Photorealism is a drawing tool. Your work is yours; here is everything the app does with data, in plain words.
Reference photos you import and pictures you take of your drawings are stored on your own device (in the app's local storage). Unless you choose to sign in and turn on syncing, described below, they are never uploaded, transmitted, or shared with anyone, and no server holds your work.
You can use every part of Photorealism without an account, and the app never asks you to make one. Signing in exists for one reason: so the same references are available on your phone and your tablet.
If you do sign in, you sign in with Google or with Apple. Photorealism receives your email address and an account identifier from them, and nothing else. It never receives or stores your password.
While you are signed in, the reference images in your gallery and their names and dates are uploaded to storage that is private to your account, and downloaded onto your other signed-in devices. No other user can read them. As the developer, Dylan administers the Firebase project and can therefore reach what is stored in it; this is true of every app with an account, and it is stated here rather than left implied. Sign-in and this storage are provided by Google Firebase, acting as the processor on Photorealism's behalf; their handling is described at firebase.google.com/support/privacy. Signing out stops the syncing and leaves the copies already on your devices alone.
Deleting a reference in the app deletes the synced copy too. You can also delete the whole account from Settings → Account, which removes every image uploaded from it, every record of them, and the login itself. That deletion is permanent and is not recoverable.
The starter references the app ships with are never uploaded, and photographs you take of your own drawings for comparison stay on the device that took them.
The camera is used for one thing: photographing your drawing so the app can compare it against your reference. Captures are processed and stored locally on your device only.
The app counts a handful of anonymous events (such as "the app was opened") using GoatCounter, a privacy-respecting counter. These counts contain no images, no personal information, and no identifiers that could single you out.
The free mobile apps (Android and iOS) show one small ad banner at the bottom of the screen; it clears away while the camera is in use. Ads are served by Google AdMob. To pick and measure ads, Google's advertising service receives your device's advertising identifier and standard technical details (such as device type and approximate region). The web version at realismdrawing.com currently shows no ads.
If you are in a region with consent laws (such as the EU or UK), the app asks for your choice before any of this happens, and you can change it later. On iPhone, Apple's “Allow tracking” prompt controls whether the advertising identifier is used; declining still shows ads, just not personalised ones. You can also reset or delete your advertising identifier any time in your device's settings under Ads / Privacy. How Google uses this data is described at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
A one-time Remove Ads purchase, where offered, removes all advertising permanently; the purchase is handled entirely by your app store.
Advertising is unrelated to accounts. Signing in does not change which ads you see, and no account information is shared with Google's advertising service.
The backup file you can export from Settings contains your references, captures, and settings. It is created locally and saved where you choose; the app never sends it anywhere.
Questions or concerns: reach out through the Photorealism Discord (linked on the app's project page).
This policy covers the Photorealism web app and the Photorealism mobile apps for Android and iOS. If data practices ever change, this page will say so before the change applies.