Privacy Policy

Who this covers

This policy covers the Still Dark app for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, its widgets, and this website. Still Dark is made by Alan Mrvica, an individual developer based in the United States ("we", "us"). He is responsible for the data described here. Questions go to hello@stilldark.app.

The short version

There is no account to create and nothing to sign in to.
We don't use analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind, and we don't sell or share your data.
Sun, Moon, planet and star positions are calculated on your device.
Some features need to send a location to a service to work, such as a weather forecast or a map. Those requests don't include your name, email or any account.
Purchases go through Apple. A service called RevenueCat keeps track of whether you have Pro.

Your location

Still Dark asks for your location to work out sunrise, sunset, the Moon, the sky above you and tonight's forecast. You can also type any place instead. Location access is optional. Without it, the app starts from the main city in your time zone.

Most of the work happens on your device. These features send a location to an outside service:

Feature	Sent to	What is sent
Place names and searching for a place	Apple	Your location, or the text you type
Maps in the planner and on cards	Apple	The area shown on the map
Weather forecasts from Apple Weather (Pro)	Apple	The location of the forecast
Weather forecasts, cloud and smoke layers from Open-Meteo (Pro)	Open-Meteo	The location of the forecast, or the area shown on the map
Sky darkness (light pollution) estimate	NASA Earthdata	Map tiles covering about 90 miles around the place
Terrain, when you drop a landmark pin or use the 3D view	Amazon Web Services (public terrain data)	Map tiles covering about a mile around you and the pin

Like any request on the internet, each one also reveals your device's IP address to the service that receives it. We don't receive or keep these requests.

If you turn on Always location access in Settings, the widgets and plan reminders can keep using your location while the app is closed. This is optional. While Using covers everything you see in the app.

Data the app downloads

The app also downloads public data that doesn't need your location: satellite orbits from CelesTrak, comet data from the Minor Planet Center, aurora and space-weather forecasts from NOAA, spacecraft positions from NASA JPL, and sky-quality readings from Globe at Night. If you turn on the online faint-star layer, or tap a faint star for details, the app asks the CDS star catalogue service (University of Strasbourg) about that part of the sky. These requests contain no personal data.

Purchases

Apple handles every purchase. We never see your name, email or payment details.

We use RevenueCat to check whether you have Pro, Lifetime or the Weather Pass, so your purchase works on all your devices. RevenueCat receives your purchase history, a random ID created for the app, Apple's identifier for this app on your device (which is different in every developer's apps and can't be used to follow you across apps), the app and system version, the device model, your language and your App Store country. It doesn't receive your location.

iCloud

If you're signed in to iCloud, your saved plans sync between your devices through your own iCloud account. Each plan holds its name, place, date, an optional landmark pin, the subjects you chose, camera settings and reminder times. Apple stores this for you. We can't see it. Your places, photos and other settings stay on the device and don't sync.

What stays on your device

The app keeps your settings, your last location, recent and favorite places, saved plans, reminders, and caches of forecasts and downloaded data on your device. Deleting the app removes them. Plans stored in iCloud can be removed in your iCloud settings.

Other permissions

Camera: used only for the AR sky view, to show the sky through your camera. The app doesn't upload camera images.
Calendars: used only when you choose to add a plan to your calendar. The event includes the plan's place. The app asks for permission to add events, not to read your calendar.
Notifications: reminders for your plans and sky events are scheduled on your device. There are no push notifications from a server.
Photos: if you pick a photo for a background, the app uses only that photo, through Apple's photo picker, and keeps it on the device.
Motion sensors: used on the device to point the sky view where you're holding the phone.

Directions to a plan open in Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze only when you tap them, and those apps receive the plan's place.

When you email us

If you write to support@stilldark.app or hello@stilldark.app, we receive your email address and whatever you include, such as screenshots. We use it only to reply and to fix problems, and we delete it when it's no longer needed.

This website

This website has no cookies, no analytics and no third-party scripts or fonts. The "tonight" panel on the home page asks your browser for your location and calculates everything in the browser. Your location isn't sent anywhere. The screenshots section remembers which device tab you chose, in your own browser only. Like any web server, our hosting provider keeps standard access logs, which include IP addresses, for security and to keep the site running.

Links to other websites, such as photo sources and references, are covered by those sites' own policies.

Children

Still Dark is a general-audience app and isn't directed at children. It doesn't ask anyone for personal information.

Your choices and rights

You can turn location access off or change it at any time in your device's Settings.
You can delete everything the app stores by deleting the app, and remove synced plans in your iCloud settings.
You can ask us to delete your emails, or to have RevenueCat delete the purchase record linked to your app ID, by writing to hello@stilldark.app. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights to access or delete your data, and you can exercise them the same way.

Changes

If the app starts using data in a new way, we'll update this policy first and change the date at the top.

Contact

Privacy questions: hello@stilldark.app
Help with the app: support@stilldark.app