Last updated: July 13, 2026
The Plant Manual is a local-first houseplant care app. You can use its core plant, care-history, schedule, health-check, and export features without creating an account. Optional account backup is available; local records are shown in a merge preview and are not uploaded until you confirm.
Data You Choose To Add
The app may store plant names, species, rooms, notes, pot measurements, custom fields, care history, schedules, health cases, pest cases, propagation records, imports, and photos. Pot measurements provide context only and are not used to promise exact watering predictions.
Local Mode And Optional Backup
SQLite is used for local app data. Local mode does not require an account. If you sign in, the app previews the local collection before uploading it to account backup. Supabase provides optional authentication, database, object storage, sync infrastructure, feedback storage, and server functions. Local device data and account data have separate deletion controls.
Notifications
Notification permission is requested only after you save a schedule that uses alerts or explicitly enable the daily digest. Denying permission never blocks Today, schedules, or care history. Notification content contains a plant check title and plant name; it is scheduled through the device notification system.
Guided And Photo-Assisted Health Checks
Guided troubleshooting works locally without an account. Photos may still be stored as part of the plant history you create.
Optional online photo assistance requires an explicit Photo-assisted choice, Sign in with Apple, and per-request consent. A request may send up to three selected photos plus limited plant details, selected symptoms, symptom notes, and recent care context to the protected Supabase function and configured model provider. Results are labelled Photo-assisted, are suggestions rather than certainty, and are not used for advertising tracking.
Website Guides
The app can open the public guide directory on theplantmanual.com in the full Safari app. The URL may include first-party campaign parameters that identify only the app and placement; they do not contain plant names, notes, photos, symptoms, or other collection data. The website's normal privacy, cookie, analytics, and advertising practices apply after it opens. Store builds do not automatically send guide impression or open events from inside the app.
Feedback And Automatic Collection
Store builds do not create an analytics device ID or automatically upload product activity, crashes, errors, or article events. If you explicitly submit feedback, the report sends what you enter plus app version/build, platform, app mode, starting screen, timestamp, and aggregate record counts. It does not include plant names, photos, notes, or health-case text unless you put them in the report yourself.
Sharing, Selling, And Tracking
The Plant Manual does not sell plant records, photos, or contact details and does not use them for cross-app advertising tracking. Service providers process data only to provide authentication, backup, storage, user-requested photo assistance, feedback, reliability, and support.
Export And Deletion
Settings provides plant CSV, care-history CSV, and a complete ZIP/JSON backup containing schedules, health cases, metadata, and every photo available on the device. Local-only data remains until it is removed on-device, app storage is cleared, or the app is removed.
The app keeps the 12 most recent feedback reports on the device; older reports roll off as new ones are saved. Optional account data is retained while the account exists. Account deletion removes active account records, uploaded media, account-linked feedback, and the authentication account. Remote feedback currently has no automatic expiry. To request removal of unsigned feedback, email the contact address below from the address used in the report and include its title and approximate date. Reports sent without an account or contact email may not be individually identifiable.
Contact
Questions about privacy, export, support, or deletion can be sent to support@theplantmanual.com.