Privacy policy
Dream Star Bedtime · last updated 6 October 2026
Dream Star Bedtime (“the app”) is made by Better at Parenting (Hugo Torres, United Kingdom). We built it so that as little as possible about your family leaves your phone, and nothing that could identify your child. This page says exactly what the app does with information, in plain words.
The short version
- There is no account and no sign-in. We do not have a database of users.
- Everything you set up (your child’s name, the routine, alarm times, sleep sound) is stored on your phone. The only parts that ever reach our server are the name you type for your child, once, to record Dream Star saying hello, and the words of any step you write yourself, to voice them (see “Smart listening”).
- The microphone is used only while a routine is running, to recognise spoken answers (from your child or from you, if you answer for them). Recognition happens on the phone itself. No audio is ever recorded, stored, or sent to us or anyone else.
- Smart listening is off unless you turn it on (the app asks during setup; you can change it any time in Options). With it on, when the phone could not follow an answer, the words it heard are sent to our server as text, with the name of the current step, so Dream Star can work out what was meant. Nothing else about your child is sent, the text is not kept, and it is never used to train anything.
- There are no adverts in the app and no advertising identifiers. We may advertise Dream Star elsewhere (on social media, for example). We use an install-attribution service to learn whether an install came through a creator’s link or one of our ads, and how many nights the app is used, so the creator can be credited and we can see what works; and a crash-reporting service to fix crashes. Neither receives your child’s name, your routine, or anything said (see “Services that receive information”).
What is stored on your phone
- Your child’s first name (or whatever you type), and one set of settings per child: the routine steps, which nights they run, nudge times, the bedtime alarm, the sleep sound and its length.
- Whether the one-off welcome has played, whether dream stars are on, and a count of completed nights (used for the free nights shown in the app, and to decide when to invite you to leave a review). On iPhone, that count (a number and a date, nothing else) is also kept in the phone’s secure storage, the Keychain, on this phone only, so that deleting and reinstalling the app does not restart the free nights. That copy never leaves the phone and is removed when the phone is erased; the number of nights is shared as described under “Services that receive information”.
- If you arrived through a creator’s link, the creator identifier from that link (such as “sarah”) and when it was recorded, so the creator can be credited if you subscribe. Creator attribution previously recorded on this phone may also remain stored. It is used only to credit the creator. There is no code-entry box in the app.
- A short technical log of the last routine (times, which words were recognised). It stays on the phone to help diagnose problems. There is no diagnostic screen in the app.
Deleting the app deletes all of this, except the iPhone night count described above.
The microphone and speech recognition
When you start a routine the app listens for spoken answers (“yes”, “done”, “not yet”, “I already did it”, “I need the toilet first” and the like) from your child or from you, if you answer on their behalf. It uses the on-device speech recognition built into iOS or Android. The app refuses to listen at all if on-device recognition is not available on the phone, rather than send audio to a server. Nothing said is recorded or kept. The microphone stops when the routine reaches the sleep sound.
Smart listening
Smart listening is off unless you turn it on: the app asks once during setup (a box you tick, with nothing ticked for you), and you can change it any time in Options. Turned on in setup, it is set to Understand + reply. With it on, when the phone is not sure what an answer meant, it sends the words it heard, as text, together with the name of the current step and which steps are done, to a server we run. An AI language service there works out what was meant and, if Smart listening is set to Understand + reply, may write one short sentence for Dream Star to say in its usual voice before returning to the routine.
What is not sent with the words heard: any audio, your child’s name, your settings, and anything said during the story step.
Two other things are voiced on our server in Dream Star’s voice, when the server is available: the nightly hello (“Hello, Arthur.”, so the name you typed for your child is sent once to make that recording) and the lines of any step you write yourself in the routine editor. These are your words, not your child’s; the recordings are kept for up to 180 days so each is made only once. The text is processed and discarded; we keep only per-device counters (a random id created by the app, not an advertising or device identifier) to limit use, and a cache of Dream Star’s own spoken lines. The AI language service and the voice service we use receive only the text described above, under their business terms, and neither trains on it.
Notifications
The bedtime alarm and the occasional reminder are local notifications scheduled on your phone. We do not run a notification server and cannot send you messages.
Subscriptions and payments
The free nights come first: nothing is bought and no payment details are asked for until you choose a plan. Subscriptions and the one-off lifetime purchase are sold and processed by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play). We never see your card or bank details. To know whether you have access, the app checks with the store through our subscription-management service.
Services that receive information
To run the app as a small business we use a few service providers, chosen to receive as little as possible. None of them receives audio or the content of your routine. Only the AI language service receives anything your child says (the words of an unclear answer, as text), and only the voice service receives the name you typed (to record the hello), as described under “Smart listening”.
- A subscription-management service: receives the purchase records from Apple or Google, an anonymous identifier the app generates, the attribution identifier below, the device’s IP address and, on iPhone, the app-specific identifier Apple gives each developer (not the advertising identifier), the number of nights completed and, when you buy, after how many nights and where in the app (at the end of the free nights or in Options), and any creator attribution stored on this phone (the creator identifier and when it was recorded), so that purchases can be confirmed and the creator credited.
- An install-attribution service: when the app is opened, receives technical details of the install (device model, system version, app version, IP address, and on iPhone the app-specific identifier Apple gives each developer, not the advertising identifier) and, on Android, the Google Play install referrer. The app also tells it two things as they happen: that a night’s routine was completed (with its number: 1, 2, 3…), and that the plans screen was shown (where in the app, and after how many nights); these carry no names, no routine contents and nothing said. This is to work out whether the install came through a creator’s link or one of our ads, and how many nights the app is used. The subscription-management service tells it about purchases and renewals (the product, price and date), so a creator’s results can be counted. The app does not ask to track you and does not read the advertising identifier on either system.
- A crash-reporting service: if the app crashes, it sends a report with the error, the device model, system version and app version, a random identifier for this installation, an approximate location (country and city) worked out from the connection, and the app’s recent technical log: which step the routine was on, timings, and which kind of answer was recognised (never the words). No screenshots, no audio, and not your IP address.
- An AI language service and a voice service, through our own server, for Smart listening and Dream Star’s voice, as described above.
- Email, when you write to us: your message and address, kept only to reply.
There are no adverts in the app. We may advertise the app elsewhere, and the attribution service tells us which of our links or ads an install came from, as described above. We do not use anything the app collects to target adverts at you, and we do not sell it or share it with advertising networks. If we add a provider or a provider starts receiving something new, this page changes first. If you would like to know which companies provide these services, write to us and we will tell you.
Children
The app is for parents and carers; the child is not a user of it and has no screen. The app does handle two things about your child, on your behalf and under your control: the name you type for them (below) and, with Smart listening on, the words of an answer the phone could not follow, sent as text to the AI described above, never with their name, and not kept. You can turn Smart listening off in Options. The name you enter for your child is stored on your phone. The app uses whatever name you type (a first name, a nickname, anything), and Dream Star says it every night. It is sent to our server once, as text, to record that hello; the recording is kept on our server for up to 180 days so it only has to be made once, and nothing else about your child is stored with it.
Third parties
Apple and Google, for the app stores and payments, under their own privacy policies; the services described under “Services that receive information”. The sleep sounds are licensed recordings and play from inside the app, so they work offline.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask what personal data we hold, and ask for it to be corrected or deleted. Because the app keeps your information on your phone, the practical answer is that we hold almost nothing: only the cached recording of Dream Star saying your child’s name (up to 180 days), which we will delete on request. Deleting the app removes everything on the phone except, on iPhone, the night count kept in the Keychain (a number and a date); erasing the phone removes that too. If you have bought a subscription or the lifetime unlock, the stores and the subscription-management service hold the anonymous purchase records described above; the attribution service holds the install record and the two usage events, and the crash-reporting service any crash reports (kept for 30 days). Write to us and we will have them deleted. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).
Changes
If the app ever starts doing something different with information, this page will change first and the date at the top will move.