Last updated 6 November 2026.
Tether is a free wellbeing companion for adults. The developer and data controller is M Patel, an individual, Eastbourne, UK. Email support@newmanpharmacy.com.
Tether is not a medical device and is not a substitute for professional care. Crisis numbers in the app are for the United Kingdom.
Health information is special category data under UK GDPR. Tether uses it only with your explicit consent. You give that consent when you allow Apple Health or Health Connect, or when you choose to log a period, a meal, water, weight, or a mood. You can refuse. The app still opens, and those cards stay empty. You can withdraw consent in the iPhone Settings app or in Health Connect, and you can erase Tether’s own notes with Delete your data.
Your name, mood check-ins, poems, breathing sessions, games, sports scores, nutrition logs, water, weight, goals, and card layout are stored on the device. Tether does not make you create an account.
Community posts, likes, and replies are stored on the device. This version has no public community server. You can report a post, block a person, and email support about abuse. A simple on-device filter holds back a small list of abusive words.
Talk is a typed check-in. In this version the replies are written on the phone from simple rules. They are not sent to an outside AI, and the microphone is not used. There is no live voice call. You can report a Talk thread to support.
Ren is an original companion on the Anime screen. Notes matched to a stress estimate stay on the phone. If you allow it, a short cycle-phase line can be shown to Ren. That line is not sent off the device.
If you allow Apple Health or Health Connect, readings are used on the device to fill the cards. Tether does not upload that health data to a Tether server. If you confirm a meal, water, weight, height, a period log, or a mindful minute, Tether can write that back only to Apple Health or Health Connect on the same phone.
Blood pressure is read from a cuff reading that has already synced to Apple Health or Health Connect. Tether does not pair with the cuff.
If you turn the period tracker on, flow and symptoms stay in encrypted storage on the device. The app can show the cycle day and an estimated fertile window from the dates you log. That estimate is not contraception, not a pregnancy test, and not a diagnosis. Pregnancy notes in the weight screen are context you type yourself.
A trusted-circle nudge opens your own messaging app. The text does not include your mood, cycle, blood pressure, or other health numbers.
The camera is used only to read a nutrition label or a barcode. Pictures are not uploaded by Tether.
The microphone is not used in this version. Live voice is not included, and the app does not request the microphone.
Local reminders, such as a sip of water or a calm prompt, are scheduled on the phone. This version does not use Firebase Cloud Messaging and does not send notification content to M Patel.
YouTube videos play inside the app. The YouTube player and, if you add your own YouTube Data API key in Settings, a search request, contact YouTube (Google). Tether ships with a short list of calm videos so a key is not required. Tether does not embed posts from X.
If you scan a barcode, Tether asks Open Food Facts for that product. The request includes a User-Agent that names Tether. It does not include your name or health records.
Match background to my weather is off by default. Only if you turn that setting on does Tether ask for your approximate location while the app is open. It rounds your coordinates to about 0.1 degrees (roughly 11 km) and sends only those rounded numbers over HTTPS to Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com) to learn the current weather type, such as rain or sun. No account, name, or health data is sent with that request. Tether keeps only the weather type on your phone, not the location. Location is not linked to your identity, not used for tracking or advertising, and not sold. Turn the setting off to stop it, and you can also revoke location permission in your phone Settings.
Apart from YouTube, Open Food Facts, and that optional weather lookup, Tether does not send your notes or health data off the phone. This version does not use analytics or crash-reporting SDKs.
On-device notes stay until you delete them or choose Delete your data. Recent logs are capped on the phone, for example the latest meals, water sips, and community posts you wrote. M Patel does not keep a server copy of your health, Talk, or Community content, because those are not uploaded. Support emails you choose to send are kept only as long as needed to handle the report, then deleted.
M Patel does not sell your personal data and does not use your health data for advertising.
Under UK GDPR you can ask for a copy of personal data M Patel holds, a correction, deletion, and you can object to some uses. Because most Tether data never leaves your phone, the practical way to delete it is Delete your data in Settings. Email support@newmanpharmacy.com for anything else. You can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Tether is for adults. It is not directed at children.