01Account & sign-in
Shadow AI uses Sign in with Apple and Sign in with Google. There is no email-and-password option. When you first open the app, choose either provider and follow the prompts.
A few common causes:
- Your device isn't connected to the internet. Check Wi-Fi or cellular.
- You denied permission to the sign-in provider mid-flow. Try again and allow the request.
- Your Apple ID or Google account has two-factor authentication that needs approval on another device.
If sign-in still fails, email support@shadowai.cc with your device model and iOS version. Don't include passwords.
You can't change the email directly inside Shadow AI, because your account is tied to Apple or Google. To switch the email, delete the existing account (see below), then sign in with the provider that has the email you want.
You can delete your account from inside the app:
- Open Shadow AI
- Tap Settings in the bottom navigation
- Tap Account
- Tap Delete Account
- Confirm the deletion on the next screen
Deletion is immediate. Your account, journal entries, and personal data are removed from our active systems right away. If you signed in with Apple, your Apple Sign In authorization is revoked at the same time so the app loses access to your Apple identity.
Data may persist in our database provider's daily backups for up to 7 days before being overwritten. Some information may be retained longer where required by law (for example, for accounting).
If you can't access the in-app option, email support@shadowai.cc from the address tied to your account and we'll handle it.
You have the right to a copy of the data we hold about you. Email support@shadowai.cc from the address on your account, mention you'd like a data export, and we will send your data in a structured format. We aim to respond within 30 days, which is the maximum response window required under GDPR.
02Subscriptions & billing
Pricing appears inside the app at the paywall and on the App Store listing. Prices may vary by country and exchange rate.
Subscriptions are managed by Apple, not by us. To cancel:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone
- Tap your name at the top
- Tap Subscriptions
- Tap Shadow AI
- Tap Cancel Subscription
You'll keep your access until the end of the current billing period.
App Store refunds are handled by Apple, not by us. Use Apple's "Report a Problem" page:
- Go to reportaproblem.apple.com in any browser
- Sign in with your Apple ID
- Find the Shadow AI purchase
- Choose a reason and submit the request
Apple reviews and decides each request. We don't have the ability to issue App Store refunds directly.
Canceling a subscription doesn't delete your account or your journal entries. You'll lose access to paid features at the end of your billing period, but your data stays on your account. You can resubscribe later and pick up where you left off.
To delete everything, use the Delete Account flow described above.
03Privacy & AI
When you write a journal entry, the app sends your entry plus some context (your archetype, your current phase, recent themes, and short snippets of your recent entries) to OpenAI through our own backend service. OpenAI generates the reflection, sends it back, and the app shows it to you.
Your name and email are never sent in the AI prompt.
For the full data flow, see our Privacy Policy.
No. Your journal content is not used to train OpenAI's models or any other AI model. Content sent to OpenAI is processed under OpenAI's API data terms and is retained for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring only, then deleted.
In transit, yes. Between the app and our servers, all data uses TLS. On our database (Supabase), journal entries and account data are encrypted at rest. On your device, sensitive credentials are stored in iOS's encrypted secure storage; cached journal entries rely on the iOS app sandbox plus device-level encryption when your phone is locked. See the Privacy Policy for full detail.
No. An account is required to save journal entries and generate reflections, because we need somewhere to store your content and a way to identify it as yours.
04App questions
Shadow AI explores themes related to mental health, trauma, and personal patterns. The content is written for adult readers. We recommend the app accordingly but do not enforce a strict age requirement in the app.
Your archetype is determined by your onboarding answers and represents a stable pattern, not a mood. The phase you're in (Seeing, Naming, Facing, Integrating) changes over time as you journal. If you want to see the methodology behind archetypes, the in-app About screen has more.
Force-quit Shadow AI (swipe up from the bottom and swipe the app away) and reopen it. If the crash happens consistently in a specific place, email support@shadowai.cc with:
- Your iPhone model
- Your iOS version
- What you were doing right before the crash
- Whether the crash happens every time or only sometimes
We don't currently collect crash reports or any other automatic telemetry, so user reports are how we learn about bugs.
Android is on the roadmap. We don't have a date to share yet. Sign up at shadowai.cc to be notified when Android launches.
05Anything else
If you didn't find your answer here, write to support@shadowai.cc. Include enough context for us to help: your device model, your iOS version, and what you were trying to do. Screenshots make everything faster.
We aim to reply within a few business days. Complex requests (data export, deletion verification) may take longer but won't exceed the 30-day GDPR response window.