Privacy policy
Last updated 29 October 2026. Applies to the Short Order iPhone app and this website.
Short Order is run by Short Order (“we”). Questions about privacy go to studiogrep@gmail.com.
The short version
- No account. No ads, no analytics, no tracking, and we don't sell or share personal information.
- Your recipes, screenshots, photos, household, prices, plans and cooking history stay on your phone.
- When you use the AI features, what you type and the recipe or step you're on go to our server and then to Anthropic's Claude model to write the answer. Our server doesn't store them.
- Purchases go through Apple; we never see your payment details. RevenueCat sees purchase events tied to an anonymous ID, not your name or email.
In the app
What stays on your device
Recipes you import, screenshots and photos you read, your household members and their targets, your prices, your Week and List, prep sessions, the fridge, cook logs and savings. This data is stored locally on your iPhone. You can erase it in Settings › Delete all my data, or by deleting the app.
Order screenshots and recipe photos are read on the phone with Apple's on-device text recognition. They are not uploaded. Restaurant and app names read from a screenshot are not stored.
Links you paste
When you import a recipe from a link, your phone fetches that page directly from the website you linked. For TikTok links, the phone asks TikTok's public oEmbed service for the caption. Those sites see a normal request from your phone.
Nonna and the other AI features (Pro)
Nonna (AI) chat, Read with AI and any other feature marked AI use Anthropic's Claude models. Before the first request the app asks for your permission and explains what is sent. When you use them:
- We send your message (or the recipe or order text you asked us to read), plus context from the screen you're on, such as the dish, step and the app's computed numbers, and your settings that affect the answer (per-meal protein target, allergens, diet, units).
- A photo is sent only if you choose “Send the photo”.
- The request goes to our server on Vercel, which passes it to Anthropic and returns the answer. Our server does not store the content. Its logs keep only token counts, status and timing.
- Anthropic processes the request under its commercial terms and privacy policy.
- To enforce daily limits, the server keeps a one-way hash (SHA-256) of your App Store purchase's original transaction ID with request counters in Upstash Redis. The counters expire after 48 hours. The hash can't be turned back into the ID.
- You can turn AI consent off and clear the chat history on your phone in Settings › AI & privacy.
Purchases
Subscriptions and the Lifetime purchase are sold and billed by Apple; we never see your payment details. The app checks which plan you have with Apple's StoreKit on your iPhone, and reports purchase and subscription events to RevenueCat, tied to an anonymous app user ID (never your name or email), so we can see how the app is doing. When you use an AI feature, the app sends Apple's signed proof of your plan to our server so it can confirm you have Pro; the server keeps only the one-way hash described above.
Permissions
- Camera (optional): to photograph a recipe page. The photo is read on the phone.
- Photos: you pick a screenshot with the system picker, which shares only the image you choose. Saving a share card asks for add-only access when you tap Save.
- Notifications (optional): timers, eat-by reminders and a trial reminder if you start a trial. They are scheduled on the phone; we don't send push notifications.
- Location (optional, only while you use the app): when you tap “Use my location” in Find it nearby, the phone uses it with Apple Maps to show nearby stores. It is never sent to our server or saved. You can type a town or ZIP code instead.
- No contacts, microphone, HealthKit or tracking permission.
Crash reports
There are no analytics or crash SDKs in the app. If you choose to share analytics with app developers in iOS settings, Apple may share crash reports with us.
On this website
- No cookies, no analytics and no third-party trackers. Fonts and images are served from this site.
- Our host, Vercel, processes basic request data (such as IP address and browser type) to deliver the site and protect it from abuse.
- The protein per dollar calculator runs in your browser. Nothing you type into it is sent or saved.
The waitlist
If you join the waitlist, we collect your email address and the page you signed up on. We use it to email you when Short Order is on the App Store, and for nothing else. It is stored by Upstash (our database). To be removed, use the unsubscribe link in the email or write to studiogrep@gmail.com.
Who processes data for us
| Service | What for | What it gets |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | App distribution, payments, on-device text recognition, Apple Maps search in Find it nearby | Purchase and billing data, and map searches, under Apple's own privacy policy |
| RevenueCat | Purchase and subscription analytics | Purchase events and an anonymous app user ID |
| Vercel | Hosting this site and the AI server | Request data; AI requests in transit (not stored) |
| Anthropic | Writing AI answers | The content of AI requests you choose to make |
| Upstash | Daily AI limits | A hashed transaction ID and counters, deleted after 48 hours |
| Upstash (our database) | The launch email | Your email address, if you sign up |
Some of these providers are in the United States, so data may be processed there.
Children
Short Order is not directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. The app never sets protein targets for children.
Your rights
Most of your data never leaves your phone, so you control it directly. For anything we or our processors hold (such as a waitlist email), you can ask us to access, correct or delete it by writing to studiogrep@gmail.com. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, UK or California), you have further rights, including to object and to complain to your local data protection authority. We don't sell or share personal information for advertising.
Changes
If this policy changes, we'll update the date at the top. Material changes will be noted in the app's release notes.