Swim Away

Privacy policy.

Swim Away is a puzzle game you play on your own, with no account and no login. It is free to download, shows ads, and offers optional purchases. Your progress is kept on your phone. A few things send data off it: the purchase system, through Google Play; ads; analytics, which helps us see how the game is played; a small time check; and the Help page, when you choose to open it. Each one is described below.

Last updated · October 30, 2026

Overview

There is no Swim Away account and no login, and your progress is stored on your phone. These send data off it:

• Purchases. Swim Away is free. It offers No Ads, a Starter Pack and coin packs, bought through Google Play. To know what you own, the game asks Google Play when it starts and when you buy or restore.
• Ads. The game shows ads through Unity LevelPlay, which can fill them from Unity Ads and Google AdMob. These are a short ad between ponds and videos you choose to watch for extra tries, a heart or a helper. Ads can be personalized. They are described under Advertising. Each time the game starts, it asks Google's consent tool whether a consent form is needed where you are; see Ad choices in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland.
• Analytics. Google Firebase Analytics records how the game is played: which ponds are started, cleared or failed, and which helpers, purchases and videos are used. We use it to improve the game and to see which of our ad campaigns bring new players. It is on for every player. It is described under Analytics.
• Crash reports. If the game crashes, Google's Firebase Crashlytics sends a report of what went wrong, so we can fix it. It's described under Crash reports.
• Game settings. When it starts, the game asks Firebase for a few settings we can change without an update, such as how often the ad between ponds may come. The new settings take effect the next time you open the game. Nothing about how you play is sent to get them.
• The time check. When you open or return to the game, and every ten minutes while it is open and online, it asks a Google address for the current time, so its clocks (hearts, gifts) can't be moved by changing the phone's clock. Only the time is read from the reply.
• Help. If you tap Help in Settings, your browser opens aralabs.dev/swimaway/support. The page address carries the game version, your player code, your phone model and its Android version, so a bug report can be filled in for you. Nothing reaches our inbox unless you choose to send the email.

These go to different places for different reasons:

• purchases to Google Play;
• ads to Unity and Google;
• analytics, crash reports and game settings to Google;
• the time check to Google;
• Help to our website and, if you write, our inbox.

Reminders. If you allow notifications, the game can remind you when your daily gift is waiting, your hearts are full again, or your wish's treat is ready. The game sets these reminders on your phone itself; they don't come from a server. It's described under Reminders.

The first-launch notice. The first time you open Swim Away, a card says that we use analytics and ads to keep the game free and improving, with links to the Terms of use and this policy. Tapping Play means you agree to them. The game remembers on your phone that you've seen it, and shows it again only if the Terms change in a significant way.

On-device data

Your progress, coins, hearts, helpers, chosen Home, settings and player code are stored on your phone. The player code is six random letters and digits the game makes, shown in Settings. It is also attached to the game's analytics, as described below, so that if you write to us with it, we can find your report or your data.

The game also keeps a small log of game events on your phone, which helps us when we test the game. The log file itself is not sent to us. Like the rest of the game's data, it can be included in your phone's own backup, described next.

Android backup. If your phone's backup to your Google account is on, Android may include the game's data in that backup and restore it on a new phone, with your progress and coins. This is Google's backup, run by your phone. We don't receive it.

Purchases

Purchases are made through Google Play, under Google's terms, at the price Google Play shows. We never see your payment details. Google Play tells the game what you have bought, so it can unlock No Ads, give a Starter Pack once, and add coins.

If you reinstall the game or move to a new phone, use Restore purchases in Settings or the Shop, with the same Google account, to get No Ads back. The Starter Pack and coin packs are used when you buy them, so there is nothing to restore. Refunds are handled by Google Play under its refund policy.

Analytics (Firebase Analytics)

Swim Away uses Google's Firebase Analytics for every player. The game has no setting to turn it off.

What the game records:

• that the game was opened and closed;
• the ponds you start, clear, fail or leave, with how long they took, how many taps, bumps, helpers and tries were used, how many times you've started that pond, and why a pond ended (out of tries, out of time, or no way out);
• coins won and spent, and hearts lost and refilled;
• helpers used and bought, and the lessons you see;
• ads offered, shown and watched;
• purchases made and restored;
• how far you've come in the game, whether you've made a purchase, and whether you have No Ads;
• which screens and buttons you use, such as the Journey, the Shop, Settings and the Home you choose;
• the daily gift and today's wish: when they're shown, opened or finished, and whether a video doubled them; and when a reminder is set, or opens the game;
• the first-launch notice: when it's shown and when you tap Play; and whether Google's consent form applies to you and has been answered, but not your answers;
• which game settings your copy of the game is using;
• how smoothly the game runs on your phone;
• whether the phone's clock was moved.

Each record carries your player code, so that we can find and delete your data if you ask.

Firebase also collects some data automatically, as Google describes in its documentation:

• an app-instance identifier;
• your phone's model and Android version;
• your general region from your network address;
• the app version and session times.

It also collects the Android advertising ID, if your phone allows it. Analytics is linked to our Google Ads account, so we can see which of our ad campaigns brought players to the game.

What it never sends:

• your name, email or contacts;
• your payment details.

Retention. Google keeps the detailed analytics records for up to 14 months. It then deletes them in a regular cycle, so some may last a little past that. Totals that don't identify any player, such as how many players cleared a pond, may be kept longer.

Crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics)

If Swim Away crashes, Google's Firebase Crashlytics sends a crash report so we can find and fix the problem. A report contains:

• what the game was doing when it failed (the technical trace of the crash);
• your phone's model, Android version and orientation, and its free memory and storage at the time;
• the game's version;
• an identifier for the installation, and your player code, so we can match a crash to a support request.

It never contains your name, email, contacts or payment details. Crash reports are used only to fix the game, never for ads. Google keeps them for 90 days, then deletes them from its live and backup systems.

Reminders (notifications)

Swim Away can send you a few reminders: that your daily gift is waiting, that your hearts are full again, or that your wish's treat is ready. You get at most two a day, only between 9:00 and 21:00, and none on the day you start playing.

The game schedules these reminders on your phone. No notification service or server is involved, and the words of a reminder are never sent anywhere. Through analytics, the game records when a reminder is set and when you open the game from one (see Analytics).

On Android 13 and later, the game asks your permission before any reminder can show. You can say no, and the game plays the same. You can turn reminders off at any time in the game's Settings, under Reminders, or in your phone's notification settings.

Advertising

Swim Away shows two kinds of ads:

• A short ad between ponds. It can appear after you clear a pond, never while you are playing one, and not after every pond.
• Videos you choose to watch. They give extra tries when you run out, a heart, or a helper in the Shop. Nothing plays unless you tap to watch. You get the reward once the video has played to the end.

No Ads, a one-time purchase, removes the ads between ponds. The videos stay available if you choose to watch them.

Who handles ads. Ads are requested through Unity LevelPlay, which can show ads from Unity Ads and Google AdMob. These companies' advertising tools collect data themselves to show ads, measure them and prevent fraud:

• your phone's network address, which can give a general location;
• device information;
• the advertising ID, if your phone allows it;
• how you interact with ads.

They describe this in their own privacy policies:

• Unity's privacy policy;
• Google's privacy policy, including "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services".

The game does not give them your player code.

Personalized ads. Ads in Swim Away can be personalized. The ad companies may use the advertising ID and what they know about your device and app use to choose ads that are more relevant to you.

To stop that for every app on your phone, delete your advertising ID or turn off ads personalization in your phone's settings (Settings → Google → Ads, or Settings → Privacy → Ads). You will still see ads, but they won't be chosen by that ID.

Ad choices in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland

Each time Swim Away starts, it asks Google's consent tool (Google's User Messaging Platform) whether a consent form is needed where you are. Google works this out from your network address. The game doesn't wait for the answer before you can play.

If you play in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the form appears before any ad is requested. It asks whether Google and our ad partners may use your data to personalize ads and to measure them. Our ad partners are Unity LevelPlay (ironSource), which runs the game's ads, and the networks it uses for Swim Away: Unity Ads and Google AdMob.

Your answer is kept on your phone, and LevelPlay and Google follow it when they request ads. If you say no, you may still see ads, but they won't be personalized.

You can change your answer at any time in the game's Settings, under Privacy choices. That row appears only where the form applies. Elsewhere, you can limit personalized ads in your phone's settings, as described under Advertising.

Google explains how it uses this data in "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services".

Children's privacy

Swim Away is made for players aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. There is no account, no login and no chat.

If you are a parent and believe your child has given us personal information, please write to us (see Contact) and we will help.

Data deletion requests

There is no account to delete. Your progress is stored on your phone. Clearing the game's data or uninstalling it removes it, though your phone's backup may restore it.

Analytics. To have your analytics data deleted, write to us (see Contact) with the player code shown in Settings. We ask Google to delete everything recorded under that code and reply once the request is made. Google may take some time to complete it. Crash reports are deleted automatically by Google after 90 days.

If you keep playing afterwards, new records start under the same code. To stop that, uninstall the game.

Ads. Data collected for ads is held by Unity and Google under their own policies. Your player code isn't part of it, so please ask them directly.

We will never ask for your password, card details or an identity document.

Website

The ARA Labs website is static. It uses Google font files, but Next.js downloads them at build time and serves them with the website, so your browser does not contact Google to load them. The website uses no tracking, no analytics, no cookies and no advertising.

It is hosted by Vercel, which, like any web host, receives the address of each page you open. The Swim Away support page reads the game details in its own address only to fill in the email you choose to send; it stores nothing.

The website is separate from the game: the game's analytics described above does not apply here.

Changes to this policy

If we update this policy, the changes will appear here with a new date. If a change to the game changes what is sent, this policy will be updated before that version ships.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request about data, can go to hello@aralabs.dev.

Who processes data for us. These companies handle data for Swim Away, as described above:

• Google: Google Play for purchases, Firebase for analytics, crash reports and game settings, AdMob and its consent tool, and the time check;
• Unity: LevelPlay and Unity Ads.

We do not sell your data. Apart from the advertising data described under Advertising, and the analytics link to our Google Ads account, we do not share your data for advertising.