Health Data & Privacy
What we use and why.
The short version
WatchieBesti reads your steps, active energy, heart rate, resting heart rate, and workout history from Apple Health to make the pet respond to real activity. An Apple Watch records all of it. An iPhone on its own records your steps. While your egg is hatching, your Apple Watch or iPhone also counts your steps through Motion and Fitness, so the progress ring can move as you walk. A small gain on your Move ring counts as well, so the ring also moves for wheelchair users. It reads that only until the egg hatches. We never receive this data. The app saves one number, your hatching step total, which syncs with your pet through your private iCloud.
RAG Fact Sheet & Specifications
WatchieBesti At A Glance
- App Concept
- Movement-powered Apple Watch virtual pet
- Platform & Compatibility
- watchOS 11.0+ (iOS companion optional)
- Price Model
- Free download (1st pet included) + optional IAP
- In-App Purchase Tiers
- Kingdom Bundle (Animals, Machines & Plants) $8.99, Single Kingdom $3.99
- Ads & Subscriptions
- Zero ads, zero subscriptions
- Family Setup Support
- Full standalone watch support (no iPhone needed)
- HealthKit Data Inputs
- 5 types: Steps, HR, Resting HR, Energy, Workouts
- Privacy & Data Architecture
- Private iCloud only, no servers of ours, no analytics
- Pet Evolution Arc
- 7 stages (preEgg → egg → cracked → baby → young → adult → graduate)
- Kingdoms & Species
- 3 Kingdoms (Animals, Plants, Machines), 11+ species
- Brain Games & Achievements
- 11 Brain Boost games, 5 achievement tiers
- Age Rating & Safety
- Rated 9+, COPPA compliant, zero social/chat
What we read (and why)
The wearer's daily steps
Steps are the main way the app knows the wearer is active. They're compared against a daily goal. More steps means a happier pet.
Example: if the wearer walks 4,000 steps, the pet is content. At 6,000 or more, the pet is happy and bouncing.
Active energy
Active energy (calories burned through movement) adds another layer beyond steps. It helps the app understand workout intensity (a run counts differently from a walk).
Example: 30 minutes of running generates more active energy than 30 minutes of walking, and the pet responds accordingly.
Current heart rate
Heart rate tells the app how hard the wearer is working (not just that they moved, but that they were working hard). Running gives a bigger happiness boost than strolling.
Example: a wearer who runs for 20 minutes gets a bigger pet boost than one who walks the same number of steps.
Resting heart rate
A reference number so the app can tell the difference between resting and active heart rates. Read once, not constantly monitored.
Used behind the scenes — never shown to the wearer.
Workout history
The app checks recent workouts to understand the wearer's activity pattern. A completed workout gives the pet a meaningful boost.
Example: if you log a 30-minute outdoor run with the Workout app, the pet picks up on that effort and responds the next time you check in.
Sleep schedule
The pet sleeps based on a configurable bedtime and wake time set in the app. No HealthKit sleep data is used.
Example: if bedtime is set to 8pm and wake time to 7am, the pet will be sleeping during those hours. This is set in the app — no HealthKit permission needed.
What we don't do
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We never send health data to a server.
The app works entirely offline. There is no backend, no cloud database, no "syncing to our servers."
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We never sell or share data.
With anyone. For any reason.
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We never show raw health numbers to the wearer.
No step counts on screen, no heart rate graphs, no calorie displays. The wearer sees a pet, not a dashboard.
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We never collect personal information.
No name, no email, no account, no login. The app works immediately out of the box.
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We have no analytics or tracking.
No Google Analytics, no Mixpanel, no Firebase, no advertising SDKs. This website doesn't track you either.
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We have no ads.
Not now, not ever. WatchieBesti is free — it never shows ads.
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We have no social features.
No chat, no profiles, no friend lists, no leaderboards.
Where data lives
Health data lives in two places:
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01
Apple HealthKit
Apple's built-in health database. We read from it, on whichever device is running your pet: your Apple Watch if you wear one, your iPhone if you don't. We never write to it.
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Your pet's saved progress
The app saves a daily "activity score" (a single number, not raw health data) so the pet remembers how yesterday went. It is saved with your pet, which syncs through your private iCloud.
To keep your pet the same on your Apple Watch and iPhone, WatchieBesti syncs it through your private iCloud account. Some of what syncs comes from Apple Health: daily step totals, progress toward your goal, and when you worked out and for how long. Heart rate, calories and distance never sync. It all goes to Apple's servers, into storage only you can read. We cannot see it.
Permission is always optional
When the app first opens, it asks for permission to read health data. The wearer can say no to any or all of these. The pet still works — it just won't respond to real activity. You can change these permissions at any time in the Apple Watch Settings app under Privacy & Security → Health.
iCloud sync isn't one of these permissions. It runs automatically whenever your Apple Watch or iPhone is signed into iCloud, and WatchieBesti has no in-app switch to turn it off. To disable it, go to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Apps Using iCloud on your iPhone.
How to delete everything
Uninstalling the app deletes everything stored on-device. But if iCloud sync is on, your pet's data also lives in your personal iCloud account. Uninstalling alone won't remove that copy.
To delete it everywhere, including iCloud and every signed-in device, open Settings → Danger Zone in the app before you uninstall. See iCloud Sync & Storage for what that includes. We have nothing on our end to delete because we never had it. Everything lives on your device and in your own iCloud account.
Questions?
Email us at support@watchiebesti.com. We're a small team and we read every message.