Menagerie
Last updated: 7 September 2026
Menagerie has no accounts, no adverts, no analytics and no tracking. Your collection lives on your device and in your own private iCloud. We cannot see it.
Everything Menagerie catalogues is kept on your device, and — if you leave iCloud sync on — mirrored to your own private iCloud database so it follows you between your devices. That includes:
This data is stored in your personal iCloud container. It is governed by Apple's privacy policy, and the developer has no access to it. Turning off sync during onboarding, or in Settings, keeps everything on the device alone.
This is the one time information leaves your device, so it is worth being precise.
When you ask Menagerie to identify a photograph, the cropped photograph is sent to Google's Gemini model (through Firebase AI Logic) so it can be identified and written up. Google processes the image to return the identification and does not use it to train its models. See Firebase's privacy information and Google's privacy policy.
Your location is never sent with the photograph. The model is asked where the species lives in the world; it is never told where you were. The two are kept deliberately separate.
Where Gemini is unavailable, or you are offline, Menagerie falls back to Apple's on-device model or Apple's Private Cloud Compute. Apple states that Private Cloud Compute does not retain your data. Nothing is sent anywhere when you log a creature by typing its name instead.
If you grant location access, Menagerie records where you were at the moment you catalogue a creature, so the sighting can be pinned on your map. The coordinates are turned into a readable place name by Apple's geocoder. Location is used for nothing else — no background tracking, no location history beyond your own sightings, and it is never shared. Decline the permission and the app works exactly as before, minus the map pins.
The camera is used only to photograph creatures. Menagerie asks for permission to add to your photo library solely so it can save an exhibit card when you choose to; it never reads or browses your existing photos.
Menagerie+ subscriptions and the Lifetime purchase are handled entirely by Apple. We never see your payment details. Your subscription status is read from Apple on your device to unlock features.
Menagerie uses Firebase App Check, which sends Apple's device-attestation token to confirm requests come from a genuine copy of the app. It contains no personal information and does not identify you.
Menagerie is rated 4+ and is safe for all ages, but it is not directed at children specifically, and it collects no personal information from anyone.
If this policy changes materially, the updated date above will change and the new version will appear here before the change takes effect.
Questions about privacy, or a request about your data: richard@digitalhopeltd.com.