Propagate ↗

Trade plants, cuttings and seeds with growers near you. No money, just swaps. This page holds the app’s privacy policy, community rules and support.

Effective 23 October 2026

Privacy policy

Propagate is an app for iPhone, iPad and Mac for swapping plants, cuttings and seeds in person with growers in your city. This policy explains what the app stores, where it is kept, who can see it and how to remove it.

  • No ads and no tracking across apps or websites.
  • Your data is never sold or shared for marketing.
  • No analytics or third-party SDKs. The app talks only to Apple’s iCloud.
  • AI processing runs on your device. Prompts and photos are not sent to us or to a cloud AI service for processing. Content you choose to publish or send is stored and shared through iCloud as described below.
  • Delete my account in the app removes everything your account created.

Who is responsible

Propagate is made and published by Oleg Korunov, an independent developer (“we” below). Questions about this policy or your data go to ultim8digital@gmail.com.

How you sign in

There is no separate account or password. Propagate uses the iCloud account already signed in on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Apple gives the app only an anonymous identifier for your iCloud account that is unique to this app. We never see your Apple ID email address, your real name, your phone number or your password. Without iCloud you can still browse listings, but you cannot post or trade.

What the app stores and who sees it

Profile

The nickname you choose (2 to 30 characters), an optional bio (up to 200 characters), an optional profile photo, your country and city, approximate coordinates, your plant preferences (what you would love, what you would accept, what you are not looking for), when you joined and when you accepted the community rules.

Visible to everyone using Propagate, together with your trade count, cancellations, no-shows and average rating.

Listings and photos

What you offer or want: plant name or variety, category, kind, quantity, description, details such as harvest year or pot size, up to three photos, status, and the city and approximate coordinates copied from your profile.

Visible to everyone using Propagate.

Offers and trades

Which listings an offer gives and asks for, an optional note (up to 500 characters), the accept or decline reply, and trade updates: the meeting place you type, the date and time, marked as completed, or cancelled with a reason.

Shown in the app only to the two people in the offer or trade.

Messages

The text you send (up to 1,000 characters) and the listing it is about.

Shown in the app only to the sender and the recipient.

Reviews

One to five stars and an optional comment (up to 200 characters) after a completed trade.

Visible to everyone on the reviewed person’s profile, once both people have reviewed or seven days after the trade was completed.

Reports

What you reported (a listing, person, message or review), the reason, and your account identifier.

Readable by you and the moderators only. The person you report is not told who reported them.

Private settings

The people you have blocked, your answers in the taste deck, and which conversations you have read. Stored in your own private iCloud database.

Readable by you only. We cannot see it.

On your device

Your theme and language, the city you picked while browsing without iCloud, a cache of recently loaded listings and images so the app opens quickly and works offline, and a Spotlight index of listings so you can find them from the Home Screen search.

Stays on the device and is not sent anywhere.

We use this information only to run the app: showing listings near you, matching trades, delivering messages and keeping the community safe. That is the legal basis for processing it: it is needed to provide the service you asked for.

Where it is kept

Everything above, except what stays on your device, is stored with Apple in the app’s iCloud CloudKit container. Items other people need to see live in the app’s shared (public) database; your private settings live in your private iCloud database. We run no servers of our own. Apple hosts and protects the data under its own privacy policy.

Message text, offer notes, and the meeting place and time are encrypted on your device using the participants’ keys before upload to CloudKit. The private key is stored in iCloud Keychain. Participant IDs and trade metadata remain in the public database. Without your synced key, private content cannot be read and is never sent as plaintext. Reporting sends this selected message to moderators. The rest of the conversation stays private.

Location

Propagate needs a rough idea of where you are so it can show listings in your city and how far away they are. You can pick your city from a list, in which case the city centre is used. Or you can tap Use my location: the app asks permission, reads your position once while you are using it, finds the nearest city, and rounds the coordinates to two decimal places (about 1 km) before saving anything. Your exact position and your address are never stored. Other people see your city and an approximate distance such as “≈ 3 km”. The app does not use your location in the background.

Camera, photos and notifications

  • Camera access is used only when you choose to photograph a plant for a listing.
  • Photos are picked through Apple’s photo picker, so the app receives only the pictures you select. Before upload each photo is resized and its hidden metadata, including any GPS location, is removed.
  • Notifications are optional. They announce new messages and trade updates without including private message text.

Apple Intelligence, Siri and translation

On supported devices with Apple Intelligence enabled and its model ready, Propagate can draft a listing from a few words and a photo, suggest short replies in a chat, and write general care tips for a plant. These features use Apple’s on-device models: prompts, photos and generated suggestions are processed on your device and are not sent to us or to a cloud AI service for processing. You review every suggestion before using it. If you choose to publish a listing or send a message, that content is stored and shared through iCloud as described above. Availability depends on the device, operating system, region, language and downloaded models. Depending on language support, a feature may answer directly in the app language, use on-device translation through English, or answer in English with a notice. Translation of listings and messages uses Apple’s Translation framework for language pairs supported on the device; a language pack from Apple may need to be downloaded first. When you use Siri or Shortcuts with Propagate, your request is handled by Apple under Apple’s privacy policy; the app receives only the action and its parameters, such as a search term. Visual intelligence sends the app a description of what the camera sees, which the app matches against listings on your device. The app’s core browsing, posting and trading features work without AI.

What we never do

  • We show no ads and do not track you across other companies’ apps or websites.
  • We do not sell, rent or share your data for marketing.
  • We include no analytics, crash-reporting, advertising or other third-party SDKs, and no cloud AI services.
  • We handle no payments. Propagate is for swaps only.

Moderation and blocking

Moderators appointed by the developer review every report within 24 hours and can hide a listing or ban an account that breaks the community rules. Hidden listings and banned profiles disappear from the app for everyone. When you block someone, their listings and messages disappear for you, and any open offer or active trade between you ends. Your blocked list is private.

How long data is kept and how to delete it

Your data stays until you change or remove it. You can edit your profile and listings or withdraw a listing at any time.

To delete everything, open Garden → Settings → Delete account. This permanently removes from iCloud your profile and profile photo, your listings and their photos, the offers, replies and trade updates you made, the messages you sent, the reviews you wrote, the reports you filed and your private settings. Trades in progress end, and the app’s cache and Spotlight index on your devices are cleared. It cannot be undone.

Content created by other people belongs to their accounts and is not removed, for example messages they sent you or reviews they wrote about a trade with you. If you can no longer open the app, write to ultim8digital@gmail.com and we will help.

Age requirement

Propagate is for adults. You must be 18 or older to use it. It is not directed at children, and if we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18 we will remove it.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, for example under the GDPR in the European Union or the LGPD in Brazil, you can ask to access, correct, export or delete your personal data, and object to how it is used. Most of this you can do yourself in the app. For anything else, contact us at ultim8digital@gmail.com. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Changes to this policy

If the app starts handling data differently, we will update this page and the effective date at the top.

Community rules

Propagate is for swapping plants with growers near you. To post and trade, you agree to these rules. They are shown when you first set up the app, and you can read them again any time in Garden → Settings → Community rules.

  • Zero tolerance for objectionable content. Offensive, sexual, violent or hateful listings, photos and messages are removed.

  • Zero tolerance for abusive users. Harassment, threats or hate towards anyone gets an account banned.

  • Trade only. Swap plants, cuttings, seeds and supplies; no selling and no asking for money.

  • You must be 18 or older.

  • Meet in a public place, in daylight, and tell someone where you are going.

  • Use Report and Block when something is wrong. We review every report within 24 hours; content that breaks these rules is removed and its author banned.

Good to know

  • You are responsible for what you post and for the plants you hand over. Describe them honestly, and check any local rules on moving plants and seeds.
  • Trades happen between members in person. Propagate is not a party to them and cannot guarantee what someone brings.
  • Your use of the app is also covered by Apple’s standard Licensed Application End User License Agreement.

Support

Stuck on something, or found a bug? Here is how to get help, plus answers to the questions people ask most.

Report a problem

  • A person, listing, message or review breaks the rules: report it in the app. That is the fastest way; it goes straight to the moderators, and every report is reviewed within 24 hours.
  • A bug, a question or a data request: email us. Please include your device model (iPhone, iPad or Mac), system version, the app version (Garden → Settings → Version), the app language, what you did and what happened. A screenshot helps.
  • You feel unsafe or are in danger: contact your local emergency services first.
ultim8digital@gmail.com Support is provided by the developer, Oleg Korunov. We read every message.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to create an account?

No. Propagate signs you in with the iCloud account already on your device, so there is no password to remember. On first launch you pick your city, choose a nickname and agree to the community rules.

If the app says you need iCloud, open the Settings app, tap your name (or Sign in) at the top and make sure iCloud is on. You can keep browsing listings without it, but posting and trading need iCloud.

How does trading work?
  1. Post what you can give: seeds, cuttings, rooted or potted plants, bulbs, divisions or supplies. You can also post what you are looking for.
  2. Find a listing you like and tap Make an offer, then choose what you will give from your own listings. Or tap Ask a question first.
  3. The other person accepts, declines or sends a counter offer.
  4. Once accepted, use the chat and Plan the meet-up to agree on a public place and a time.
  5. After you meet, both of you tap Mark as completed and can leave a review.

No money changes hands, ever. If someone asks you to pay, report them with the reason Asked for money.

How do I report or block someone?

On a listing, a profile, an offer or a trade, open the menu at the top and choose Report or Block. To report a single message or review, touch and hold it.

Blocking hides that person’s listings and messages from you, and any open offer or active trade between you ends. You can unblock people in Garden → Settings → Blocked people.

How do I delete my account?

Go to Garden → Settings → Delete account and confirm twice. Your profile, listings, photos, offers, messages you sent, reviews you wrote, reports and private settings are permanently removed from iCloud, trades in progress end, and the app returns to the welcome screen. This cannot be undone.

Why does Propagate need my location?

Trades happen in person, so the app shows listings from your city first and how far away each one is. You can pick your city from a list, or tap Use my location. The position is read once and rounded to about 1 km before it is saved. Others see only your city and a rough distance, never your address. Location is not used in the background.

What happens to my photos?

The app receives only the photos you pick or take. Before upload it resizes them and strips hidden metadata, including GPS location. Listing photos (up to three per listing) are stored in iCloud and shown to everyone with the listing. A profile photo is optional; without one, your initials are shown. Your photos are deleted with your account.

How do I change my nickname, photo or city?

Open Garden → Edit profile. You can also change your city from the city chip on Home or in Garden → Settings → Location. Changing the city never changes the app language; that has its own setting in Garden → Settings → Language.

What does Apple Intelligence do in Propagate?

On a supported iPhone, iPad or Mac with Apple Intelligence enabled and its model ready, Propagate can draft a listing from a few words and your photo (Post → Write with Apple Intelligence), suggest short replies in a chat, and show care tips on a listing. Availability depends on the device, operating system, region, language and downloaded models. Depending on support, answers appear directly in the app language, through on-device translation via English, or in English with a notice. Listing and message translation has its own language-pair availability and may require a download from Apple. Siri, Shortcuts and visual intelligence also depend on Apple’s availability requirements. AI processing stays on your device; content you choose to publish or send is shared through iCloud. If the model is unavailable, the app’s core browsing, posting and trading features still work. Check Garden → Settings → Apple Intelligence for the current status.

Which languages and devices are supported?

Propagate runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, and on Mac with Apple silicon. The app offers 48 interface language options, including regional variants. It follows your device language; you can pick another option in Garden → Settings → Language. Interface language options and Apple Intelligence language support are separate: AI and translation availability are checked on your device.

Are there ads or in-app purchases?

No. Propagate has no ads, no tracking and nothing to buy inside the app. It exists only for swapping plants between neighbours.