Firstlight is a Christian Scripture storytelling app for the whole family — all ages, listening together or on their own. This policy explains, in plain language, what information Firstlight collects, why, and what choices you have. It applies to the Firstlight mobile app and this website.
Firstlight is guest-first: there are no accounts. There is no sign-up, no sign-in, no email address, and no password. You open the app and listen. Because of that, Firstlight holds far less about you than most apps — and nothing that identifies you by name.
Firstlight is operated by an independent developer. For any privacy question, or to request that your data be deleted, email gather.connectionevents@gmail.com.
Firstlight is made for all-ages family listening, so it adjusts itself to who is using the device. We never ask for a birthday, and we never create a profile of a person. On devices that support it, Firstlight can request only a broad age range — such as “under 13” or “13 or older” — through Apple's Declared Age Range feature. It is a range, not a birthdate, and it carries no name, email address, or other detail with it.
Depending on what is shared, Firstlight runs in one of three modes:
| Mode | When it is used | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | The shared range shows the listener is 13 or older. On devices where the age feature isn't available, an adult can unlock this mode with a quick adult check, such as device authentication. | The app works exactly as it always has. Anonymous usage counts stay on by default and can be turned off in You → Privacy; crash reporting helps fix problems. |
| Child | The shared range shows the listener is under 13. | Firstlight turns on extra safeguards. Purchases and restores, external links, and turning on notifications all require an adult check first. Anonymous usage counts and crash reports are off. |
| Unknown | No range is shared — sharing can be set to share always, ask first, or never share — or the device doesn't support the age feature, and no adult check has been completed. | The same safeguards as Child. When Firstlight doesn't know, it takes the safer path by default. |
Choosing not to share an age range never blocks the app — it simply starts Firstlight in the safer mode. No one stays locked out: on a device where the age feature isn't available, an adult can unlock the adult experience with the quick adult check described above. Firstlight remembers the mode on your device and uses it only to decide which safeguards apply. The same story library is available in every mode.
When you first open Firstlight, the app creates an anonymous ID — a random string of characters with no name, email, or personal detail attached to it. It exists so your listening progress can be remembered and so a subscription can be matched to the right device. That ID is the only thing tying any of the records below together.
| Information | Why we collect it |
|---|---|
| An anonymous ID, created on the device | To remember your place in a story and to recognize an active subscription. Not linked to your name, email, or phone. |
| Which stories you have played and how far through you are, and which stories you have saved | So you can pick up where you left off, and so your saved list is there when you come back. Stored against the anonymous ID. |
| Subscription status | To unlock the stories and offline downloads that come with a subscription |
| Anonymous usage counts — for example, how many times the app was opened, or how many downloads failed | To understand what is working and to fix problems. These are counts only. They carry no ID and never record which story you were listening to. In adult mode they are on by default, and you can turn them off at any time in You → Privacy. In child and unknown modes they are off and stay off. |
| Crash reports | When the app crashes, a report of what went wrong is sent so it can be fixed. It contains the app version and the technical details of the fault — no ID, no name, and nothing about what you were listening to. Crash reporting runs in adult mode only; in child and unknown modes it stays off. |
Your listening streak, your downloaded stories and their audio files, your playback and display settings, your daily reminder time, and the age mode Firstlight is using are stored on your device and are never sent anywhere. Deleting the app removes all of them.
Firstlight does not ask for your name, email address, or phone number. It never asks for a birthdate, and it does not build a profile about you. The age range described above is only a broad band — never a birthday. Firstlight does not access your camera, microphone, contacts, photos, or location, and does not request those permissions. There are no ads, no advertising identifiers, and no tracking of you across other apps or websites. We do not sell personal information, and we never have.
Firstlight can send one gentle daily reminder to listen. It is off unless you turn it on in You → Daily reminder, and permission is only ever requested at the moment you switch it on — never at launch. In child and unknown modes, turning the reminder on requires an adult check first. The reminder is scheduled by your own device at the time you pick. Nothing is sent from our servers, and no push token or device identifier is created or shared.
We use a small number of service providers to run Firstlight. We do not sell your data, and we do not share it for advertising. Some providers only receive information in adult mode, as noted below.
| Provider | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | The anonymous ID, your listening progress and saved stories, and — in adult mode only — the anonymous usage counts | Our database and backend infrastructure |
| RevenueCat | The anonymous ID and purchase/subscription events. In child and unknown modes, a purchase or restore can only happen after an adult check first. | Subscription management, on top of Apple / Google Play billing |
| Sentry | Crash reports: the fault details, app version, and basic device and operating-system information | So crashes can be diagnosed and fixed — adult mode only |
| Apple / Google Play | Payment details you provide directly to them when you subscribe | Processing your purchase — Firstlight never sees or stores your payment card information |
| Amazon Web Services | Requests for story audio and artwork files | Delivering story content to your device |
Firstlight is made for all-ages family listening, and we expect children to use it — with a grown-up or on their own. It is not listed in a kids-only store category (such as Apple's Kids Category or Google Play's “Made for Kids” program), and it has no child accounts, no child profiles, and no separate children's area. That listing choice does not change how seriously we treat children's privacy.
Firstlight is designed around the principles behind children's privacy laws such as the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA):
Information is encrypted in transit between the app and our servers. The anonymous ID is held in your device's secure storage, and your age mode is stored on your device.
Deleting the app removes everything held on your device: your anonymous ID, your downloads, your streak, your age mode, and your settings. Once the ID is gone, the progress records on our servers are no longer reachable by anyone, including us — they are not linked to a name or an email that could be looked up.
To have the server-side records erased as well, email gather.connectionevents@gmail.com before deleting the app, and we will tell you how to find your anonymous ID so we can locate and remove the right records. We will complete the deletion within 30 days. This is also the path for a parent or guardian asking us to delete a child's records.
Because Firstlight has no accounts, we cannot look anyone up by name or email. Deletion requests are matched using the anonymous ID from the device. Some records, such as anonymized subscription event logs required for fraud prevention or legal and tax recordkeeping, may be retained for a limited period as required by law.
If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we will update the date at the top of this page.