CelestEye privacy policy

Last updated: November 3, 2026

CelestEye does not require an account and includes no advertising or analytics SDKs. The developer does not operate a service that collects your app usage or observing location.

Location and motion

If you grant access, location and motion readings are used on your iPhone to calculate and align the sky. Your chosen observing place name, coordinates, source and civil time zone are saved on your iPhone. When you request current location, Apple may resolve its name and time zone using the coordinates. If that service is unavailable, you can use the offline city list or enter a time zone; unresolved times are explicitly labeled UTC. If you explicitly submit a city search, only the typed city query is sent to Apple’s geocoder, without your GPS location. Coordinates are not sent in NASA/JPL catalog searches. You can deny these permissions and use manual coordinates and sky navigation.

Optional Camera AR

Camera AR uses the rear camera on your iPhone to place sky labels over the live view. Live Camera AR does not record images. Optional saved-horizon scanning captures frames and camera/heading information on your iPhone to build a panorama for your manual skyline review. Temporary frames are discarded after review or cancellation; the panorama is retained only if you choose. You can delete it separately from the angular outline. Saved-horizon profiles and panoramas are excluded from private iCloud sync, personal archives and device backups. A deliberate angular-profile export includes the saved coordinates, name, dates, calibration and outline, without imagery. CelestEye does not upload these images or profiles. You can deny camera access and continue using the sky map. Motion permission recovery may request Motion & Fitness authorization; CelestEye does not save or upload fitness or activity data.

Optional personal photos

If you choose a photo for a Journal entry or historical memory, CelestEye accesses the item you select through Apple’s photo picker. It prepares a small JPEG copy without original location, capture-time or author metadata. The original stays in Photos. The copy and optional description stay with the personal record, including personal archives you export and private iCloud sync if you enable it. A photo never establishes a sighting or creates an award. You can remove the copy while editing the entry; copies in earlier exports remain with their destinations.

Event reminders

If you choose Remind me for an event, CelestEye asks for notification permission and schedules a local notification on your iPhone. The reminder uses the observing location selected when it was created. There is no developer push-notification server, and your observing location and reminder choices are not uploaded. Changing observing place does not silently reschedule reminders; the app shows their earlier place and offers an explicit update. You can remove a reminder in the event details or change notification access in iPhone Settings.

Optional internet features

The packaged sky catalog and calculations work offline. If you request an additional asteroid or comet from NASA/JPL, the object name or designation and ordinary network information such as your IP address are transmitted to NASA/JPL. Up to 20 responses are cached on your iPhone. NASA/JPL controls its own service and privacy practices. Source links open external websites under their respective privacy policies.

Opening an aurora screen can download the global NOAA SWPC aurora model while that screen is active. Satellite planning can download current orbital elements for the supported satellites from CelesTrak. These requests send ordinary network information, including your IP address and the requested product or satellite identifier, to the provider. Your observing coordinates are used locally and are not included in these requests. Downloaded forecasts retain their original source times and expiry; they are not live sightings. There is no CelestEye monitoring server.

Optional nearby observing places

Opening a nearby-place comparison keeps a draft starting point and arrival time inside CelestEye. Only choosing Compare starts external access and driving checks. Apple Maps receives the shown starting coordinate, supported official parking destinations and requested arrival time to estimate automobile routes. Choosing Open official parking in Maps opens Apple Maps with the starting point and destination. Apple operates these services under its own privacy practices.

Official nighttime-access checks request public National Park Service pages and alerts. These requests include ordinary network information such as your IP address and a shared one-minute time bucket, without your observing coordinates, private records or a user identifier. They use an ephemeral session without saved cookies or credentials. Reviewed access results remain only in app memory for up to 15 minutes; earlier source, weather or route expiry can end a recommendation sooner. CelestEye has no nearby-location server and does not add browsing results to your Journal or private iCloud records. Choosing Use this place & preview explicitly changes the active observing place and time; browsing alone does not. Opening official source links visits external websites under their respective privacy practices.

Optional weather forecasts

Weather forecasts are off until you enable them. When enabled, CelestEye sends your selected observing place’s latitude and longitude, rounded to two decimal degrees (0.01°, roughly a kilometre in latitude), to Apple Weather through WeatherKit. This can be a planning place rather than your phone’s physical location, and no GPS permission is needed. Rounding reduces precision but does not make the location anonymous. Apple also receives ordinary network information. Apple operates the service under its own terms and privacy practices; see Apple Weather and privacy.

CelestEye keeps one temporary forecast on your iPhone in a cache excluded from device backup. It stops using the forecast at the earlier of Apple’s expiry or 90 minutes after download and removes expired data when the app next checks the cache. Turning weather off stops using forecasts immediately and attempts to remove the cached copy. If storage prevents removal, CelestEye retries on a later cache check. Forecast packets do not go into your Journal, saved offline plans or private iCloud sync. Your weather-consent preference stays local. The developer operates no weather server, and CelestEye adds no paid weather subscription. Forecast availability can change; missing or stale forecasts are labeled unavailable while astronomical guidance remains usable.

Optional private iCloud sync

Sync is off until you deliberately enable it. It sends saved targets, observing lists, viewing equipment, saved places, Journal entries and challenge learning/progress records to your private CloudKit database in your Apple account. This includes private notes, attached photo copies, precise saved coordinates and Journal place snapshots. Apple operates iCloud under its own terms and privacy practices. CelestEye does not use a public database for these records. Turning sync off keeps the local records and leaves the existing iCloud copy in place. You can manage iCloud storage in iPhone Settings. Recent browsing, active viewing setup, display preferences, alignment, diagnostics, horizon profiles and panoramas are excluded. Availability depends on your account, storage and Apple services.

Widgets and Shortcuts

Widgets read a small local snapshot shared only with the CelestEye widget extension. It contains target/event names, viewing method, time zone, viewing times and source status. Place names are hidden by default and can be enabled in observing settings. Precise coordinates, Journal entries, notes, attached photos and panoramas are not shared with the widget. Widget information can be visible on your Home or Lock Screen; Apple controls refresh timing. Focused Shortcuts actions use a small local index of supported selected or saved target names and identifiers. They do not provide Journal notes or coordinates to the action.

Optional observing companion

Starting an observing companion is your choice. You can keep it inside CelestEye or allow a Live Activity to appear on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island, where others may see it. System content contains catalog target names and identifiers, a generic viewing method, planned times, the observing time zone and freshness information. It does not include precise coordinates, private place or equipment names, Journal entries, notes or photos. Find links carry only a session identifier and target index.

CelestEye keeps a separate temporary context on your iPhone to return to the selected place and equipment. This file is protected while the device is locked and excluded from device backups, private iCloud sync and personal archives. Sessions last at most four hours. Ending a session inside CelestEye removes its local context. After ending from the system Live Activity, or after expiry, local context is removed when CelestEye next runs and checks it. iOS controls when system content is removed while the app is suspended. The companion does not continuously access sensors or weather in the background, and advancing a target never records a sighting. You can end the session inside CelestEye or from its Live Activity. If Live Activities are unavailable, the in-app session remains usable.

Exports and sharing

You choose whether and where to export or share. A personal archive includes private records, notes, attached photo copies and saved places, but excludes horizon images and profiles. A complete offline plan can include its precise observing place, equipment, viewing windows and source snapshots. An angular horizon export includes its saved coordinates and calibration but no image. Observing cards and calendar exports expose only the fields shown in their preview and selected privacy options. Exported files are independent copies; deleting a record in CelestEye does not delete a file you already shared. The destination you select controls that copy.

Optional support purchases

Apple handles voluntary one-time support purchases. CelestEye receives StoreKit transaction information to verify and finish a purchase. The developer does not receive your payment-card details. Purchases do not unlock features.

Local data

An optional, deliberate tracking snapshot stores a single aiming direction, roll, elapsed sensor age, capture time, app version and thermal state locally. Earlier snapshots may retain device uptime locally; sharing omits those uptime fields. It contains no geographic coordinates or camera image and is shared only at your request. Saved targets, recent history, observing places, Journal records, lists, viewing setups, learning progress, saved event/reminder context and cached references use the app’s local storage. Private records also go to iCloud only when you enable sync, and exports go to destinations you choose. Deleting the app removes this local storage; device backups are governed by your Apple settings.

This website

These support and privacy pages are hosted by GitHub Pages. GitHub logs visitors’ IP addresses for security. See the GitHub Privacy Statement. These pages include no analytics, advertising, tracking scripts, or contact form.

Contact

Email chriswelch3254@gmail.com for support or privacy questions.