Delete your account
You can delete your account for The Realm (in the app stores: The Realm Bookshelf), and the data we hold with it, at any time. The app is operated by Allyoucanreserve Ltd.
In the app
- Open The Realm and go to the Profile tab.
- Tap the Settings cog at the top of the screen.
- Tap Manage Account.
- Scroll to the bottom and tap Delete Account & All Data.
- Confirm twice: Delete Everything, then Yes, Delete.
Deletion starts straight away and cannot be undone. If the app tells you the account could not be fully deleted — usually because the phone was offline — try again with a connection, or write to us.
By email
If you cannot use the app, send a request to privacy@therealmshelf.app from the email address your account uses, and include your handle. We verify a request through the account’s email address before anything is deleted, so that nobody else can have your account removed. We answer within one calendar month, as the Privacy Policy sets out.
If you have a subscription
Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription bought through the App Store or Google Play — the store would keep charging you. Cancel it in the store first; our Terms of Use list the steps for both stores.
What is deleted, what is kept, and for how long
Section 10 of our Privacy Policy, word for word:
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Account, library, shelves, reviews, social data | While your account exists |
| Push tokens | Removed on sign-out and on account deletion |
| Follow requests to or from a private account | Until the request is accepted, declined or cancelled, or either account is deleted or blocks the other |
| Notifications in your activity list | Deleted automatically after 180 days (90 days once read) |
| Push delivery log (who was notified about which kind of event — used only to stop notification spam) | Deleted automatically after 7 days |
| Books you remove from your library | Marked as removed so your other devices learn of it, then deleted for good after 180 days |
| Books and decor you remove from a shelf | Marked as removed so your other devices learn of it, and kept in that state until you delete your account |
| Spine photo submissions and background-remover cut-outs | Until you delete your account |
| Fair-use counters | Deleted automatically after 90 days; the monthly background-removal count is kept while your account exists |
| Crash and error data (Sentry) | Deleted automatically per Sentry retention (typically 90 days) |
| App usage events | Deleted automatically after 24 months, and at once when you delete your account |
| Purchase records | Per the stores' and RevenueCat's retention; our accounting records up to 6 years (UK law) |
| Device-only data (notes, cover designs, personal covers) | Entirely under your control — deleted when you delete them or the App; Section 4.2 lists the other cases |
| Backups | Rotated and overwritten in the ordinary course |
Account deletion is built into the App (Settings → Manage Account → Delete Account & All Data). It deletes your server-side data — profile, library, shelves, reviews, comments, follows and uploaded images including spine submissions and background-remover cut-outs — subject only to records we are legally required to keep and short-lived backups. It also clears the App's data on the device you delete from, including the device-only data in Section 4.2.
The full picture of what we collect and why is in the Privacy Policy. Questions: privacy@therealmshelf.app.