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iOS - App permissions needed to use BetterYou
iOS - App permissions needed to use BetterYou

iOS/Apple-specific instructions

Denae Friedheim avatar
Written by Denae Friedheim
Updated over a week ago

What permissions do I need to enable on iOS?

The permissions depend on the types of goals you want to set.

Notification Permission – allows BetterYou to keep you on track with your goals, update you of your progress, notify you about rewards, and celebrate your success.


Location Permission – Location-based goals include Talk Time, Meditation, Spirituality, Reading, Learning, Sleep, and Working Out. When you set locations based goals BetterYou will automatically log your progress. Location Permission is also required to receive relevant nudges.

  • Precise Location - allows BetterYou to more accurately detect when you visit places that give you credit toward your goals.

  • ‘Always Allow’ vs ‘While Using the App’ - Selecting ‘While Using the App’ would only successfully log your progress if you have the BetterYou app open while you’re at your set location. ‘Always Allow’ simply lets your progress log automatically without needing to physically open the app.

  • How Your Privacy Is Safe - We do not track your location at all times. BetterYou only knows what you want us to know. If you put your gym location as your local Orange Theory, we only know if you went there. We won’t know if you stopped at the grocery store after hitting the gym. We don’t keep monitoring your location outside of the locations you tell us you want to visit. Your location is only used to help you reach your goals.


Contacts – only applies to the Talk Time goal, which prompts you to choose who you want to stay in contact with. By allowing BetterYou access to your contacts, you can choose who in your life you want to stay in touch with. That way, we can remind you if you haven’t given your mom a call like you set as a goal.

  • How Your Privacy Is Safe - We do not share your data, period, and that goes for every permission. The only person who knows you called your mom is you and your mom.


Photo Library – This permission is specific to iOS members. Apple doesn’t allow other apps on the App Store (BetterYou) to view other app usage. BetterYou is trying to automatically log your progress on certain apps related to your wellness goals. Because of this limitation we are incapable of doing so automatically. As a workaround, we ask members to take a screenshot of their Screen Time page. These App-based goals include Talk Time, Meditation, Spirituality, Reading, Learning, and Working Out.

  • How Your Privacy Is Safe - We do not actually see your pictures. No photo is ever uploaded anywhere, so no one can view anything in your camera roll. Our AI only scans screenshots and specifically detects Screen Time screenshots in order to give you credit for the apps you use that contribute towards your goals.

  • ‘Selected Photos’ vs ‘All Photos’ - You can choose not to allow ‘All Photos’ if you prefer, the only difference is that if you choose ‘Selected Photos’ you’ll have to manually select which photos to scan every time you want to log your goal. Regardless, we do not see your photos either way.


Apple Health – allows BetterYou to give you credit for your daily steps and counts them towards your fitness goal by accessing the data already collected by Apple Health. More about Apple Health here (apple.com)


For the best possible experience while using the BetterYou App, ensure you're using the most recent version and that your OS is also up to date!


Please reach out to us directly at help@betteryou.ai with any questions

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