Privacy Policy
The Photo Recovery app (the “app”) is developed by App Wizard. This policy explains what the app does with your data.
In short
The app does not send your files anywhere. All scanning, restoring and storing of copies happens on the device itself. The app has no server, no user accounts and no sign-up.
What the app reads on your device
To find lost files, the app looks through the device storage: gallery folders, the system trash, manufacturer trash folders, the thumbnail cache and messenger folders. For this it asks for access to photos, videos, audio and files.
What it reads stays on the device. Neither file names, nor their contents, nor the list of what was found is transmitted to the developer or to third parties.
Backup copies (“Protection”)
If you turn Protection on, the app creates copies of new files and keeps them in the app's internal storage. These copies are not available to other apps and are deleted when you clear the Protection storage, uninstall the app, or when the retention period you chose expires.
What data does leave the device
There are three such cases: advertising, anonymous usage statistics and crash reports. Your files are part of neither. The files themselves, their names, their paths and their contents never leave the device.
Usage statistics
The app uses Google Firebase Analytics to understand which features are used and which are not. It sends events such as “scan started”, “file restored”, “subscription screen opened”, “subscription purchased”, “subscription cancelled” — together with technical details about the device: model, operating system version, language, country and a service identifier of the app installation.
How many files were found or restored is sent as a number. What those files are is not sent: no names, no folders, no contents, no images. The installation identifier is not linked to your Google account and is created anew when the app is reinstalled.
Subscription events are needed to account for purchases: how many people opened the payment screen, how many subscribed, how many cancelled. Your card number, payment details and Google account data are not available to the app — only Google Play sees them.
How Google processes this data is described in the Firebase privacy documentation.
Crash reports
The app uses Google Firebase Crashlytics. When the app crashes or behaves incorrectly, it sends a technical report: the place in the code where the failure happened, the model of the device, the version of the operating system and the version of the app. Your files are not part of the report. Neither file names, nor their paths, nor their contents are included, and the report is not linked to your Google account.
These reports are used only to find and fix errors. How Google processes this data is described in the Firebase privacy documentation.
Advertising
The free version shows Google AdMob advertising: a banner at the bottom of the screen, an ad after scanning and an ad when you return to the app. The Google advertising system may collect the device advertising identifier and technical details (model, operating system version, approximate location by IP address) — it needs these to serve and count ads.
The app requests non-personalised advertising: ads are selected without using a profile of your interests.
How Google processes this data is described in the Google policy. The advertising identifier can be reset or turned off in the device settings.
With a paid subscription no advertising is shown, and this data collection stops.
Which apps are installed
So that findings are labelled “WhatsApp” with an icon rather than the string
com.whatsapp, the app asks the system for the name and icon of
a predefined list of messengers and social networks:
WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Signal, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, VK,
Snapchat.
The app does not request and does not receive the full list of programs installed on the device. The system's answer is used only for the label on screen and is not transmitted anywhere.
Advertising consent in Europe
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the app shows a Google consent form on first launch. Your choice is stored and honoured by the Google advertising system; no ads are requested before you answer.
Rating the app
If you answer the question about what you did not like, your answer is stored in the app settings on your device. It contains no file names and is not sent anywhere.
Payment
The subscription is arranged and processed by Google Play. The app does not receive and does not store your card details. You can see your payment history in your Google Play account.
Permissions summary
| Permission | What for |
|---|---|
| Access to photos, videos, audio and files | Finding lost files and restoring them |
| All files access | Reading manufacturer trash folders and hidden folders where deleted files are kept |
| Notifications | The weekly Protection summary. Can be turned off in the app |
| Internet and network state | Showing ads, anonymous usage statistics and verifying the subscription |
| Autostart and background work | Copying new files while Protection is on |
Children
The app is meant for adults: its target age group in Google Play is 18 and over. It is not intended for children and does not knowingly collect information about them.
Changes and enquiries
If this policy changes, a new revision with a new date will appear here. Questions and data deletion requests: [email protected].
Terms of Use
By installing the app you agree to these terms. If you do not agree with them, do not use the app.
What the app does and what it does not promise
The app looks for files that are still physically present on the device: in the system trash, in manufacturer trash folders, in messenger folders, in the thumbnail cache and in folders hidden from the gallery.
The app does not recover data that has been overwritten by other data, and it does not read the storage medium directly. Such reading is not possible on Android without an unlocked bootloader and special privileges. If a file has been deleted and its space has been taken, it cannot be brought back — neither by this app nor by any other app working without root access.
The result therefore depends on what exactly happened to the file and when. We do not guarantee the recovery of any particular file. Paying for the subscription is not a payment for recovering a particular file: it unlocks the capabilities of the app, not a result.
Backup copies
Protection only saves what appeared after it was turned on. It cannot bring back anything deleted before that.
So that copies do not fill up the whole memory, photos are saved in reduced size and a single frame is saved from a video. Documents and recordings are copied whole if the file does not exceed a quarter of the storage size you selected. Copies are pushed out according to the retention period you chose.
Deleting files
The app can delete files at your choice. Deletion is permanent. If Protection is off, no copies remain. You confirm the deletion in the app, and for files in the gallery index — once more in the Android system dialog.
Marking a file as “junk” is a suggestion, not a verdict. The decision is always yours.
Subscription
The subscription is arranged through Google Play and renews automatically until you cancel it. It must be cancelled no later than 24 hours before the end of the paid period, in the Google Play settings. Refunds are handled there as well, under Google Play rules.
The price, currency and taxes are determined by Google Play for your country. The free trial period is not charged if you cancel the subscription before it ends.
Liability
The app is provided “as is”. App Wizard is not liable for data loss that occurred before the app was installed, for the actions of other apps, or for the consequences of deleting files that you performed in the app.
Changes to these terms
If these terms change, a new revision with a new date will appear here. Continuing to use the app after that means you accept the new terms.