OLLA Brew Lab (“OLLA”, “the app”, “we”, “us”) is a local-first specialty coffee logging and reference tool. Our core principle is simple: your personal coffee data — such as brew logs, cupping records, bean cards, roast records, green-coffee stock, gear records, favorites, notes, and preferences — is stored on your device (and in your own iCloud if you choose to enable it) and is not sold.
1. Information We Collect
All core features of the app work without an account. You may optionally use Sign in with Apple to create a local identity: the app then receives an app-specific user identifier from Apple, plus the name you choose to share on first sign-in (you can change it to any nickname inside the app). This information is stored only on your device and in your private iCloud, and is used to label your records (for example, the taster mark on a cupping sheet). We do not operate account servers and do not receive it.
Beyond this optional Apple sign-in, we do not ask for your email address, phone number, contacts, microphone access, or advertising identifier. Camera and photo-library access is requested only when you actively use the label-scan feature or pick a profile photo, and photos never leave your device (see Section 2). The Field Guide reads your approximate location once, with your permission, solely to order things by distance on the device; it is never uploaded and never stored (see Section 2).
Content you create in the app — including brew logs, cupping records, bean cards or jars, roast records (batches, punched events, imported curves), green-coffee stock, gear records, favorites, notes, and preferences — is stored locally on your device, inside the iOS app sandbox (and in iCloud if you enable sync; see Section 4). We do not upload this content to our servers or sell it to third parties.
We do not use App Tracking Transparency, and we do not track you across apps or websites.
2. System Permissions
The app does not request access to your contacts or your microphone.
Location access is when-in-use only, and is requested only when you open the Field Guide. With your permission the app takes a single reading of your approximate location (balanced accuracy, on the order of a hundred metres) and uses it for exactly two things: ordering the city editions by how near they are to you, and ordering the Nearby list by distance while showing a coarse distance for each place. All of that happens on your device: your location is never uploaded to our servers or to any third party, is never written into any of your records, and is never included in an iCloud snapshot. The app does not subscribe to location updates and does not track you in the background. Declining — or turning location off later — costs you nothing but the distances: the list falls back to volume order, and you can change your mind at any time in iOS Settings.
Maps in the Guide are drawn on your device by Apple Maps (MapKit); Apple receives the technical requests needed to render a map, and its handling of that data is governed by Apple’s own privacy policy. When you tap the directions button, the app hands only the place’s name and coordinates to the maps app you pick at that moment (Apple Maps or Google Maps) — whether to hand off, and to which, is your choice every time.
Camera access (to photograph a coffee-bag label) or photo-library access (to pick a label photo) is requested when you use the label-scan feature to fill in a bean card; photo-library access is also requested when you pick a profile avatar in Settings. Text recognition runs entirely on your device using Apple’s Vision framework: neither the photo nor the recognized text is uploaded to our servers or to any third party. You can review and edit every recognized field before deciding whether to apply it. The Codex label reader uses the same pipeline but only to understand the bag in front of you: it creates no bean card, writes nothing to the database, and the result is gone when you leave the screen.
You may optionally keep the bag photo as the bean-card cover. The photo is stored only in the app sandbox on your device; when iCloud sync is enabled, the data snapshot carries only the photo’s file path, not the photo file itself. You may also pick a photo as your profile avatar in Settings (up to 5 MB): like the bag photo it is stored only in the app sandbox, and snapshots carry only its file path, never the photo itself. Declining camera or photo access does not affect any other feature.
If you enable local bean reminders, the app will request the iOS notification permission. These reminders are scheduled on your device according to your settings and can be turned off at any time in iOS Settings or inside the app where available.
The app may use on-device haptic feedback. Haptic feedback does not involve data collection.
Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets read the small amount of data they need (such as bean resting progress or the day’s record count) locally on your device via the iOS App Group mechanism. This sharing happens entirely on-device; widgets do not use the network and upload nothing.
On devices that support Apple Intelligence, the label reader hands the label photo and the recognised text to Apple’s on-device model — to tidy the wording, fill in fields such as origin and variety, and translate foreign-language aroma and packaging copy into your interface language; the one-line debrief on a brew record is generated the same way. Everything runs entirely on your device, from your own records and the built-in dictionary; nothing is sent to our servers or to any third party. When the model is unavailable or a step fails, the app silently falls back to the deterministic result, and these features simply stay hidden on devices without Apple Intelligence.
3. Network Use
The app is designed to work locally, and core features can be used without an account.
The Field Guide ships inside the app — the place list, the written entries, and every photograph. Browsing the Guide, opening a place, and sorting by distance all work with no network at all, and send no request to us.
The app may connect to the network for limited purposes:
- Dictionary updates: the app may make anonymous requests to our content service to check for and download public coffee reference content. These requests may include a “last updated” cursor so the app can fetch only new or changed content.
- Industry reference content: the app may fetch public competition, auction, or industry reference content from the same service.
- Connectivity check: the app may perform a no-content reachability check to determine whether network access is available.
These requests do not include your bean cards, brew logs, cupping records, notes, favorites, or other personal coffee data. We do not include a user account ID or advertising identifier.
Standard server logs may temporarily process technical request information such as IP address, timestamp, request path, and user agent for security, debugging, and reliability. We do not use this information to identify users, build user profiles, or track users across apps or websites.
Fonts are bundled with the app and are not downloaded at runtime.
4. Sign in with Apple and iCloud Sync
Sign in with Apple is optional and provided by Apple’s system. When you sign in, the app stores only the app-specific user identifier returned by Apple and the nickname you set, on your device; signing out clears this identity from the device. We do not send it to any server of ours.
If you enable iCloud sync, the app writes a snapshot of your data (bean cards, brew logs, cupping records, roast records, green-coffee stock, favorites, preferences, and similar) into the private iCloud container under your own Apple ID (iCloud Drive / iCloud Documents), transmitted and stored by Apple under Apple’s terms. This data moves only between your own devices and your own iCloud — we cannot access it and do not receive it.
You can use the in-app sync and backup controls at any time, or stop syncing by turning off the app’s iCloud permission in iOS Settings; data already synced to iCloud can be reviewed and deleted through iOS iCloud storage management.
5. Your Control Over Your Data
You control the data you create in the app.
In Settings → Data, you can export your data as a full JSON backup, export brew records as CSV where available, import or restore a backup, or erase all local app data.
When you use image sharing or PDF export, the shared content is generated locally on your device and leaves it only through the iOS system share sheet, to a destination you choose; we do not receive it.
Uninstalling the app deletes the local app data stored on your device, subject to normal iOS behavior and any device backups or iCloud data you control.
Because we do not maintain account servers or server-side user profiles for your app content, most data access, export, correction, and deletion actions can be performed directly through the app’s local data tools. You may also contact us for privacy questions or requests.
6. Security and Retention
Your app content is stored in the iOS application sandbox and protected by iOS system security and device-level protections; data synced to iCloud is protected by Apple’s iCloud security. Backups exported from the app are files under your control; you are responsible for storing and sharing them safely.
Local app data is retained until you delete it, erase app data, or uninstall the app, subject to any backups you choose to create and any iCloud sync data.
7. Third-Party Services
The app is distributed through Apple’s App Store and may use Apple system services for app installation, updates, notifications, and device-level functionality. Sign in with Apple and iCloud sync are Apple system services; Apple’s handling of data is governed by Apple’s own privacy policy. Maps in the Guide are likewise rendered by Apple’s MapKit and covered by that same policy.
Our content service provides public coffee reference content and does not receive your bean cards, brew logs, cupping records, notes, favorites, or other personal coffee data.
The current release does not integrate advertising SDKs, third-party analytics SDKs, or third-party crash-reporting SDKs. If such services are added in a future release, this policy and our App Store privacy information will be updated accordingly.
8. Children’s Privacy
The app is intended for a general audience of coffee enthusiasts and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
9. International Users
The app may be available in multiple countries and regions. If you are located in the EEA, UK, California, Japan, or another region with privacy rights, you may contact us about privacy-related questions or requests.
Because the app does not require user accounts and stores your personal coffee content locally (and in your own iCloud), you can manage most of your app data directly through the export, import, and delete features in the app.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and may provide notice in the app or on our website.
11. Contact
For privacy questions, contact: support@ollabrewlab.com
Website Analytics (Google Analytics)
This website, ollabrewlab.com, uses Google Analytics 4 to understand page visits, traffic sources, browser and device categories, and interactions such as App Store link clicks. Under Google’s terms, Google Analytics may use cookies and process approximate location derived from an IP address, browser and device information, pages visited, referring URLs, and page interactions. We use this aggregated information only to operate and improve the website. We do not use it to access or analyze personal records inside the OLLA app, and we do not link website analytics with app records.
Google Analytics does not receive your bean cards, roast curves, brew logs, cupping records, photos, notes, or iCloud data. Website analytics is separate from the OLLA app; the app itself currently contains no advertising, third-party analytics, or third-party crash-reporting SDKs. You can restrict or delete cookies through your browser settings.
File Compatibility and Third-Party Names
OLLA can read roast-curve files exported by third-party roasting software. Artisan is an independent open-source project distributed under GNU AGPLv3. “Artisan” is used only to describe file compatibility; OLLA is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the project. Third-party names and marks remain the property of their respective owners.
Imported files are parsed only on your device. Your roast data stays on your devices and, if enabled, in the private iCloud container under your Apple Account. OLLA does not obtain this information and cannot access, receive, or analyze these records through its own servers.
View the official Artisan project and license
Legal Notice
© 2026 OLLA Brew Lab. All rights reserved.
OLLA Brew Lab and OLLA are names used for this app and related services.
The cupping feature, the in-app cupping sheet, and the exported A4 cupping-sheet layout are based on a prototype sheet provided by IvanYang, co-developed as OLLA BREW LAB × IvanYang. Rights to the prototype sheet design belong to IvanYang; the in-app implementation and the digital layout of the exported PDF are © OLLA Brew Lab.