Updated October 15, 2026
Pet Handoff helps you organize pet-care information and share a handoff with veterinarians, sitters, groomers, and family. This policy explains what information the app stores and how it is used.
Pet Handoff can store the pet-care information you enter, including a pet name, routine, food notes, medication instructions, behavioral notes, household rules, emergency or backup contact details, and photos you choose to add. This information is used only to provide the app’s features, display your pet profile, and create handoff documents or images.
Sitting stays are being prepared for TestFlight testing and are not part of the current public App Store release. The stay-specific practices below apply only to versions that include this feature.
When you use a sitting stay, the app also stores the selected pets’ care-card snapshots, stay dates and care windows, caregiver invitations, account identifiers supplied by iCloud, check-in times and statuses, names entered by caregivers, notes, submitted photos, and owner nudges. These details provide the shared care plan and timeline. Apple purchase identifiers are associated with the stay to recover purchases and prevent reusing one purchase for another stay.
When iCloud is available, Pet Handoff synchronizes your pet profiles and usage-allowance status through the private CloudKit database associated with your iCloud account. This keeps your data and free-use claims consistent across devices using the same Apple Account. The developer does not operate a separate Pet Handoff account system and does not have access to the contents of your private CloudKit database.
Shared stays require an iCloud account and Pet Handoff on iPhone or iPad. Android and Google sign-in are not currently supported. The owner can invite up to three sitters by their Apple Account email addresses and send the private invitation link through Messages or another destination they choose. Only invited accounts can accept a private invitation; forwarding the link does not add another person.
Invited sitters can view the selected pets’ care cards, including any contact or emergency details they contain, and the shared stay timeline. They can submit check-ins, notes, and photos. Other pet profiles are not included unless the owner selects them for the stay. Confirm the recipient’s email and review the selected care cards before inviting someone. The app does not request or store your Apple Account password.
Check-ins marked completed cannot be edited through Pet Handoff. Additional notes and photos create separate timestamped entries. These are reported care updates, not independently verified proof of care. Private sharing is intended for people the owner trusts.
If you enable notifications, the app can schedule care reminders on the sitter’s device, show owners newly synchronized care updates, deliver owner nudges after synchronization, and remind owners before the download window ends. Notifications depend on your settings, connection, and iOS background delivery. An update may be delayed; no update does not mean care was missed. Pet Handoff is not an emergency-monitoring service.
Pet Handoff stores a local copy on your device so core features continue to work when iCloud is unavailable. Pending synchronization is retried when iCloud becomes available again.
Pet Handoff Pro is sold through Apple’s App Store using StoreKit. Apple processes payment and purchase information. The app uses verified purchase results to unlock Pro features or, in versions offering sitting stays, one purchased stay; Pet Handoff does not receive your payment-card details.
When you choose to export or share a handoff, the resulting document or image is passed to the system share sheet and the destination you select. Pet Handoff does not sell your information or use it for advertising, analytics, or cross-app tracking.
Owners can download a stay’s PDF timeline and submitted photos during the stay and for 30 days after it ends. Downloaded copies are controlled by the owner and the destination they select. The download deadline does not automatically erase archived stay data from the owner’s device or iCloud.
Owners can remove a sitter from an active stay. Completing a stay explicitly requires an iCloud connection so shared access can be revoked. Scheduled expiry closes caregiver access inside Pet Handoff; revocation of the underlying iCloud share requires an owner device to connect. A sitter who is offline may not immediately receive a removal or reminder cancellation. Previously downloaded, exported, or captured copies cannot be recalled by the app.
Pet Handoff does not publish sitter ratings or a discovery directory, and it does not turn private stay information into public profiles or reviews.
You can delete pet profiles from within the app. Deleting a profile removes it from the local app store and marks it for removal from the app’s private iCloud data during synchronization. Usage-allowance claims are intentionally retained so deleting and re-adding a pet cannot reset free limits.
You can remove on-device app data by deleting the app. Removing the app does not itself remove iCloud data or copies already shared outside the app. You can manage Pet Handoff’s iCloud storage in your device’s iCloud settings. The stay beta does not yet offer a separate in-app command to erase an archived stay. For help understanding these controls, contact support; the developer cannot directly erase the contents of your private CloudKit database.
Pet Handoff is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
We may update this policy when the app’s data practices change. For privacy questions, visit Pet Handoff Support or email chrisw.apps87@gmail.com.