (and after an update). That's all it does at start-up: it reads only your reminder setting, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Notification access (optional): Android requires this before an app can tell whether another app's audio is playing. Turn Aside uses it only to check whether your reading app's audio is playing, so listening time can count. It never reads, stores or acts on your notifications.

The list of apps on your phone: During setup and in Settings, Turn Aside lists the apps on your phone that have an icon, so you can choose which to limit and which you read in. The list is only shown to you on the phone; it isn't stored or sent anywhere.

What it doesn't do

No account or sign-in, and no name, email or phone number asked for.
No analytics, tracking or advertising, and no third-party code that does those things.
No internet access: the app has no permission to connect to the internet.
No location, contacts, photos, microphone or camera.

This website

turnaside.app has no cookies, analytics or tracking of its own. The video on the home page loads from YouTube only when you press play (from youtube-nocookie.com); from then on, YouTube's privacy policy applies. Joining the testers' group happens on Google Groups and Google Play, under Google's privacy policy: we see the email address of each person who joins the group, use it only to give access to test Turn Aside and, now and then, to send news about it, and never share it.

Links to other apps

Some buttons open other apps: Get it opens Google Play, a reading app opens that app, and Request another app opens your email app with a message ready for you to send, or not. Once you're in another app, that app's own privacy policy applies. Google Play also collects some information when you install apps; see Google's privacy policy for that.

Children

Turn Aside is designed for teenagers and adults. It doesn't collect information from anyone, including children.

Your rights

Because we hold no information about you, there's nothing for us to give you or correct; everything the app keeps is on your phone and under your control. Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can contact us with any concern, and you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top. If a change ever meant information leaving your phone, we'd say so in the app before it happened.