Privacy Policy for Ambry
Last updated: 2026-10-13
Ambry is made by ScalingWeb Technologies ("we", "us"). This policy explains what Ambry does with your data, in plain language. The short version: your kitchen inventory stays on your device and in your own iCloud, there is no account to create, and the only things that leave the phone are the ones a feature cannot work without.
No account
Ambry has no sign-up. Where a feature needs to tell one installation from another, it uses a random identifier created on your device, not your name or Apple ID.
What stays on your device or in your own iCloud
These never reach us.
- Your inventory: items, quantities, locations, categories, dates, notes and your shopping list. They are stored on your device and sync through your own iCloud account (CloudKit private database).
- Best-by dates read from a photo. When you snap a date, the photo is read on your device and never uploaded.
- Your own item photos. When you add a photo to an item, Ambry makes it smaller and removes its metadata, including location, on your device. It is stored with the item on your device and in your own iCloud, and is never sent to us or to UPCguru.
- Barcode scanning. Barcodes are read on your device from the camera feed. Camera frames are not recorded or uploaded.
- Siri and Shortcuts, widgets, and reminders. Answers are found on your device, and expiry reminders and recall alerts are created as notifications on your device.
- Exports. A CSV or JSON export is created on your device and goes only where you choose to send it.
Looking up a barcode
To name a product, Ambry sends the barcode number only to our server, which looks it up in UPCguru (https://upcguru.com), the product database Ambry uses. Our server does not keep product records or any record of what you scanned, and nothing about you or your inventory is sent with the request. The answer is saved on your device, so each product is looked up once.
Photos of products you identify
When a barcode is unknown and you tap Snap the front, Ambry crops the photo on your device to the product alone, so counters, hands and faces are not included. The cropped photo and the barcode are sent through our server to UPCguru to read the product's name, brand and size. UPCguru discards the photo after reading it.
If you then save the item, the cropped photo goes with your contribution (below) as private evidence for checking it. UPCguru strips the photo's metadata, including location, never shows it to anyone else, and deletes it once the entry is reviewed or published, or after 30 days at most. We do not store the photo.
Contributions and reports
When you save a product that the database did not know, Ambry sends the barcode and the name, brand and size as you confirmed them to UPCguru, together with a random contributor ID created on your device. That entry may be published in UPCguru's product database and shown to anyone who scans the same barcode. The contributor ID is not derived from, or stored with, anything that identifies you or your device. Please do not type personal information into product names.
When you tap Not this product? on an item, Ambry sends the barcode, the reason you picked, the corrected name if you change it, and the same contributor ID.
Nothing is contributed for store labels, coupons or receipts.
Recall alerts
Ambry downloads the list of recent FDA food recalls and compares it with your items on your device. Your inventory is never sent to us to do this. Recall alerts cover FDA food recalls only.
Household sharing
If you create or join a household, your inventory and shopping list are shared through Apple's iCloud sharing with the people you invite, and they can see and change them. To own a household you sign in with Apple. Ambry uses that sign-in only to set up and manage the household. If you choose to hide your email, Apple's relay address is used.
Purchases
Purchases are processed by Apple. RevenueCat, our subscription service, receives the purchase record and an anonymous installation identifier so your Pro access can be restored on your devices. We never see your Apple ID or payment details. See https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy.
Analytics
We use Aptabase, a privacy-focused analytics service, to count which features are used (for example, "an item was added by scan" or "a barcode was not found"), with app version, device model, iOS version, language and country (derived from your IP address at the time of the request and not stored with it). Events carry a random installation identifier created on your device. They never include product names, your inventory, photos, your name, contacts or precise location. There is no advertising identifier and no tracking across apps or sites. See https://aptabase.com/legal/privacy.
Permissions the app may ask for
- Camera, to scan barcodes and, when you tap, photograph a product, an item or a best-by date.
- Photos: Ambry does not ask for access to your photo library. When you choose a photo for an item, the system photo picker gives Ambry only that one photo.
- Notifications, for expiry reminders and recall alerts.
- Sign in with Apple, only if you create a household.
App Attest and abuse protection
Ambry uses Apple's App Attest to prove to our server that requests come from a genuine copy of the app. The attestation identifies an installation, not a person.
Where data is stored and who can see it
Our server runs on infrastructure we rent in Europe. We do not sell your data, we show no ads, and we share data with no one except the service providers named above (Apple, UPCguru, RevenueCat and Aptabase), each only to the extent needed to provide the feature.
Children
Ambry is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from them.
Your rights
Deleting Ambry removes its data from your device. Ambry's iCloud data can be removed in iOS Settings under your Apple ID, iCloud, Manage Storage. Leaving or deleting a household stops sharing with its members. Contributions are linked only to a random contributor ID, so we cannot tie them to you. To ask about anything in this policy, contact us at https://scalingwebapps.com/support?app=ambry.
This policy applies to Ambry only. Other apps published by the same developer have their own policies linked from their App Store listings.