Support

Need a hand? We’re a small team and aim to reply within 2 working days (UK time, Monday–Friday, excluding UK public holidays).

Contact us

Email support@idlepy.com. To help us resolve things quickly, please include:

Your device model and OS version (e.g. iPhone 15, iOS 18.3 or iPad Air (5th gen), iPadOS 18).
The App version (shown in the App at Settings → About).
A short description of what happened and what you expected.
The steps that reproduce the problem, if you know them.
For purchase issues, the order ID from your App Store receipt (Apple emails this; you can also see it in Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions / Purchase history).
For crash reports, please leave Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements → Share with App Developers on for a day or two so we receive the report.

Press, education, and review-copy enquiries: press@idlepy.com.

In-App Purchases & Restore

What can I buy?

idle.py is free to download and play. The optional in-app store contains:

Founder Pack — one-time non-consumable. Permanent 2× FLOPs/sec on every Compute Unit and tap.
Mentor Pack — one-time non-consumable. Unlocks a bonus curriculum (LoRA, RLHF, MoE, RAG, Function Calling, MCP, Tool Calling, Evals).
Skip 4h / 24h / 7d — consumables that apply offline progress at your current rate.
+5 / +15 Insight — consumables that grant the same compounding currency you earn from retraining.

There are no subscriptions and no recurring charges. Every IAP is a one-time purchase. Prices shown in the App are the prices Apple charges — we do not add anything on top.

I bought a Founder Pack on a new phone — how do I get it back?

Open the App → Store → Restore Purchases. Make sure you are signed in to the same Apple ID that originally made the purchase. Non-consumable unlocks (Founder Pack, Mentor Pack) restore for free; consumable items (Skips, Insight packs) are one-time-use and cannot be restored once applied.

I bought something but didn’t receive it.

Tap Store → Restore Purchases first — this re-syncs entitlements from Apple. If the item still doesn’t apply, force-quit and relaunch the App. If it’s still missing after that, email support@idlepy.com with the App Store order ID (find it in your Apple receipt email or in Settings → Apple ID → Purchase history) and we’ll fix it.

How do I see or manage my purchases?

On iOS: open Settings → [your name] → Media & Purchases → View Account → Purchase History. idle.py purchases appear under the bundle “idle.py” with the order numbers you can quote to us.

Refunds

Refunds for App Store purchases are issued by Apple — we don’t process payments directly, so we can’t refund money to your card. To request one:

iOS: reportaproblem.apple.com — sign in with the Apple ID that made the purchase, find idle.py, and request a refund.
Android (when available): Google Play refund help.

Please also email support@idlepy.com so we can clear the entitlement on our side once Apple confirms the refund. UK / EEA / Swiss consumer cancellation rights are explained in the Terms & Conditions.

Family Sharing & multiple devices

Family Sharing for in-app purchases is enabled for the non-consumable packs (Founder Pack, Mentor Pack). Family members in your Apple Family group can use those unlocks on their own devices when signed in to their Apple ID. Consumables (Skips, Insight packs) are tied to the Apple ID that bought them.

To play on a second device with the same Apple ID, install the App, sign in, and tap Store → Restore Purchases. Game progress itself is stored on each device individually (see Saves & new phones).

Parental controls & Ask to Buy

idle.py contains optional in-app purchases. If you’re a parent or guardian setting up a device for a child, Apple’s built-in tools let you control or disable purchases:

Ask to Buy (Family Sharing): every purchase the child attempts requires your approval. See Apple: Ask to Buy.
Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → iTunes & App Store Purchases: set in-app purchases to Don’t Allow. See Apple: Restrictions on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Saves, offline progress & new phones

Where is my save stored?

On the device only. We use Apple’s on-device storage (AsyncStorage) and do not currently sync saves across devices. iCloud-backed cross-device saves are on the roadmap.

I switched phones — can I bring my progress over?

Today, a fresh install on a new device starts a fresh save. Restoring a full iPhone backup to the new device does bring App data over, including your idle.py save. Your IAP entitlements (Founder Pack, Mentor Pack) restore separately via Store → Restore Purchases.

How does offline progress work?

While you’re away, the App calculates the FLOPs your Compute Units would have produced. When you relaunch (or bring it back from the background), a Welcome Back screen shows what accumulated and applies it. The exact rate is your last-known FLOPs/sec, with the same multipliers you had at close.

I tapped Hard Reset by mistake — can I undo it?

Hard Reset is intentionally behind a multi-step confirmation precisely because it cannot be undone. Once the final confirmation is tapped your save is wiped. Non-consumable IAP entitlements (Founder Pack, Mentor Pack) survive a hard reset and can always be restored.

Gameplay help

I’m stuck early — what do I do?

Tap RUN.py for FLOPs, then buy Variables. Each Compute Unit unlocks a short lesson with a quick-check quiz gate — pass it once and the unit is yours. Once your idle FLOPs/sec exceeds your tap rate, you can leave the App and come back richer.

What is “retrain”?

Retrain resets your run for Insight, a compounding multiplier. Before the reset, the App quizzes you on your three lowest-mastery lessons — get them wrong and your mastery drops. It’s a deliberate review loop: you can’t out-grind your way past forgetting.

What are Transcendence Units (TU)?

Once you’ve stacked ten GPU Clusters in a single run you can transcend, which earns you a TU. TU unlock the Singularity (5 TU) and ASI (25 TU) tiers, which sit above the regular FLOPs ladder. Their per-unit upgrades are paid in TU only.

What are scenarios and events?

Scenarios are multi-step engineering puzzles in the Library — pick the right diagnostic call across 3–5 steps, earn a FLOPs reward. Events are surprise single-question interruptions that fire occasionally during play to test applied judgement.

Accessibility

idle.py uses iOS’s built-in dynamic type and respects the Reduce Motion system setting (heavy animations are softened or removed). The App is portrait-only and uses standard iOS focus and screen-reader semantics where possible. If you hit an accessibility blocker, please write to support@idlepy.com — we treat these as priority issues.

Privacy, data & deletion

We don’t require an account, don’t ask for your email to play, and don’t serve third-party ads. Anonymous analytics (PostHog) and crash reporting let us see which features are used and where the App breaks; purchase records (RevenueCat) keep your entitlements in sync.

To request deletion of analytics events and purchase records associated with your device, email support@idlepy.com from the device with the anonymous device ID shown in Settings → About. Uninstalling the App also deletes the local save. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

Technical issues & reporting bugs

The App crashes on launch.

Force-quit (swipe up from the bottom on iPhone, then swipe the App card up).
Reboot the device.
Check App Store → your profile for an idle.py update and install if available.
If it still crashes, please email us with your device model, iOS version, and the App version — we’ll triage from the crash report (please leave Share with App Developers on under Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements).

The Store screen says “Loading…” forever.

This is almost always an Apple side-effect — either you’re offline, or the App Store is having a sandbox / billing hiccup. Check your network, then force-quit and relaunch. If it persists for more than a few minutes, please tell us — that’s a bug we want to know about.

I see a security or privacy concern.

Email support@idlepy.com with subject line starting SECURITY: — we treat these as priority and respond within one working day.

Legal

Privacy Policy — what we collect and why.
Terms & Conditions — the EULA, IAP terms, and consumer rights.

idle.py is published by Byte Insights Limited, a company registered in England and Wales. Postal correspondence: please email support@idlepy.com first and we’ll provide a postal address if needed.