Privacy Policy

Effective date: 3 September 2026
Last updated: 3 September 2026

Appify Store ("we", "us", "our") built the Recover Deleted Messages app ("the App"). This page explains what the App does with information on your device, what it does not do, and the choices you have.

1. How the App works

A deleted message cannot be retrieved after it has been deleted — nothing on your phone keeps a copy. The App works by reading incoming message notifications as they arrive and saving a copy locally, so that copy survives if the sender later deletes the original.

It does the same for media: it mirrors media files from your messaging apps into the App's own private folder so a later deletion cannot destroy your copy.

This means:

• The App only records messages received after you install it and grant notification access. It cannot recover anything from before that.
• Everything it records stays on your device.

2. Information the App accesses on your device

The App accesses the following locally, on your device only:

We do not access: your contacts list, your call logs, your SMS database, your accounts, your location, your camera or your microphone. The App does not request those permissions.

3. Information we do NOT collect

We want to be explicit about this, because it is the point of the App:

• We do not transmit your messages, contact names, media, statuses or documents anywhere.
• We do not store any of your content on our servers. We operate no server that receives your content.
• We do not sell, rent, trade or share your personal information with any third party.
• We do not include message content, contact names or attachments in any log, analytics event or crash report.
• We do not require an account, and we do not ask for your name, email address or phone number to use the App.

4. Permissions the App requests, and why

The App asks only for what it needs. You may refuse any of these; the App keeps working with reduced functionality and explains what is unavailable.

Notification access (Notification Listener Service)

This is how the App captures messages. Android requires you to enable it manually in system Settings. With this access the App can read notifications posted on your device; it only reads notifications from the apps you have selected inside the App, and it stores them only on your device. If you turn this off, message capture stops.

Media folder access (Android 11 and above)

The App asks you to grant access to the Android/media folder using the system folder picker. This lets it read and mirror media files from your messaging apps.

The App does not request "All files access" (MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) at any Android version.

Storage permission (Android 9 and below only)

On older Android versions the App requests read access to storage for the same purpose, and write access on Android 9 and below so it can save a recovered file to your gallery when you ask it to.

Notifications (Android 13 and above)

Optional. If allowed, the App posts a short summary notification when it detects that a mirrored file's original has been deleted, and when new statuses have been mirrored.

Those notifications state how many items and what kind (photo, video, audio, document) — never the content itself. You can switch them off in the App's Settings or in system Settings.

The App does not request battery optimisation exemption, all-files access, or permission to enumerate every installed package.

5. Where your data is stored, and for how long

All captured content is stored in the App's private storage area, which other apps on your device cannot read. Android cloud backup is disabled for the App, so this data is not copied into your Google account backup.

Retention:

• Captured messages are kept until you delete them or uninstall the App.
• Mirrored media whose original still exists is kept for a short rolling window (currently 2 days) and then removed, because those files were never at risk.
• Mirrored media whose original has been deleted — a recovery — is kept indefinitely, because our copy is the only one left. It is removed only when you delete it or uninstall the App.
• Statuses you save are kept until you delete them or uninstall the App.

Uninstalling the App permanently deletes everything it stored. We cannot restore it, because we never had a copy.

6. Saving files to your gallery

When you tap Restore or Save, the App writes a copy of that file into your device's public storage (Pictures/Recovered, Pictures/Recovered/Statuses, or Documents/Recovered) so other apps can see it.

That copy is yours to move or delete. This happens only when you ask for it — with one exception: if you deliberately turn on Auto Download, new statuses are saved automatically. It is off by default and can be turned off at any time in Settings.

7. Sharing and reposting

When you share or repost a recovered file, Android's own share sheet hands the file to the app you pick. What happens to it after that is governed by that app's privacy policy, not ours. We are not involved in the transfer and receive no copy.

8. Replying from within the App

If you reply to a message from inside the App, your reply text is handed directly to the originating messaging app through Android's built-in reply mechanism, which sends it. The reply does not pass through us.

9. Third-party services

The App uses Google Firebase (provided by Google LLC) for anonymous usage analytics and stability reporting — for example, which screens are opened and whether a permission was granted or refused.

These events contain no message content, no contact names, no file names and no file contents. Firebase may process technical identifiers such as an app instance ID, device model, operating system version, country and language.

Google's handling of that data is described here:

• Firebase Privacy: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy
• Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

The App is distributed through Google Play, whose own terms and privacy policy apply to the download and any related account activity.

The App contains no advertising SDK and no third-party tracking SDK beyond the above.

10. Children

The App is not directed to children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Because we collect no personal information on our side at all, there is nothing for us to delete; if you are a parent or guardian with a concern, contact us at [email protected] .

11. Your rights and your control

Because your data never leaves your device, you control all of it directly:

• See it — open the App.
• Delete part of it — delete individual messages, chats or files inside the App.
• Stop capture — turn off notification access in system Settings, or turn off individual apps in the App's app picker. Turning an app off hides its history rather than erasing it, so you can turn it back on.
• Delete all of it — uninstall the App, or clear the App's data from Android Settings.

If you are in a jurisdiction with data protection laws such as the GDPR or the CCPA: we are not a data controller for your message content, because we never receive it.

For the limited anonymous analytics described in Section 9, write to [email protected] and we will respond within 30 days.

12. Security

Captured data lives in Android's app-private storage, protected by the operating system's per-app sandbox and not readable by other apps on a non-rooted device. Cloud backup is disabled.

No security measure is perfect: a device that is rooted, physically accessed by another person, or compromised by malware may expose data stored by any app, including this one. We recommend keeping a lock screen enabled.

13. What the App cannot do

For clarity, so that nothing here is read as a promise:

• It cannot recover anything received before it was installed and granted access.
• It cannot recover a message whose notification you never received, or whose preview you had hidden in system settings.
• It cannot recover messages you sent yourself from inside another app.
• It cannot read your messaging apps' own databases, and it does not try to.
• It is an independent app. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to WhatsApp, Meta, Telegram, Instagram, Signal, or any other messaging service. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the App changes. The revised version will be posted at this URL with a new "Last updated" date, and where a change is significant we will highlight it inside the App.

Continuing to use the App after an update means you accept the revised policy.

15. Contact us

Questions, requests or concerns about this policy or the App: