Pixel Phi Privacy Policy
Effective 10 October 2026
Pixel Phi is a photo gallery for Android and Windows, published by Uv Studios ("we"). It runs on your device. This policy explains what the app does with your information, which in short is: it stays with you.
Summary
- Pixel Phi does not collect, upload, sell or share your personal information.
- There is no account, no advertising, no analytics and no crash reporting in the app.
- Your photos, videos, albums, favourites, search history and the search index stay on your device.
- The app connects to the internet for one purpose: to download the search model, once, when you ask it to.
Information the app uses on your device
The app reads the following in order to work. None of it leaves your device.
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Your photos and videos | To show them, and to prepare them for search |
| The date, size and folder of each file | To sort, group and filter your library |
| The place a photo was taken, when the photo records it (Android) | To filter by location and find photos taken nearby |
| What you type into search | To find matching photos and to offer recent searches again. You can clear the history in Settings |
| Albums and favourites you create | To show them to you |
On Windows the app reads only the folders you add to it. On Android it reads the photos and videos you allow when the system asks; if you choose to allow only selected items, it sees only those.
The search index
Search by description uses Google's EmbeddingGemma 2 model, which runs on your device. For each photo, and for each sampled frame of a video you search inside, the model produces a list of numbers that stands for what the picture shows. These numbers are stored on your device, are used only to match your searches, and are never sent anywhere. Your photos are not used to train any model.
Information we collect
None. We operate no servers that receive information from the app, and the app contains no code that sends us anything.
Because we hold no information about you, there is nothing for us to give you a copy of, correct or delete, and nothing for us to sell or share.
Internet use
The app uses the internet only to download the search model file (about 388 MB) from Hugging Face (huggingface.co), and only when you choose to download it. As with any download, Hugging Face's servers receive your IP address and standard request details; their privacy policy applies to that request. Nothing about you or your photos is included. If you supply the model file yourself, the app does not use the internet at all.
Other parties
The app does not include any third-party analytics, advertising or tracking software. Two things outside the app are worth knowing about:
- The store you install from. Google Play and the Microsoft Store collect information about installs, updates and, depending on your device settings, crashes, and show us totals such as how many people installed the app. This is collected by the store under its own privacy policy, not by Pixel Phi, and it does not include your photos or searches.
- Windows components. On Windows the app's window is drawn by Microsoft Edge WebView2, a part of Windows. Microsoft may collect diagnostic data about its own components according to your Windows settings and the Microsoft Privacy Statement (https://www.microsoft.com/privacy/privacystatement).
Permissions on Android
| Permission | Use |
|---|---|
| Photos and videos | Show your library and prepare it for search |
| Media location | Read where a photo was taken, from the file on your device |
| Notifications | Show the progress of the model download and of preparing photos |
| Network | The model download |
| Foreground services | Keep the download and the preparation of photos running while the app is in the background |
Where your data is kept, and how to remove it
- Android: in the app's private storage. It is excluded from cloud backup and from device-to-device transfer.
- Windows: in the app's own data folder under your user profile.
"Delete model and index" in Settings removes the model and the search index. Uninstalling the app removes everything it stored: the model, the index, thumbnails, albums, favourites, search history and settings. Your photos and videos themselves are never changed or removed by uninstalling.
When you delete photos in the app, on Android they go to the app's trash, where you can restore them or delete them for good; on Windows they go to the Recycle Bin.
Diagnostic log
When something goes wrong, the app writes the technical details (error messages, and on Android your device's model and Android version) to a small log on your device, so that problems can be explained without showing technical text on screen. The app never sends this log anywhere. You can look at it or share it yourself from Settings, under Troubleshooting; on Windows it can include the names of files and folders, so read it before passing it on.
Security
Your data is protected by your device: its screen lock, its encryption and the separation the operating system keeps between apps. Since nothing is sent to us, there is no copy elsewhere that could be exposed.
Children
Pixel Phi is a general-purpose gallery and is not directed at children. It collects no information from anyone, of any age.
Changes to this policy
If the app changes in a way that affects this policy, we will publish the new version at this address with a new effective date before the change reaches you.
Contact
Uv Studios
saivamsichunduru@gmail.com