Last updated: 7 September 2026

Summary

SyncTogether is free to use. There are no paid plans, no in-app purchases and no subscriptions, so we never collect or process payment information. The app is supported by advertising, described below.

What we collect

• Account data: email address and authentication records (handled by our auth provider).
• Profile data you choose to provide: display name, username, avatar URL, bio.
• Room data: rooms you create or join, membership, roles, invites and room activity events.
• Content you post in a room: chat messages, reactions, study notes, tasks, saved links and the titles of media you queue.
• Safety data: reports you submit, blocks you create, and moderation outcomes.
• Device and diagnostic data: app version, crash and error diagnostics.
• Notification tokens, if you allow notifications, so we can deliver room and safety alerts.
• Product analytics: only if you switch analytics consent on in privacy settings.

Photos, videos and audio on your device

"Share from this device" sends the file you pick directly to the other people in your room over an encrypted peer-to-peer connection. That media is never uploaded to our servers, is not stored by us, and disappears when the sharing session ends. We store only the fact that a session happened, so hosts can manage and report it. We do not scan or index your media library, and we do not request microphone or camera access — voice and video calling is not part of this release.

Research browsing and search

In a research room you can browse pages inside the app. When you type a search query, the query text is sent to our server, which forwards it to the DuckDuckGo search service and returns the results to you. We do not store your search queries or your browsing history, and URLs written into server logs are redacted. Pages you open in the in-app browser are loaded directly from those websites, whose own privacy policies apply. Only links you explicitly share with the room become visible to other members.

Shared YouTube playback and Shorts

Watch Together and Shorts Together play videos only through YouTube's official embedded player. When you search for a video or a Short, your search text is sent to our server, which forwards it to the official YouTube Data API and returns embeddable results. We never download, copy, cache, proxy or re-host YouTube content; we store only the video identifier and title so the room can stay in sync. Your use of the embedded player is also covered by the YouTube Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy.

Advertising

This release integrates Google AdMob. On first launch you are shown Google's consent form (UMP) where required by law, and you can change your choice at any time in privacy settings. If you do not consent to personalised ads, non-personalised ads are requested instead. On Android, AdMob may use the device advertising ID and related device identifiers to serve, limit and measure ads and to prevent fraud; you can reset or delete that ID in your Android settings. Ads are never shown over player controls, safety flows or account deletion, and no ad is shown to a user we know to be a child. We do not sell your data.

Some optional features can be unlocked by choosing to watch a rewarded ad. This is always your choice, involves no payment, no currency, no points and no watch-time incentive, and we record only that the unlock was granted and when it expires.

Retention

Rooms can be created as ephemeral, which sets an expiry for the session. You can choose a room data retention window in privacy settings. Account data is kept while your account exists. Moderation and safety records are kept for as long as needed to keep the service safe, even after related content is removed.

Your controls

• Profile, room, invite, messaging and activity visibility controls.
• Separate consent switches for analytics, personalization and ads.
• Blocking and reporting.
• Account deletion and data export requests (see settings).

Sharing

We use a managed cloud database and authentication provider to operate the service, Google AdMob for advertising, Firebase Cloud Messaging for notifications, DuckDuckGo for research search results and YouTube's embedded player for shared playback. Your use of the embedded player is also subject to Google's privacy policy. No data is sold.

Children

SyncTogether is intended for users aged 18 and over, or the minimum age of digital consent in their country, whichever is higher. Accounts we identify as belonging to a minor are removed.

Contact

Privacy questions and data requests: hello@socilet.in. You can also delete your account at any time from settings, or from the delete-account page without signing in.