Ananta Privacy Policy

Ananta: Chess Coach & Puzzles, by Bhavesh Shyam Magnani

Effective date: 8 November 2026 · Last updated: 21 October 2026

This policy explains how the Ananta chess app ("Ananta", "the app") handles information. Ananta is made by Bhavesh Shyam Magnani ("we"). Contact: anantachessteam@gmail.com.

The short version

Ananta has no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no tracking. We do not run any server that receives your data, and we do not collect, sell or share personal information. If you subscribe to Ananta Pro (available from version 1.1), the payment is handled entirely by Google Play.

Information stored on your device

Your games, ratings, puzzle progress, training history, tournament log and settings are stored only in the app's private storage on your device. You can save a backup to a file you choose (Settings, Backup), erase everything (Settings, About and legal, Erase all my data), or remove it all by uninstalling the app. If you have turned on Android device backup, Android may include this app data in your device backup, which is handled by Google under its own policies. Your Ananta Pro status is not included in device backups; it is always checked again with Google Play.

Optional online features

Most of Ananta works without internet. A few features connect to the internet only when you use them: following live tournaments, the chess calendar, searching tournaments, and loading a player's public games. Before the first connection, the app asks for your permission. When you use these features, the app sends your request directly to Lichess (lichess.org) or Chess.com (chess.com). The request includes what you searched for (for example a tournament name or a username) and, as with any internet connection, your IP address and basic technical information about the app. These services handle that information under their own privacy policies: lichess.org/privacy and chess.com/legal/privacy. We do not receive this information.

Opening explorer (website). When you open the Explorer on the analysis board, the board position (a FEN, which contains no personal information) is sent to Ananta’s server, which asks the Lichess opening explorer for move statistics and caches the answer. Ananta does not pass your IP address to Lichess and does not store the positions you look at.

Tournaments, challenge codes and sharing

Ananta tournaments, club tournaments and challenge codes (available from version 1.1) work entirely on your device. If you run a club tournament, the player names and ratings you type in are stored only on your device. Nothing is shared unless you choose to: when you tap Copy standings, Share as image, Copy result or similar, the text or image goes only where you send it.

Ananta Pro subscriptions

From version 1.1, Ananta Pro is an optional monthly subscription sold through Google Play. Google Play processes the payment; we never see or store your card, UPI or other payment details. To unlock Pro, the app asks Google Play on your device whether your Google account has an active Ananta Pro subscription. Google Play returns a confirmation of the purchase (such as the product, its status and a purchase token), which the app checks and keeps only on your device. We do not run a server that receives this information. Google handles your purchase under the Google Payments privacy notice and the Google privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy). You can cancel at any time in Google Play under Payments and subscriptions; Pro stays active until the end of the period you have paid for.

Voice features

If you tap the microphone to say a move, your device's speech recognition service (for example, Google's) processes your voice and returns text to the app. Ananta does not record or store audio and does not request the microphone permission itself. Reading moves aloud uses your device's text-to-speech engine.

Permissions

Ananta uses the Internet permission for the optional online features above, and, in versions that offer Ananta Pro, the Google Play billing permission to buy and check a subscription. It does not access your location, contacts, photos, camera or microphone, and it does not send notifications.

Children

Ananta is not directed at children under 13. Because the app collects no personal information, it does not knowingly collect information from children.

Security

Online requests use encrypted HTTPS connections. Data on your device is protected by Android's app sandbox.

Changes

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the effective date. Significant changes will also be noted in the app's release notes.

Purchases on the website

If you buy a web Pro pass, the payment is handled by Razorpay (India) or Stripe (other countries), which collect the details needed for the payment under their own privacy policies (razorpay.com/privacy, stripe.com/privacy). Ananta’s server only receives the payment reference and the plan to create your Pro key; it does not store your name, email, card or UPI details. Your Pro key is saved in your browser’s storage on your device.

Contact

Questions about privacy: anantachessteam@gmail.com.

Stockfish source code used in the Android app: Stockfish source code.