Support
- App: Orbitown (a merge-and-launch puzzle game for iPhone)
- Requirements: iOS 15 or later
- Developer: Alaskarbros (Omar Aldhafeeri)
- Contact: alaskarbros@gmail.com
Emails are usually answered within a few days. Please include your iPhone model and iOS version.
Common questions
Is the game portrait or landscape? Portrait only.
Does it need internet? No. The game plays offline. A connection is only needed for ads and for game analytics (which you can switch off).
What languages are supported? All of them: the game has no words, only pictures, numbers and symbols. Its App Store page is available in 13 languages.
Are there in-app purchases? No. Nothing in the game can be bought with money.
What are the buttons with a small film symbol? Optional ads. After a world you can watch one to continue a world you lost, to double the colonists you sent, or to start the next world with a gift. You never have to watch one, and if no ad is available, the continue is free.
Why do I see a small banner at the bottom of the screen? We are testing how the game plays with and without a small banner, so about half of players see one. It never covers the planet, and it never appears during the first world's lessons.
How do I turn off analytics or change my ad choices? Pause the game and tap the shield button. It also has a link to this privacy policy.
How do I reset my progress? Delete the app and reinstall it. Your progress is stored on your device only, so deleting the app erases it permanently.
Orbitown Privacy Policy
This policy in other languages:
Effective date: 1 October 2026
This policy explains what information is collected when you play Orbitown on your iPhone, why it is collected, who receives it, and the choices you have. Orbitown is made by Alaskarbros ("we", "us").
In short
- No account, no login. We never ask for your name, email address or phone number. The game has no chat and nothing you post.
- Your saved game stays on your device. With game analytics on, GameAnalytics receives events about how the game is played (section 5).
- Ads come from Google AdMob. Some ads are shown between worlds, about half of players also see a small banner at the bottom of the screen, and you can choose to watch rewarded ads. Ads are personalised only if you allow it: through Google's consent form in the European Economic Area (EEA), the UK and Switzerland, and through Apple's tracking prompt on iPhone. You can say no, and the game plays exactly the same.
- We use GameAnalytics to see how the game is played, so we can improve it. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland it runs only if you consent in Google's consent form. It does not use your advertising identifier and is not used to track you. You can switch it off at any time from the pause menu.
- We don't sell your personal information for money.
- Orbitown is for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13.
1. Who we are
Alaskarbros makes Orbitown and is responsible for the data described here (the "controller" under European data protection law). Contact: alaskarbros@gmail.com. Website: https://alaskarbros.github.io
2. What stays on your device
The game saves your progress and settings on your device: your planets and star systems, your worlds and galaxy, discoveries, missions, colonists, daily streak, best scores, and settings such as sound and haptics. It may also keep local play statistics, for example how long worlds last and how smoothly the game runs. The save itself stays on your device. With game analytics on, GameAnalytics receives events about how the game is played, such as worlds, missions, discoveries, planets opened, colonists, streaks, scores and how smoothly the game runs (section 5). Deleting the app deletes the save. Your device's own backups (to iCloud or to a computer) may include it; Apple handles those backups under its own terms.
3. Ads (Google AdMob)
Orbitown is free, and ads from Google AdMob, a Google service, pay for it. We show:
- rewarded ads, only when you choose to watch one in exchange for a reward;
- ads between worlds, with a limit on how often they appear; and
- a small banner at the bottom of the screen, for about half of players: we are testing how the game plays with and without it. It never appears during your first world's lessons.
No full-screen ad interrupts a world while you are playing it.
To show and measure ads, Google's ads software in the game collects information from your device, such as:
- your IP address, which is used to estimate your general location (for example, your country or city);
- device and app information, such as the device model, operating system version, language, and the app's name and version;
- identifiers: Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA) only if you allow tracking, plus identifiers limited to our apps or to Google's services, such as Apple's identifier for vendors (IDFV);
- ad interactions, such as which ads were shown, watched or tapped;
- diagnostic information, such as performance and crash data from the ads software.
Google uses this information to deliver ads, to limit how often you see the same ad, to measure how ads perform, to prevent fraud and abuse, and, only with your permission, to personalise ads to your interests. For some of these purposes Google decides for itself how the data is used (it is an independent controller).
Learn more:
- How Google uses information from apps that use its services: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites
- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- How Google uses data for advertising: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads
- Your Google ad settings (My Ad Center): https://myadcenter.google.com
4. Your ad choices: consent and tracking
Google's consent form (EEA, UK and Switzerland). If you play in these regions, the game shows Google's consent form when you first play, before any ad is requested. You can accept, refuse, or choose purposes and ad partners one by one; the form also lists the ad partners Google works with. Your choices in this form also decide whether game analytics runs (section 5). You can change your choice at any time with the privacy options button in the game's pause menu. If you don't consent, Google may still show non-personalised or limited ads, which still use some data, for example to limit repetition, prevent fraud and count ads in aggregate.
Apple's tracking prompt (iPhone). The game asks your permission before it can access your device's advertising identifier (IDFA), which could be used to show you ads based on your activity in other companies' apps and websites. If you choose "Ask App Not to Track", the game cannot access the IDFA, and it plays exactly the same. You can change your answer at any time in Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
US state privacy laws. Under some US state laws, such as California's, showing personalised ads through Google may count as "selling" or "sharing" personal information, or as "targeted advertising". If you live in one of these states, you can opt out at any time with the privacy options button in the game's pause menu (pause, then the shield, then Google's choices), or by turning tracking off for Orbitown (see above). You can also email us at alaskarbros@gmail.com; because the game has no accounts, we will reply with these steps.
5. Game analytics (GameAnalytics)
We use GameAnalytics, a game analytics service, to understand how Orbitown is played so we can improve it: for example, to see whether a planet is too hard, or where new players stop. GameAnalytics receives:
- what happens in the game, such as worlds started and finished, the planet played, scores, rockets launched, colonists earned, missions completed, discoveries, planets opened or revealed, star systems completed and your daily streak;
- how smoothly the game runs, such as its frame rate;
- the ads offered, shown and watched, and the estimated revenue from each ad shown;
- session information, such as when you play and for how long;
- device information, such as the device model, operating system version and language, and the app version;
- your approximate location (your country), estimated from your IP address;
- error reports, if something goes wrong in the game;
- whether you allowed tracking in Apple's tracking prompt (your answer only, not your advertising identifier);
- the group you are in for the banner test (section 3) and how far you have got (your furthest planet, or how many planets you have collected), which we use to compare versions of the game;
- Apple's identifier for vendors (IDFV), a random identifier that is the same only across apps from the same developer on your device, and a random ID that GameAnalytics creates for your device. GameAnalytics does not receive your advertising identifier (IDFA).
We look at this information in reports about all players together. We do not use it to identify you, to personalise ads, or to track you across other companies' apps and websites. GameAnalytics processes the data on our behalf and keeps it under its own retention rules. Learn more: https://www.gameanalytics.com/trust/privacy-notice
When it runs. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, game analytics runs only if you consent in Google's consent form (section 4) to storing or accessing information on your device and to measurement, and only while the switch below is on. Without that consent, GameAnalytics is never started there and receives nothing. You can withdraw your consent at any time with the privacy options button in the pause menu (pause, then the shield, then Google's choices); this stops game analytics as the switch does. Everywhere else, game analytics is on until you switch it off.
Turning analytics off. Wherever you play, the privacy options button in the pause menu (pause, then the shield) has a switch that turns game analytics off. Once it is off, the game sends nothing more to GameAnalytics. Events not yet sent stay on your device and are sent only if you switch game analytics back on, and GameAnalytics does not start the next time you open the game.
6. Why we use data (legal bases)
If you are in the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, we rely on:
- your consent for personalised ads, for game analytics (section 5), and for storing or reading information on your device for these purposes, given through Google's consent form. You can withdraw it at any time from the pause menu (pause, then the shield, then Google's choices); this does not affect what happened before.
- our legitimate interests in keeping the game free with non-personalised or limited ads. You can object to this use at any time by contacting us.
Everywhere else, we use game analytics because we have a legitimate interest in understanding how the game is played so we can improve it and fix problems. You can object at any time: switch game analytics off from the pause menu (section 5), or contact us.
7. Who receives data
We share data only with Google (AdMob) and GameAnalytics, which use it as described above, and with authorities if the law requires it. If Orbitown is ever transferred to another company, this policy will keep applying to the data collected under it. We don't sell your personal information for money.
Google and GameAnalytics may process data outside your country, including in the United States. Where data leaves the EEA, the UK or Switzerland, they use legal safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
8. How long data is kept
- On your device: until you delete the app.
- Ads (Google AdMob): as set out in Google's retention policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention
- Game analytics (GameAnalytics): as set out in GameAnalytics' privacy policy, and only as long as we need it to understand how the game is played.
9. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- ask what personal information we hold about you, and get a copy;
- ask us to correct or delete it;
- object to, or restrict, how we use it;
- withdraw your consent at any time;
- opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information, or of targeted advertising;
- be treated the same when you use these rights;
- complain to your data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office).
To use any of these rights, email us at alaskarbros@gmail.com. Because Orbitown has no accounts, we usually cannot tell which data is yours; we will tell you what we can do, and we may ask for details that help find data linked to your device. We reply within one month (within 45 days for requests under US state laws).
You can also act on your own at any time: turn tracking off (Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking), switch game analytics off from the pause menu, use Google's choices there to change or withdraw your consent to ads and game analytics (in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland) or to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of your data (in US states with privacy laws), or delete the app, which removes everything stored on your device. The privacy options in the pause menu (pause, then the shield) also have a link to this policy, which opens in your browser.
10. Children
Orbitown is made for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, or under the age of digital consent where they live. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has played Orbitown and that information about them was collected, contact us at alaskarbros@gmail.com, and we will do what we can to delete it, including asking Google and GameAnalytics to do the same.
11. Security
Information the game sends to Google and GameAnalytics travels encrypted (HTTPS). We rely on their security measures and on Apple's, and we limit who can see our analytics reports. No way of storing or sending data is completely secure.
12. Changes to this policy
If we change how the game handles data, for example when we add an optional purchase to remove ads, we will update this policy and its effective date. If a change is important, we will say so on Orbitown's App Store page or in the update notes before it takes effect.
13. Contact us
Questions or requests: alaskarbros@gmail.com Alaskarbros · https://alaskarbros.github.io
This policy is available in several languages. If a translation differs from the English version, the English version applies.