lifelabsim

LifeLab Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 27, 2026

LifeLab is a simulation of origin-of-life chemistry, made by Kenneth Karakotsios. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use it.

The short version

LifeLab does not collect, sell or share your personal information. It has no accounts, no advertising, no analytics and no tracking. The developer receives no data from the app.

What stays on your device

• Your simulations and settings. Simulations you save, autosaves and your preferences are stored on your device. If you use iCloud Drive, saved simulations are also kept in LifeLab’s folder in your iCloud Drive. Apple runs that storage under its own privacy policy. The developer cannot see it.
• Your API key for the optional Ask feature is kept in your device’s Keychain. It is not synced to iCloud and it is not written into saved simulations.
• Your Ask conversation history (the 20 most recent messages) is stored on your device.

The optional Ask feature

The Ask tab lets you put questions about your simulation to an AI model from Anthropic or OpenAI. It works only if you enter your own API key from one of those companies.

When you send a question, LifeLab sends that company:

• your question and the earlier messages in the conversation;
• a summary of your current simulation: its settings, molecule populations, reaction history and vesicle statistics, LifeLab’s molecule and reaction catalogue, and a built-in description of the simulation model.

This goes straight from your device to the company you chose (api.anthropic.com or api.openai.com), over an encrypted connection, using your own key. It does not pass through the developer, who never sees it. That company handles it under its own terms and privacy policy, which you agreed to when you got your API key.

Before the first question to each company, LifeLab shows you what will be sent and asks you to choose “Send” or “Cancel”. Nothing is sent unless you choose Send. You can withdraw that permission at any time with “Reset data-sharing consent” in the Ask settings.

If you don’t use Ask, LifeLab itself sends nothing over the network. iCloud Drive syncing, if you use it, is handled by Apple.

TestFlight

If you are testing a beta through Apple’s TestFlight, Apple may share some information with the developer: your name and email (if you were invited by email), crash reports, and any feedback you choose to send. Apple’s TestFlight terms and privacy policy cover this.

Children

LifeLab is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from anyone.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new effective date.

Contact

Questions about this policy: support@lifelabsim.com.