Cool SnailPrivacy policy
Cool Snail · com.coolsnail.blockshortvideos · Last updated:
Cool Snail helps you stop scrolling short videos and endless feeds. This page explains exactly what the app can see, what it does with it, and what leaves your phone.
The short version: what you do inside other apps never leaves your device. Your time, posts and limits stay on your phone. There are no analytics. The only ads are optional: on the free plan you can choose to watch one to get 5 more minutes, and in Europe we ask for your consent first.
The accessibility permission
Cool Snail uses Android's Accessibility Service. This is the only way Android allows an app to know which screen you are on inside another app, so it is required for the app to work at all.
Here is precisely what that means:
- The app only looks at Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, Facebook and LinkedIn, and at the address bar of Chrome, to spot short-video pages such as Reels, Shorts and TikTok on the web. Every other app is ignored.
- In those apps it reads which screen is open (for example, the Reels, Shorts or TikTok player), how long the app is in front and how many posts go by. So as not to count the same post twice, it looks at the short label Android gives each post on screen, such as the account name on a story, and keeps it in memory for that purpose only.
- It detects the name of the messaging app you came from (WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, Signal) so that a video someone sent you is not blocked. Only the app's package name is read — never your conversations, your contacts, or the content of any message.
- It does not read your messages, your passwords, what you type, your photos, or the content of the videos.
- What it does with this: pull you out of short-video feeds, show the bubble with your time and posts, cut Reddit and X into pages, and close social apps when you go over your limits or outside the hours you set.
- You grant this permission yourself, and you can revoke it at any time from Android Settings › Accessibility.
What is stored on your phone
To show you your own numbers, the app keeps, for each day and each supported app: time spent, posts seen, times it pulled you out, pages, how many times you opened the app, and ads watched for extra minutes. It also keeps your settings: daily and per-app limits, allowed hours and which tools are on. Daily statistics older than 30 days are deleted automatically.
All of this stays on your device and is deleted when you uninstall the app. It is never sent anywhere.
What does leave your phone
- Google Play processes your payment if you buy PRO. Cool Snail never sees your card details.
- RevenueCat manages purchases on our behalf and receives your purchase status together with an anonymous identifier it generates. If you watch the optional ad, it also receives a record of that ad (that it was shown and what it earned), so we can see the app's income in one place. It does not receive your name, your email or anything you do inside other apps.
- Google AdMob shows the optional ad on the free plan. Only when you choose to watch one, AdMob receives your device's advertising ID, your IP address (from which it can estimate an approximate location), basic information about your device and how you interact with the ad. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, Google's consent message asks you first, and you can change or withdraw your choice at any time in Profile › Privacy settings. If you don't consent, Google may still show an ad that is not personalised.
- OneSignal delivers notifications, through Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging. It receives a notification token for your device and basic device information (model, Android version, language and time zone).
- If you join the gift waitlist, your email address and the date you agreed are sent to OneSignal, so we can tell you once gifting is available. This is optional, and you can withdraw at any time in Profile.
You can read RevenueCat's privacy policy, OneSignal's privacy policy, Google's privacy policy and how Google uses information from apps that use its services.
At a glance
| Data | Collected? | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Screen content of other apps | No | Analysed on device only, in the supported apps, never stored |
| Messages, conversations, contacts | No | Never read. Only the messaging app's name is detected |
| Passwords, what you type | No | Never accessed |
| Name, photos | No | Never accessed |
| Time, posts and limits in social apps | No | Stays on your phone, never sent |
| Usage analytics | No | There is no analytics SDK in the app |
| Precise location | No | Never accessed |
| Approximate location (from IP address) | Only if you watch an ad | Google AdMob |
| Advertising ID | Only if you watch an ad | Google AdMob, with your consent in the EEA, UK and Switzerland |
| Record of ads watched (shown, earnings) | Only if you watch an ad | Google AdMob and RevenueCat |
| Notification token and device info | Yes | OneSignal, to deliver notifications |
| Email address | Only if you join the waitlist | OneSignal |
| Purchase history | Yes | Google Play and RevenueCat |
| Anonymous user ID | Yes | Generated by RevenueCat to restore your purchase |
All data in transit is encrypted.
Children
Cool Snail is not directed at children under 13, and does not knowingly collect any data from them.
Your rights
Uninstalling the app deletes everything it stored on your phone. You can change or withdraw your ad consent in Profile › Privacy settings, and leave the gift waitlist in Profile.
We rely on your consent for personalised ads and for the waitlist, and on providing the service you asked for when you buy PRO. Waitlist emails are deleted after the gifting announcement, or within 12 months of signing up, whichever comes first.
To ask about, correct or delete the data held by RevenueCat or OneSignal, write to the address below and it will be handled within 30 days. If you are in the EEA or the UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top of this page changes with it.
Contact
Cool Snail is made by one person. Write to mir.sidehustles@gmail.com and you will reach her directly.