// nothing slips off the hook
With testers · iPhone
Know what you're still on the hook for.
You lent the drill in May. The jacket didn't fit. Somebody still owes you for the concert tickets. None of it is a disaster yet. On the Hook keeps the list, and reminds you before the window shuts.
Three kinds of loose end.
- 🧾Returns and warrantiesWhen the return window closes, when the warranty runs out, with reminders a week out, two days out and on the day.
- 🪝Things you lent outWho has your drill, your book, your tent. A People screen shows who has what.
- 💸Money you're owedWhat they owe and since when, and a ready-written nudge for Messages when it's overdue. It never sends anything by itself.
Add it in a few seconds.
Type it in, photograph the receipt, or take a screenshot of the order you just placed. The app reads it on your iPhone: the shop, the total, the date, and the store's own return-by date when the order shows one.
Real screens, from the build the testers have.
What it doesn't do.
- No account, no login, no server. Everything lives on your iPhone and works with no signal.
- No analytics and no tracking.
- No subscription.
Suggested return windows show what stores have historically allowed for most items. Stores can change their policies at any time, and most have exceptions. You're responsible for knowing the store's official return policy for your purchase.
On the Hook — Support
Returns, warranties, things you lent out, and money you are owed.
Something not working, or something you wish it did? Email [email protected]. You will get a reply from the person who made the app.
A note on return policies
The store list shows what each store has historically allowed for most items. Stores can change their policies at any time, and most have exceptions. You're responsible for knowing the store's official return policy for your purchase.
Common questions
- How do I add something?
- Tap ADD and type it in, or start from a photo: a receipt you photograph, or a screenshot of an order you just placed online. The app reads the shop, the total and the dates on your iPhone and fills them in for you to check.
- How does it decide when a return window closes?
- From the best source it has, and it says which one under the window. First, a return-by date on your own order, if the screenshot shows one. Then the window you last used at that shop. Then what that store has historically allowed for most items, if it is one of the big stores the app knows. You can change the number every time, and the app remembers what you pick for that shop.
- Does it count from the day I ordered or the day it arrived?
- From delivery when the screenshot shows a delivery date, because most online return windows start then; otherwise from the order date. It tells you which date it used, and you can change it.
- Can it track things I lent out, or money someone owes me?
- Yes. Use the Owed to You tab for things and money that are coming back to you. The People tab shows who has what, and how reliably they bring things back — and you can set that by hand, because sometimes you just know.
- What is a nudge?
- A friendly message about something that is overdue, already written and ready in Messages. Tap “Another way to say it” to change the wording. The app never sends anything by itself; you press send, or you don't.
- I'm not getting reminders.
- Check Settings ▸ Notifications ▸ On the Hook on your iPhone. If notifications are off, the app says so and everything else keeps working. Choose when reminders arrive in the app's own Settings.
- Can I get my data out?
- Settings ▸ Export everything writes a folder — a JSON file of every record, your receipt photos, and a README — into Files ▸ On My iPhone ▸ On the Hook ▸ Exports. From there you can save a copy to iCloud Drive, share it, or open it in any app that reads JSON or spreadsheets.
- How do I restore a copy, or move to a new iPhone?
- Put the export folder somewhere the new phone can reach — iCloud Drive is easiest — then open Settings ▸ Export & back up ▸ Restore from a copy and pick it. Everything missing comes back; anything already in the app is left alone, and nothing is ever deleted.
- How do I turn the sounds off?
- Settings ▸ Sounds. The sounds also follow your iPhone's silent switch, and never stop music or a podcast that is already playing. Haptics and emoji animations have their own switches next to it.
- How do I change the look?
- Settings ▸ Skin. Six themes, each with its own colours, background details and sounds. Nothing you have saved changes when you switch.
- Does the app track me or show ads?
- No analytics, no tracking and no account, and nobody pays to be in this app. See the privacy policy.
On the Hook — Privacy Policy
Last updated 13 September 2026
On the Hook has no account, no server, no analytics and no advertising, and it makes no network requests at all. What you put in it stays on your iPhone.
What the app stores, and where
- The things you track — returns, warranties, things you lent out, money you are owed, the people involved, notes, barcodes and any receipt photos — are saved in a database on your own iPhone.
- None of it is uploaded to the developer. There is no On the Hook account and no On the Hook server to upload it to.
- Export writes a folder — a JSON file of every record plus your receipt photos — into Files ▸ On My iPhone ▸ On the Hook ▸ Exports. If you choose “Save a copy to iCloud Drive”, or share the folder, that is your own action through iOS, into your own storage. It never passes through us.
- Deleting the app removes everything it kept on the phone. A copy you saved elsewhere is yours and stays where you put it.
Permissions the app may ask for
- Notifications — for the reminders before a window closes. They are scheduled on your iPhone; there is no push server. Decline and the app says plainly that reminders are off; everything else still works.
- Camera — only when you photograph a receipt or scan a barcode. The words and numbers are read off the picture on your iPhone (Apple's on-device text recognition); the picture is never sent anywhere.
- Photos — only to pick a receipt photo or a screenshot of an order. Apple's picker hands the app the one image you choose, which is read on your iPhone the same way.
Things the app uses without a permission
- Contacts picker — Apple's picker runs outside the app and returns only the one contact you tap: a name and a number, saved on that row. The app never has access to your address book and does not ask for it.
- Messages — a nudge opens Apple's message composer with the words filled in. You send it or you don't; the app never sends anything by itself, and nothing about the message comes back to the app.
- Siri, Shortcuts and Spotlight — open items can be found in Spotlight and added with Siri. That index is kept by iOS on your iPhone.
What is never done
Nothing about you is sold, rented, or handed to a data broker. There is no analytics SDK, no advertising SDK, and no third-party tracking of any kind in this app.
How future decisions get made
Everything above describes the app as it is today, and every line of it can be checked. What follows is not a promise about a feature — it is the standard the next decision gets held to.
If this app ever needs a third-party service, or a kind of data it does not take today, that choice gets made for the person using it rather than for the revenue. It might still happen; software changes and so do the things it has to talk to. What will not happen is it being done quietly, or being done because it pays better. Anything of that sort will be described on this page before it ships, and switchable off wherever it can be.
Purchases
On the Hook is paid for once, through the App Store. The developer never sees your payment details. There are no in-app purchases and no subscriptions.
Children
On the Hook is not directed at children and collects no personal information from anyone.
Changes
If this policy ever changes, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new date at the top.
Contact
Questions about privacy in On the Hook: [email protected]