Effective Date: March 3, 2026 | App: Aura SMS (com.novachat)
Aura is a privacy-first SMS & MMS messaging app. Your messages, contacts, and personal data stay on your device. We do not operate servers that collect, store, or process your data.
Aura stores the following data exclusively on your device. None of this data is transmitted to us or to any server we operate.
| Data Type | Purpose |
|---|---|
| SMS & MMS messages | Read from and written to the Android system SMS provider so you can send, receive, and view messages |
| Contact names & photos | Displayed alongside conversations for identification; cached in memory only |
| Spam/block rules | Your custom block rules (number, keyword, language) stored in a local database |
| Spam learning data | On-device machine learning model trained from your spam/not-spam feedback |
| App preferences | Theme selection, notification settings, Do Not Disturb schedule, swipe actions, and other settings |
| Scheduled messages | Messages you schedule for later delivery |
| Conversation metadata | Pin, mute, archive status, and per-conversation notification preferences |
Aura requests the following permissions, each of which is necessary for core functionality:
| Permission | Why It's Needed |
|---|---|
| READ_SMS, RECEIVE_SMS, SEND_SMS, WRITE_SMS | Required to function as your default SMS app — to read, send, and receive text messages |
| RECEIVE_MMS, RECEIVE_WAP_PUSH | Required to receive MMS multimedia messages as a default SMS app |
| READ_CONTACTS | To display contact names and photos in conversations, and to identify known contacts for spam filtering |
| READ_PHONE_STATE | To format phone numbers correctly and support WhatsApp forwarding |
| INTERNET | Used solely for Google Play Billing (in-app purchases) and to download the on-device ML Kit language model |
| POST_NOTIFICATIONS | To show notifications for incoming messages |
| VIBRATE | To provide haptic feedback for notifications |
| FOREGROUND_SERVICE | To run scheduled tasks like auto-backup and scheduled message delivery |
Aura uses Google Play Billing for the optional lifetime premium purchase. When you make a purchase, your transaction is processed entirely by Google. We receive only the purchase state and product identifier — we do not receive or store your payment details. Google's privacy policy applies to this data: policies.google.com/privacy.
Aura uses Google ML Kit for on-device language detection to support language-based block rules. Your message text is processed entirely on your device and is never sent to Google servers. However, ML Kit may collect non-content metadata (such as device model, app package name, and performance metrics) in accordance with Google's ML Kit terms: developers.google.com/ml-kit/terms.
Aura offers an optional feature to forward messages to WhatsApp. This is done by opening WhatsApp via a deep link with a pre-filled recipient and message. Aura does not send your data to any intermediary server. Once in WhatsApp, that app's own privacy policy governs: whatsapp.com/legal/privacy-policy.
Aura's Smart & Secure spam and scam detection is 100% on-device. It uses rule-based pattern matching, heuristic analysis, and a local learning model trained from your feedback. No message content is ever uploaded to external servers for analysis. All spam scores, keyword weights, and sender reputation data remain in your device's local database.
Aura allows you to create backups of your app settings and spam learning data. Backups are saved to a location you choose (such as your device storage, Downloads folder, or a cloud drive). Aura does not automatically upload backups to any cloud service. If you choose to save a backup to Google Drive or another cloud service, that service's privacy policy applies.
Since we do not collect or store any data on our servers, there is no data to request deletion of from us.
Aura is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Since no personal data is collected or transmitted by the app, there is no children's data at risk.
All data is stored locally on your device and protected by Android's built-in app sandboxing. Each app's data is isolated and inaccessible to other apps. We recommend securing your device with a screen lock to protect your messages.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this page periodically.
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or Aura's data practices, please contact us at:
Email: iracsoftware@gmail.com