ChainBreak privacy policy
Effective 5 October 2026.
ChainBreak is an Android app made by Jove Kane. It helps you scroll less: it closes Reels, Shorts, stories and endless video feeds in Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook. This policy covers both versions of the app: the version on Google Play (the Play version) and the version published as an APK file on GitHub (the GitHub version).
In short
- ChainBreak sends no data about you to Jove Kane or to anyone else.
- ChainBreak has no account, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking.
- The blocker reads the screens of four apps on your phone and acts on them there. What it reads never leaves your phone.
The blocker (Android's Accessibility service)
ChainBreak's blocker uses Android's Accessibility service API. You switch it on yourself in Android's settings, after ChainBreak shows you what the blocker reads and does. You can switch it off at any time in Android's Accessibility settings.
- What it reads. It reads what is on screen in Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook while you use them: the names of the views, and their text and descriptions. Android gives it nothing from any other app.
- What it does. It compares the screen with rules built into ChainBreak. When one of the four apps shows Reels, Shorts, a story or the TikTok video feed, the blocker taps that app's own Home or Inbox tab, or presses Back. If you switch on "Also close ordinary YouTube videos", it also closes YouTube's video player. It can also draw a "Hidden by ChainBreak" panel over part of a feed.
- What it keeps. Nothing, unless you turn on the screen log (below). The blocker checks each screen in your phone's memory and then drops it.
- What it never does. It does not type, does not change your settings, does not read other apps, and does not send what it reads anywhere.
The screen log (off unless you turn it on)
Settings and tips has a switch called "Log the official apps' screens". It is off by default. While it is on, ChainBreak writes what the blocker sees in the four apps to a file in ChainBreak's private storage on your phone. This can include text that was on screen, such as names, captions and messages. It is there to fix the blocker when one of the apps changes.
The same file always holds a few short lines that ChainBreak writes even while the switch is off: when the blocker started and stopped, when ChainBreak opened while the blocker was off, and the technical details of any ChainBreak crash. These lines hold no screen content.
The file leaves ChainBreak's private storage only when you tap "Save screen log to Downloads". That copies it to your phone's Downloads folder, where you decide whether to share it. ChainBreak never sends it anywhere. Uninstalling ChainBreak deletes the private file.
Your settings
Your choices, such as which apps the blocker watches, are stored on your phone. ChainBreak turns off Android's cloud backup for its data, so they are not copied to your Google backup.
Mascot purchases (Play version)
In the Play version, the mascots are bought through Google Play. Google handles the payment under Google's privacy policy, and ChainBreak never sees your payment details. ChainBreak asks Google Play which mascots you own, to unlock them on your phone. ChainBreak keeps no record of your purchases anywhere else.
The GitHub version
The GitHub version is free and does three more things:
- Sites. It opens the Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok websites inside ChainBreak. Those sites receive what you do on them, under their own privacy policies, as they would in a browser. ChainBreak only hides parts of their pages on your phone. Sign-in cookies and site data stay in ChainBreak's storage on your phone. "Log out of everything" in Settings and tips deletes them.
- Camera and microphone. It asks for the camera or the microphone only when one of those sites asks for it, for example to record a voice note. Android shows you each request.
- Donate. The Donate button opens a Stripe donation page in your browser. Stripe handles that payment under its own privacy policy. ChainBreak receives nothing from it.
Children
ChainBreak collects no personal data from anyone, children included.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version replaces this page and shows a new effective date.
Contact
To ask about this policy, use the "Get in touch" form at jovekane.com.