Last updated: November 13, 2026
Retained is an app that helps you remember where you left your things and reminds you to check a short list before you leave a place you have marked, such as your home. This page explains what information the app collects, why it collects it, and what you can do about it. We wrote this in plain language on purpose. If anything here is unclear, you can email us at retained.ai458@gmail.com and we will answer.
Retained is developed and published by an independent developer under the account name Retained. If you ever need to reach us about your data or this policy, retained.ai458@gmail.com is the right address.
When you create an account, we ask for your email address. We use it to sign you in through a one time code sent to your inbox. We do not use passwords. We do not use your email for marketing and we do not sell it.
Retained's whole purpose is remembering where you left things, so location is central to how it works.
When you log an item in the app, we record the precise location of your device at that moment so we can show you where you were when you logged it.
If you set up an exit ritual, such as a reminder to check your door locks and stove before leaving home, the app needs to know when you have left that place. To do this, Retained checks your device's location in the background, even when the app is closed, for as long as you have an active exit ritual turned on. This is the only reason background location is used. It is never used to build a profile of everywhere you go, and it is never sold or shared with advertisers.
While an exit ritual is turned on, Retained shows a permanent notification and checks your location every few seconds as you move, using your phone's location services. This happens on your phone: your movements are not sent to us. We only save that you left a place you marked, and when, so your checklist can open and you can look back at it.
You can turn off background location at any time by removing your exit rituals or by changing the location permission for Retained in your phone's settings. Doing so will stop the exit reminder feature from working, but the rest of the app will still work normally.
Logging an item includes taking a photo of it, so you can recognize it later and remember what it looks like. That photo is stored, encrypted at rest using industry standard security measures, so you can look back at it whenever you need to. You can delete any item and its photo at any time from within the app.
When you choose a place for an exit ritual, or look at one you have saved, the app shows a map. The map pictures come from OpenStreetMap, a free public map service run by the OpenStreetMap Foundation. Your device asks OpenStreetMap for those pictures directly, so OpenStreetMap can see your device's internet address and which area of the map is being shown. We do not send OpenStreetMap your name, your email address, your account, or anything you have logged, and we do not control how OpenStreetMap handles these requests. Its own privacy policy is at https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy. The code that draws the map is built into Retained, so no other service is contacted to show it.
You can create Medicine and Everyday reminders. A reminder keeps the name you give it, the days and times it repeats, how you want it to arrive, and optional details such as a dose, a note, or how many pills you have left. For each time it was due it also keeps whether you took it, skipped it, or missed it. A Medicine reminder can describe your health, for example the name of a medicine you take, so we treat it as sensitive: it is saved to your account only so that it appears on your other phone and survives a new phone, it is protected by the same access controls as the rest of your data, and it is used only to remind you and to show your history. It is not shared with anyone. Retained is a reminder tool, not medical advice, and does not replace your doctor or pharmacist.
Reminders ring from your phone, so they work without an internet connection. A call style reminder shows a screen that looks like an incoming call, with the Retained name and logo, and can read the reminder out loud with your phone's own text to speech. The sound, the voice and what is read stay on your phone; none of it is sent to us.
So that reminders arrive on time, Retained can ask to schedule exact alarms and to show a reminder over your lock screen. These are phone settings that you control. Allowing them lets a reminder arrive at the minute you chose; no information is collected by them.
Retained is free and shows ads to pay for itself. Pro removes all ads. The ads are banners, full screen ads that appear after you save some items, and optional short video ads that you can choose to watch to add one more item or reminder on the free plan. They are provided by Google AdMob. To show ads, AdMob may collect and use information about your device and how you use the app, such as your device's advertising ID, as described in Google's privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
You can reset your advertising ID or turn off ad personalisation in your phone's settings. If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, we ask for your consent first, and you can change your choice at any time in Settings under Ad privacy choices.
Retained Pro is an optional paid plan, sold through Google Play. Google Play handles the payment, so we never see your card or payment details. To know that you have Pro, and to keep it when you change phones, we use RevenueCat, a subscription service. RevenueCat receives your account's random identifier and your purchase details (which plan, when it started, when it renews or ends, and the price). It uses them only to run the subscription for us. Its privacy policy is at https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy. You can cancel at any time in Google Play, under Payments and subscriptions.
Exit reminders are created by the app on your phone when it notices you have left a place you marked, and are shown as a notification. They need notification permission, but no notification address needs to be stored on our servers. Earlier versions of Retained did store a notification address and a random identifier so reminders could be sent from our servers; if you used an earlier version, that information is kept until you delete your account, which removes it. The app also uses a random identifier for your installation so it can sign you out on your other phone when you sign in on a new one.
We use the information above only to make the app work the way it is supposed to. Specifically, that means letting you sign in, showing you where and when you logged an item, detecting when you have left a place you marked so we can send you a reminder, reminding you at the times you set for your Medicine and Everyday reminders, and letting you look back at photos you have taken of your things and at your reminder history.
We do not sell your information to anyone, under any circumstances. Ads are provided by Google AdMob, as described under Ads.
We use trusted cloud infrastructure providers to run our database, secure file storage, and backend logic, and a subscription provider (RevenueCat) to run Retained Pro. Earlier versions of the app also used a push notification service to deliver exit reminders from our servers. These providers process data strictly on our behalf, to make the app function, and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.
Beyond these service providers, the map images described above, and the ad provider described under Ads, we do not share your information with anyone else, including data brokers or other third parties, and we do not have any other integrations that receive your data.
We keep your information for as long as your account exists. The app keeps the most recent 90 days of reminder history on your phone; your account keeps the full history until you delete a reminder (which deletes its history) or your account. If you delete your account from within the app, your items, photos, logged locations, exit rituals, reminders and their history, and push notification information are permanently deleted. This happens right away and cannot be undone, so please be sure before you do it. Deleting your account does not cancel a Play subscription. To stop billing, cancel it in Google Play.
You are in control of what you share with Retained. Location and camera access are required to log an item, since Retained's core purpose is remembering where and what you left, so declining either means the app cannot log new items for you. Notification permission is optional, though declining it means you will not receive exit reminders or your Medicine and Everyday reminders. Exact alarms and showing over the lock screen are optional too: Retained works without them, with alarms that may arrive slightly later. You can delete individual items at any time. You can delete your account from within the app's settings at any time.
Retained is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under the age of 13. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us at retained.ai458@gmail.com and we will remove it.
We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including access controls on our database that ensure your data can only be read or changed by you. No method of storing or transmitting information is completely secure, but we work to protect your information to a high standard.
If we make changes to this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change is significant, we will let you know inside the app.
If you have any questions about this policy or how your information is handled, email us at retained.ai458@gmail.com.