It depends on how you feel about tracking: Howbout declares data used to track you. None of it falls in Apple's most sensitive categories (health, financial, location, contacts or your own content). In total the label lists 5 data types; 41% of calendar planners we checked declare tracking.
Howbout privacy in one look
- 1Collects nothing
- 2Not linked
- 3Linked
- 4Tracks you
Built only from the developer's App Store label. It describes disclosure, not tested behaviour.
Howbout's developer reports using usage data to track you across other companies' apps and websites.
Did Howbout ask for something?
Pick the permission prompt you saw. We compare it with what Howbout's developer declared.
Location is not on Howbout's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
User Content is not on Howbout's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
Contacts is not on Howbout's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
Howbout declares data used to track you, so expect the “Allow to track?” prompt. Tap Ask App Not to Track; the app must keep working without it.
Health & Fitness is not on Howbout's label. That can be fine: data used only on your iPhone does not have to be declared. If the data would need to leave the phone for the feature to work, ask why it is missing.
A permission is what the app can reach on your iPhone; the label is what the developer says leaves it. They answer different questions.
What Howbout collects, explained
| Data type | What it covers | Where to limit it |
|---|---|---|
| Contact InfoLinked to you | Your name, email address, phone number or postal address. | Use Sign in with Apple with Hide My Email where offered, and check the app's account and marketing preferences. |
| PurchasesLinked to you | What you have bought or tend to buy. | Review in-app marketing settings; subscriptions are listed in Settings › [your name] › Subscriptions. |
| IdentifiersLinked to you | An account ID, screen name, customer number or a device-level ID such as the advertising identifier. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking: turn off Allow Apps to Request to Track, or tap Ask App Not to Track when prompted. |
| Usage DataUsed to track youLinked to you | What you tap, open and view inside the app, plus which ads you have seen. | There is no single iOS switch. Look for an analytics or personalised-ads toggle in the app's own settings. |
| DiagnosticsLinked to youNot linked to you | Crash logs, launch times, hang rates and energy use. | Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › Share With App Developers controls what Apple passes on; the app's own crash reporting is separate. |
What Howbout's label means for you
Howbout's label has 1 type under “Data Used to Track You”, 5 types under “Data Linked to You”, 1 type under “Data Not Linked to You”. A data type can appear in more than one section when it is used for different purposes — for example, identifiers used for both analytics and advertising.
Tracking is the declaration that most separates apps. It means usage data from Howbout can be combined with data from other companies to target or measure ads, or shared with data brokers. On iOS 14.5 and later, the app must ask your permission before tracking you through the advertising identifier; answering “Ask App Not to Track” blocks that identifier and tells the developer you have declined.
None of the data types fall into the categories most people consider sensitive: health, financial information, precise location, contacts, browsing history or the content you create.
Calendars reveal where you will be and who you meet. Planner apps may also read your other calendars and reminders. Check the Calendars permission level (full access or add-only) in Settings › Privacy & Security › Calendars.
Among the 152 calendar planners in our snapshot with a label, 41% declare tracking, 60% collect data linked to you and 26% say they collect nothing. Howbout lists 5 data types, more than the average of 2.9 for this group.
Social apps are built around identity and contacts, so data linked to you is nearly universal. Tracking and contact upload are the settings worth checking.
Settings to check for Howbout
- 1
Tracking
Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. If “Allow Apps to Request to Track” is off, apps cannot ask, and they are told to treat you as having declined. You can also turn it off for this app alone.
- 2
Contacts
Settings › Privacy & Security › Contacts. Limited Access shares only the people you select instead of your whole address book.
- 3
Sign-in
When creating an account, Sign in with Apple can give the app a relay address from Hide My Email instead of your real one.
- 4
Lock the app
On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold the icon and choose Require Face ID. Anyone who picks up your unlocked phone then needs your face, fingerprint or passcode to open it.
- 5
Notifications
Settings › Notifications › Howbout › Show Previews: When Unlocked keeps message and account details off the Lock Screen.
Does Howbout track you?
Usage data. Apple defines tracking as linking data from this app with data from other companies' apps, websites or offline sources for targeted advertising or ad measurement, or sharing it with a data broker.
Lock Howbout behind Face ID
- Find Howbout on your Home Screen or in App Library.
- Touch and hold the icon until the quick-actions menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID / Require Passcode, depending on your iPhone).
- Tap Require Face ID again to confirm. Howbout now asks for authentication every time it opens.
The lock is an iPhone feature, so it works whether or not Howbout has a passcode of its own. It does not change what the app sends to its developer.
About Howbout
| Developer | Howbout Ltd. |
| App Store category | Social Networking (also Productivity) |
| Latest version | 16.6.0, released October 2026 |
| First released | November 2019 |
| Requires | iOS 16.0 or later |
| Size | 155 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ |
| Languages | 1 (EN) |
| Bundle ID | app.zyng |
The current version shipped in October 2026, so the app is actively maintained and its label is likely current. Labels are updated by developers when practices change.
What the label cannot tell you
- A label is self-reported. Apple publishes the developer's answers and can reject apps that misrepresent them, but it does not independently verify what Howbout sends.
- It does not say where data is stored, how long it is kept, whether it is encrypted, or which companies receive it. The privacy policy covers those points.
- Optional data counts: if a feature lets you add something (a profile photo, a phone number), the type is listed even if you never use the feature.
- Data handled only on your iPhone is not 'collected', so a no-collection label is compatible with an app that reads your files locally.
- Third-party sign-in, payment processors and SDKs are supposed to be included, but a label can lag behind a new version.
The question to ask Howbout's developer: Does it need to read my calendars, or only add events?
Howbout vs similar calendar planners
- Calendar Planner SnapJournal
- Howbout (this app)
- Todoist
- Daily Schedule Planner
- BriefDeck
- Daily Routine
- LazyMonkey
- miCal
Fewer types is not automatically safer: a cloud backup app has to collect your files to work. Compare like with like.
Look up any of our apps in seconds, or put two labels side by side.
Apps similar to Howbout
All social networking → Who tracks you? A–Z → Apps that collect contact info → Privacy label decoder →
Your Howbout privacy checklist
Done. You have applied every control the label points to.
True or false?
- Right.Not quite.
True: it lists usage data under Data Used to Track You.
- Right.Not quite.
Labels are self-reported by developers. Apple can reject or remove apps that misrepresent practices, but it does not audit each label.
- Right.Not quite.
True: Contact Info appears on its label.
- Right.Not quite.
It is collected and sent; the developer says it is de-identified rather than tied to your account or device.
- Right.Not quite.
Apple's rules require apps to work the same whether or not you allow tracking.