guides
Published by Floriva · Updated 2026-04-16 · How Floriva checks its guides
How to Switch from a Cloud Period Tracker (2026 Guide)
Switch from Flo, Clue, or Natural Cycles to an on-device tracker in 3 steps after the $59.5M Flo settlement. Pick your migration path and replacement app.
Switching from a cloud period tracker to an on-device one is a 3-step process: export your cycle history, delete the old account, and set up a replacement. Here's the decision tree to pick the right path for your current app.
Why switch from a cloud period tracker
Cloud period trackers built their business on a simple trade: you hand over intimate cycle data, and the company hands you predictions, reminders, and a polished interface. That trade looked acceptable until the enforcement record caught up.
In 2021, the FTC ordered Flo Health to stop sharing user health data with Facebook, Google, and Flurry after finding that Flo had routed cycle and pregnancy events to those platforms through embedded SDKs. In September 2025, Flo settled a class action for $59.5M settlement over the same underlying conduct. Glow suffered a data leak in 2016 that exposed roughly 25M users' cycle and fertility records. Premom was caught by the FTC in 2023 sharing reproductive health data with Chinese analytics firms including Jiguang.
The pattern is not one bad actor. It is an architecture. If a company holds your data on a server, that data can be shared, sold, breached, or subpoenaed. After the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022, the subpoena risk stopped being theoretical in states with abortion bans.
Switching to on-device storage removes the server from the equation. No server copy, no subpoena target, no breach surface, no broker-sellable asset. Privacy stops being a promise in a policy document and becomes a property of how the app is built.
The 3-step switch process
Every migration follows the same three steps regardless of which cloud app you are leaving.
Step 1: Export. Open your current tracker's settings and find the data request or data export option. All three major cloud apps (Flo, Clue, Natural Cycles) email a download link within a few days. Save the export file locally. You will use it to seed your new tracker.
Step 2: Delete. Delete the account inside the app, then submit a formal deletion request under CCPA (California), GDPR (EU/UK), or your state privacy law. The in-app deletion removes the visible account. The formal request is what compels the company to purge backups. Both matter.
Step 3: Replace. Install an on-device tracker, enter your last 3-6 cycle start dates from the export, and let the new predictions stabilize over 2-3 cycles. Once the new tracker has enough history to feel reliable, delete the export file. Data you did not want on a server should not sit on your hard drive forever either.
The whole process takes about 30 minutes of active time. The deletion request response window is 30 days under GDPR, 45 days under CCPA, which you wait through passively.
App-by-app migration guides
Each cloud tracker has its own export path, deletion flow, and quirks. Pick the one you are leaving:
How to switch from Flo. The most common migration. Covers the post-settlement deletion flow, including the CCPA/GDPR email template and how to verify your account is actually gone.
How to switch from Clue. Clue has a cleaner export format than Flo, but its deletion flow has a 30-day grace period you need to wait through before verifying. This guide walks through that timing.
How to switch from Natural Cycles. Natural Cycles is FDA-cleared as a contraception app, which changes the medical stakes of switching. Read this one before you leave if you rely on Natural Cycles for birth control.
How to choose your replacement
The decision tree is simpler than it looks. There are three on-device options most switchers land on, and each fits a different priority.
If you want free and open source → Drip (Android) or Euki (iOS and Android). Drip is maintained by Bloodyhealth, a feminist FOSS collective, and runs fully offline on Android. Euki is free, runs on both platforms, and is maintained by the Women's Health Innovations nonprofit. Neither has an account system or a server. The interfaces are less polished than the cloud apps you are leaving, but the architecture is the reason to switch.
If you want polished paid on-device → Floriva. Paid annual fee, iOS and Android, on-device by design. The trade is a subscription for a more refined day-to-day experience and active development. No account. No cloud. No data broker pipeline.
If you need FDA-cleared contraception → consult your doctor before switching from Natural Cycles. Natural Cycles is the only period tracker cleared by the FDA as a contraceptive device in the US. Drip, Euki, and Floriva are tracking tools, not contraception. If you are using Natural Cycles for birth control rather than general cycle awareness, talk to your OB-GYN about an alternative contraception method before you migrate.
If the decision still feels unclear, our best private period tracker apps roundup compares all three on features, platform support, and pricing.
Common migration mistakes
The migration itself is simple. The mistakes tend to come from skipping steps that feel optional.
Deleting the app without deleting the account. Uninstalling the app removes it from your phone. Your cycle history stays on the company's servers until you explicitly delete the account. This is the most common mistake and the one that makes the switch meaningless.
Forgetting the formal data deletion request. In-app account deletion removes the visible account but does not always purge backups, analytics copies, or data already shared with third parties. The CCPA/GDPR request is the legal lever that compels backup purges. Without it, your data may persist in the company's systems for 90 days or longer.
Switching to another cloud app. If you leave Flo for Clue, you have changed brands without changing the architecture. The subpoena risk, broker-sale risk, and breach risk follow the server, not the logo. An on-device app is the only replacement that actually fixes the problem.
Not exporting before deletion. Once the account is deleted, recovering cycle history requires rebuilding it from memory. Export first. Delete second. The 2-minute export saves you months of less-accurate predictions in the new app.
What on-device storage actually protects
On-device storage is not stronger cloud security. It is the absence of cloud storage. The distinction matters because it changes what threats apply.
A breach of the company's servers cannot expose data the company never received. A subpoena to the company cannot compel production of data the company does not hold. A data broker cannot buy what does not exist in a sellable database. A future change to the privacy policy cannot retroactively cover data that never left your phone.
The protection is structural, not promissory. You do not have to trust the company's intentions because the company has no data to act on. This is what makes on-device the category most Flo refugees land on after reading through the settlement documents. A privacy policy can be revised. Architecture cannot reach back to change what the company never had.
Definitions
- Cloud period tracker
- A period tracker that stores your cycle data on the company's servers. Most major apps (Flo, Clue, Glow, Natural Cycles) work this way.
- On-device period tracker
- A period tracker that stores your cycle data only on your phone, never transmitting it to a server. Examples: Floriva, Euki, Drip.
- Account deletion vs. app deletion
- Deleting the app removes it from your phone. Deleting the account removes your data from the company's servers. These are different actions.
Strengths and trade-offs
Switching to an on-device tracker
Pros
- No server means no subpoena surface
- No account means no identity link
- No cloud means no breach surface
- No data broker can buy what doesn't exist
Cons
- No automatic cross-device sync (unless the app offers local-network sync)
- Phone loss means data loss (unless you back up locally)
- Usually paid (free on-device apps like Euki exist but have fewer features)
What the experts say
After Dobbs, any data that connects a person to reproductive decisions becomes a potential source of prosecution. Period tracker data is squarely in that risk category.
Quick answers to the obvious questions.
Why should I switch from a cloud period tracker?
Cloud trackers can be subpoenaed, breached, and sold to data brokers. Flo paid $59.5M after sharing reproductive health data with Facebook. On-device apps eliminate these risks structurally.
Which period tracker should I switch to?
It depends on your priorities. Free and open source: Drip (Android) or Euki (iOS and Android). Paid and more features: Floriva. Don't switch to another cloud app, you're solving the same architectural problem.
Will I lose my cycle history when I switch?
Not if you export first. Every major cloud tracker (Flo, Clue, Natural Cycles) lets you export your data as CSV or PDF. Import into the new app manually or keep as a reference.
How long does it take to switch period trackers?
About 30 minutes: 10 for export, 10 for account deletion and verification, 10 for setting up the new app. The longest wait is the GDPR/CCPA deletion request response window (up to 30 to 45 days).
Questions people ask before they switch.
Can I use two period trackers at once while switching?
Yes. Many users keep the old app running for a cycle or two while building confidence in the new one. Just don't enter data into both to avoid confusion.
What if my current tracker doesn't let me export data?
All major trackers do export. If yours doesn't, that's a red flag worth reconsidering. In the US you can request your data under CCPA (California) or state privacy laws.
Does switching delete my past cycle history from the old company's servers?
Not automatically. You need to delete your account and submit a formal deletion request (CCPA, GDPR, or state equivalent). Deleting the app alone does nothing to server-side data.