Guide
Is Tinybeans safe? What its own pages say about privacy
Invite-only, yes. Beyond that, Tinybeans makes no end-to-end claim, funds its free plan with ads around the journal, and its App Store label lists five kinds of data that may be used to track you.
Safe from strangers: yes. Secure against the company: no claim. Legit: made by Tinybeans USA Ltd., the seller named on its App Store listing, with a published help centre that this page quotes. Only the followers you invite can view the journal, and each one signs in with their own login. Private from Tinybeans: no, and it doesn’t claim to be. Its pages make no end-to-end encryption claim, its free plan “includes ads around your family’s journal”, and its App Store label lists Location, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers and Usage Data as data that “may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies”.
Who can see the journal
Followers you invite, with their own login, in the app or on the website. The journal owner can grant a follower “Full Access”, which extends to bulk export.
What Tinybeans says about encryption
Nothing about end to end. “Private” on its pages means only the people you invite can view. Read plainly: the company can open the photos, and the pages we checked don’t say what it does or doesn’t do with that access — including whether any AI or face recognition runs on them.
Ads
The free plan carries ads around the journal, which the relatives see too. Tinybeans+ ($7.99 a month or $74.99 a year) removes them for you and your followers; Tinybeans’ own articles stay in the Home feed.
What the App Store label says
“Data Used to Track You”: Location, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data. That is the widest tracking section of the fourteen apps on this site, and it is Tinybeans’ own declaration to Apple.
The files
Whether photos are kept at full quality isn’t stated on the help pages we checked. Bulk export is a Tinybeans+ feature (owner or Full Access follower, by date range, sent as download links); free users whose memories were archived at the 5 GB cap can export them at no cost.
The short version
Private from strangers: yes. Private from Tinybeans: no claim. Ads on the free plan, for everyone who looks: yes. If the company being unable to open the photos is what you mean by private, see the privacy ranking.
| Criterion | Tinybeans |
|---|---|
| Can the company open your photos? | Yes — no end-to-end claim[1] |
| AI or face recognition run on your photos? | Not stated[1] |
| Ads? | Yes, on the free plan[2][3] |
| App Store label: data used to track you | Yes Location, contacts, content, identifiers, usage[4] |
| Photos kept at full quality? | Not stated[5] |
Sources
- Tinybeans — Tinybeans: Introducing Tinybeans+ (27 Aug 2023), checked 2026-09-12
Tinybeans+ subscribers won't be seeing any ads. No ads in albums, in-app, and no emails … 200GB of storage … Only the family and friends you invite … have access to viewing them.
- Tinybeans — Help: What's the difference between free Tinybeans and Tinybeans+?, checked 2026-09-12
Free Tinybeans allows you to upload a maximum of 20 photos and videos per month and includes ads around your family's journal. Additionally, free Tinybeans journals are subject to 5GB storage limit.
- Tinybeans — Help: How do I remove ads from my Tinybeans?, checked 2026-09-12
Our Tinybeans+ subscription removes ads for you and your followers when viewing your journal in the app or website … You will still see our in-house articles in the Home feed.
- Tinybeans — App Store listing: Tinybeans Private Family Album — App Privacy, checked 2026-09-12
Data Used to Track You: Location, Contact Info, User Content, Identifiers, Usage Data. Data Linked to You — Third-Party Advertising: Location, Identifiers, Usage Data, Other Data … In-App Purchases: Tinybeans Plus Subscription $7.99 · $74.99.
- Tinybeans — Help: What's included in the Tinybeans+ subscription?, checked 2026-09-12
Unlimited monthly uploads · 200GB storage for your journal (50,000+ photos/videos) · High-quality videos up to 5 minutes · Ad-free experience on your journal.
- Tinybeans — Help: How much is a Tinybeans+ subscription?, checked 2026-09-12
Tinybeans+ is available for $74.99/year or $7.99/month … Unlimited upload of photos and videos (up to 5 minutes in length each) · An ad free experience (including for followers) · 200GB of storage · Shared subscription – grant full subscription features to a follower of your journal! · The ability to export your memories.
- Tinybeans — Help: Can I use Tinybeans for free?, checked 2026-09-12
Free subscribers are able to upload up to 20 memories (photos or videos) per month – up to a total of 5GB – with an ad-supported experience.
- Tinybeans — Help: Do you have a storage limit?, checked 2026-09-12
Tinybeans allows for 5GB of storage for free journals without a paid subscription … Our Tinybeans+ subscription unlocks expanded storage of 200GB.
- Tinybeans — Help: What happens when I reach the 5GB storage limit on the free plan?, checked 2026-09-12
You'll still have access to everything you've uploaded, but you won't be able to add new photos or videos unless you upgrade. Your most recent memories will remain visible, and older ones will be safely archived.
- Tinybeans — Help: How can I export (or download) all of my memories?, checked 2026-09-12
As a Tinybeans+ subscriber, you can request a mass export of your journal's photos and videos at any time via the website … The export will come to your email as links to download a month at a time.
- Tinybeans — Help: Who can export memories from a Tinybeans journal?, checked 2026-09-12
A journal's contents can only be exported by the journal owner and followers they have granted Full Access … Free users who have passed the free storage limit and had their memories archived can export at no cost via the More tab of the app.
- Tinybeans — tinybeans.com home page, checked 2026-09-12
Capture and privately share sweet snapshots and videos of your littles with our family photo-sharing app … Print a Photo Book · Gift a Tinybeans+ subscription.
Questions people ask
Can strangers see my Tinybeans journal?
No. Only the followers you invite can view the journal, in the app or on the tinybeans.com website, and each follower has their own login.
Does Tinybeans use my photos for AI or face recognition?
It doesn’t say. We found no published statement either way on the pages we checked, so the table says ‘not stated’.
Does Tinybeans show ads to grandparents?
On the free plan, yes — Tinybeans says the free plan ‘includes ads around your family’s journal’. Tinybeans+ removes them for you and your followers, though Tinybeans’ own articles stay in the Home feed.