Scrapwell
Effective 2 October 2026
Scrapwell is a scrapbook diary for children and teens aged 7 to 17. Everything your child creates stays on their iPhone or iPad, encrypted. Zephy Studio never receives it. There is no account to sign up for, and we don't run servers that collect anything from the app.
The only time journal content leaves the device is the optional backup to your own iCloud, and it is encrypted before it leaves, so neither Apple nor we can read it.
Journals, pages, writing, drawings, photos, cut-outs, stickers placed on pages, voice notes, journal names and answers to prompts. All of it is encrypted with a key that only your family's devices hold (it is kept in iCloud Keychain, which Apple encrypts end to end), and iOS data protection adds a second layer.
Scrapwell's settings, including the age band (for example “10–12”), are stored the same way. We never ask for a name, birthdate, email address or exact age.
On devices that support it, Scrapwell asks Apple's Declared Age Range feature which band your child is in (under 10, 10–12, 13–15 or 16 and over). Apple shares only the band, not a birthdate, and a parent or the child can decline. Otherwise your child picks their band. The band only changes how simple the app looks and what needs a grown-up's approval. It stays on the device.
Scrapwell asks for camera or microphone access only when your child first uses them, and uses the system photo picker, so it never sees the rest of the photo library. When a photo is added, its location and camera details are removed before it is stored.
Images and text shared into Scrapwell from other apps go to an encrypted inbox inside the app. Sharing in never sends anything over the internet.
If you turn it on, Scrapwell backs up its already-encrypted files to the app's private area of your own iCloud account. Apple, Zephy Studio and anyone with access to the iCloud account see only scrambled data.
When you set Scrapwell up, it shows a recovery code once, with a card you can print. The code can unlock the backup on a new device if iCloud Keychain isn't available. Keep it somewhere safe: without the code or iCloud Keychain, an encrypted backup can't be recovered, by us or anyone.
Your device's own backup (iCloud Backup or a backup to your computer) may also include Scrapwell's encrypted files, as it does for most apps.
For children under 13, a short grown-up question guards purchases, sharing or exporting pages, links that leave the app, and Parent settings. If your child uses a child account in Family Sharing, Apple's Ask to Buy also applies.
Parent settings cover purchases, sharing and the age band. They never open the journal.
A parent can choose to set up a master password, for emergencies such as a forgotten passcode. If it is used, the child's passcode is reset and the child is told the next time they open Scrapwell. If no master password was set and the passcode and recovery code are both lost, the only option is to erase Scrapwell and start again.
Only Apple: the App Store for purchases, Apple-hosted downloads for sticker packs, your own iCloud for backups, and Apple's crash reports if you have chosen to share them with app developers in your device's settings. Scrapwell contacts no other service.
Two links in Scrapwell's Help screen open in Safari only when tapped: the Find A Helpline directory and this policy. For children under 13 they sit behind the grown-up question. Nothing from the journal is sent with them.
Scrapwell has no streaks, badges or guilt-style nudges. An optional daily reminder is off unless it is turned on in Help; it is a notification scheduled on the device, and permission is asked only then.
The Help screen has a “Feeling low or worried?” card that encourages talking to a trusted adult and links to free helplines. Scrapwell never reads or reacts to what is written in the journal.
Scrappy is a small animated bookworm that keeps your child company in the app. It reacts to what your child does, like adding a sticker or finishing a page. It never reads, looks at or listens to anything in the journal.
Your child can chat with Scrappy. On devices with Apple Intelligence, Scrappy's replies to typed messages are written by Apple's on-device model, on the device itself: messages are not sent to Apple, to us or anywhere else, and chats are not saved. On other devices, or if a parent switches it off in Parent settings, Scrappy answers from a fixed script.
If a message sounds worried, sad or unsafe, Scrappy always gives the same kind answer encouraging your child to talk to a grown-up they trust, with a button to the Help screen. Scrappy never asks for personal details. Your child can hide Scrappy in Settings.
Your child can add a song card to a page. To find the song, Scrapwell sends only the words typed into the song search to Apple Music, using Apple's MusicKit. Nothing from the journal is sent. Apple handles that search under Apple's own privacy policy.
The card keeps the song's name, artist and artwork on the page. Tapping it plays Apple's 30-second preview, streamed from Apple; no songs or lyrics are stored. For children under 13, a grown-up check comes before the song search, and explicit songs are never shown.
Your child can paste a web address onto a page. Scrapwell then asks that website, directly from the device, for the page's title and picture, once, and keeps them on the page. The website sees an ordinary request from the device, like a browser visit; nothing from the journal is sent. Links open inside the app in Apple's Safari view. For children under 13, a grown-up check comes before adding or opening a link.
If a photo your child adds was taken with location turned on, Scrapwell notes where it was taken, rounded to about a kilometre, and shows it as a town or area name (for example a park or a neighbourhood) with a small map of the area, never the exact spot. The photo file itself is still stripped of its location, and places are never included in exported or shared images.
To turn the rounded location into a name, and when your child searches for a place by name, Scrapwell asks Apple Maps; only the rounded location or the typed search goes to Apple, never anything from the journal. Scrapwell never uses the device's own location and never asks for location permission.
Your child can turn handwriting on a page into typed text with “Make it text”. Scrapwell reads the handwriting on the device itself, using Apple's text recognition. The writing is not sent to Apple, to us or anywhere else. Before anything changes, your child sees what was read, can correct it, and can choose to keep the handwriting as well. Only the text your child keeps on the page is stored.
The optional "Today's idea" widget shows a page idea from the app's built-in list. It only knows your child's age group, to pick suitable ideas, and never shows anything from the journal.
Up to four children can share a device. Each has their own journals, their own lock and their own encryption key, so they can't open each other's. A parent adds or removes children behind the grown-up check. Only each child's first name or nickname and a colour are readable before their lock, so they can pick themselves.
No advertising, no analytics, no tracking, no third-party SDKs and no selling or sharing of data. No social features: nobody can follow, message or comment. No AI reads or analyses journal entries, and Scrapwell never scans what your child writes.
Payment for Scrapwell Plus and sticker packs is handled by Apple through the App Store. We receive no payment details. Purchases can be shared with your family through Family Sharing.
Because Scrapwell collects no personal information and sends none to us, we hold nothing about your child to access, correct or delete. The app follows Apple's privacy rules for children's apps and the UK Age Appropriate Design Code's high-privacy defaults.
Deleting Scrapwell removes everything stored on that device. Settings → Delete iCloud backup removes the backup from your iCloud. Exports of pages are made only when someone chooses to share or save them.
If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date below before the change takes effect in the app. Questions? Email support-scrapwell@zephystudio.com.