Privacy
The short version: Qurio collects nothing.
This is the privacy policy for Qurio Companion, built by SoftBacon Software. It is written to be read — if any sentence below is not plainly true, that is a bug and we want to hear about it.
What leaves your phone
Nothing you tell him, nothing he sees, nothing he hears. There is no account, no sign-in, no cloud, no sync. There are no analytics, no ads, no ad networks and no third-party data SDKs in the app, and both of his brains — Apple Intelligence and the optional download below — run entirely on the phone, so no conversation you have with him can leave it. We file Qurio under the App Store's strictest label, Data Not Collected; the rest of this page is the engineering behind that.
The only network traffic Qurio ever generates is: the one-time optional brain download described below (hosted by Apple); while you teach him a dance, the Apple Music catalog search and the 30-second preview Apple serves; while he listens for a song, one compact audio fingerprint checked against Apple's catalog by Apple's own music recognition (the service behind Shazam) — Apple handles that, we never see it; and whatever you yourself share with the system share sheet.
What he stores, and where
Everything Qurio keeps lives in the app's own storage containers on your iPhone:
- Memories — the things you tell him, each with its date and receipt, in a local file only the app can read.
- The optional brain — the model file described below, in shared app storage, only if you chose to download it.
- His world — coins, furniture, garden, streaks: game state, on the phone.
- Diagnostic logs — technical numbers about how the app runs, local and swept after 14 days; they move only if you send them (below).
None of it is uploaded to us or visible to anyone but you. It is part of your iPhone's own device backup — the iCloud or computer backup you control — and is restored only to your own phone. The one exception is his identity key (below), which never leaves the phone, not even in a backup.
Diagnostics, only if you send them
The app keeps small diagnostic logs on your phone: launch times, how the phone's thermal state changed while you used him, how long his first word took to arrive, and the technical reports Apple's own system (MetricKit) writes about the app. They are swept away after 14 days, carry no identifier beyond the app's build number and your device model, and never contain your conversations or his memories.
They are local files, and the only way one moves is you: ••• → Send diagnostics builds one zip on your phone and hands it to the system share sheet. You choose where it goes — or you share nothing, and nothing leaves.
The optional brain download
Out of the box Qurio talks and remembers using Apple Intelligence — on your device. If you want him livelier, the app offers a one-time download of his own brain: Gemma 4 E2B, Google's open-weights model, under Google's Gemma Terms of Use, in a package built for the phone. It is about 2.4 GB, downloaded over HTTPS with a SHA-256 checksum the app verifies before use, delivered through Apple's Background Assets system.
The download is optional: without it he simply uses Apple Intelligence. Removing the brain in the app's Brains screen stops him using it — the 2.4 GB file itself lives in the app's own storage and is removed when you delete the app.
What the model is: a text model that runs entirely on the phone. It is not fine-tuned on your data and it never updates itself — a new brain only arrives if you tap to get one.
Camera, microphone, music, motion, Health — exactly what each is for
Qurio asks for five permissions, each at the moment it is first needed, each for one purpose. These are the app's own permission strings, verbatim:
Camera
“So he can look at you. Face position only, processed on this device, never recorded or sent anywhere.”
He reacts to where you are in the room. The camera frame is analysed on the phone to find your face position and nothing else — no photo, no video, no frame is ever recorded or uploaded. The camera starts closed: he asks once, in his own words, after your first chat — never on launch — and you can turn his eyes off any time (•••). Whenever the app goes to the background, the camera goes off.
Microphone
“So he can dance to your music. Sound is analysed on this device and never recorded. To name the song, Apple's music recognition checks a short audio signature.”
When you teach him a dance, he listens for the beat so his routine lands on it. The audio is analysed live, on the phone, for rhythm only — never recorded, never stored. He does not transcribe speech and there is no voice input in this version. One honest detail: while he listens for a song, Apple's own music recognition (the service behind Shazam) checks a compact fingerprint of the sound — generated on your phone — against Apple's catalog to name the song. Apple handles that exchange; we never see it, and no audio leaves your phone.
Apple Music
“So he can find the song you want to teach him a dance to. Your search goes to Apple Music and previews stream from Apple; nothing is recorded, and nothing reaches us.”
Teaching a dance starts by finding a song. Search and the 30-second preview come from Apple; he hears the preview, learns the routine you show him on its beat, and keeps only the routine. Your library itself is not read, altered or shared.
Motion & Fitness (his step count)
“So he can count your steps for a promise you asked him to measure. Only today's step count, read on this phone, never recorded or sent.”
Steps are how he measures a walking promise. The count comes from your phone's motion sensor — not the Health app — and only a day's total is read, only for a promise you asked him to measure. Forget the promise on his Memory page (or tap Stop on its card) and he stops counting.
Health (reading from it)
“So he can see a workout, last night's sleep or your mindful minutes for a promise you asked him to measure. Read only, on this phone, never sent anywhere.”
Reading covers exactly three things — a workout, last night's sleep, your mindful minutes — and only when you make one of them the measure of a promise. Each read has its own yes: he asks in his own words first, the system asks second, and the opt-in lives on his Memory page like any other memory — forget it there and the reads stop. Nothing he reads ever leaves the phone.
Health (saving to it)
“Qurio saves the water you log and a breathing session as mindful minutes to the Health app, only when you say yes.”
The second Health string is the writing one. Three things can be saved, each on its own yes and never before it: a breathing session as mindful minutes, how that session felt as a state-of-mind entry, and the glasses of water you log on his Today card. The yes is asked in his words at the moment you first choose it, never at launch, and nothing he writes ever leaves the phone.
Permissions can be refused, and each refusal only loses its own feature: without the camera he stops looking at you; without the microphone he can't hear the music or match its beat; without Apple Music a dance lesson uses the bundled practice loop instead; without motion or Health, promises simply stay honor-system — you tell him how it went and he believes you. Everything else in the app never asks.
Sharing
A shareable moment — his dance, a bullseye, a thing he said — is rendered on your device from the live scene: no screen recording, no audio, no upload. The clip or picture exists on your phone until the moment you tap Shareand choose a destination yourself; only then does it leave, going wherever you sent it. If sharing comes up too often for your taste, ••• → “Suggest sharing” → Never.
“Powered by Mycelium” — a network of one
Qurio's memory runs on Mycelium, our open memory platform. That means the app generates its own cryptographic identity — a small key pair that lives in your iPhone's Keychain — and signs what it remembers. In this version, that network is exactly your device: no server holds your key, no copy of your memories exists anywhere but the phone, and nothing federates, syncs or “phones home.” One day the same protocol will let two Qurios visit each other with both owners' explicit say-so; that day is not this version.
How to delete everything
- One memory: his Memory page → the row → Forget. Gone immediately.
- Everything:delete the app. That removes every memory, the downloaded brain, his world — all of it — because all of it lives in the app's own storage.
One honest footnote: iOS keeps the app's small identity key in the system Keychain after you delete the app. It is stored this-device-only — never included in any backup, not even your own, and never synced — and it contains no memories and no personal data, just a random key. Erase All Content and Settings removes it.
Contact
Questions or a privacy concern: support@mycelium.fyi. We answer.
Last updated: October 12, 2026 · Qurio Companion 1.0 · SoftBacon Software.