Last updated: 20 October 2026
The Strangeness has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising, no tracking and no third-party SDKs. I, the developer, do not receive your photos, videos, notes, location or anything else you record. This policy says exactly what the app does with your data, including the few times it contacts a server.
What the app uses, and why
- Location (while the app is open). To run the near-me scan on your phone, and to stamp your own captures with where you were. The scan compares your position with data bundled in the app, on your phone. It asks for location only when you use these features, never in the background.
- Camera and microphone. To take photos and film. The microphone is used only while you record a video, so the video has sound. Nothing is recorded unless you start a recording.
- Motion sensors and compass. To work out which way the camera is pointing (heading) and how far up or down (tilt).
- Photos (add only). Only if you tap Save to Photos on a capture. The app asks for permission to add pictures and videos to your photo library. It cannot see, read or list anything already in your library, and it never uploads anything. You can leave this permission off and still use the whole app.
What is stored on your phone
Photos and videos you capture, with the sensor readings taken at the time, your written account and the results of any sky check, are stored in the app's private storage on your phone. They are not uploaded anywhere by the app. Your own captures also appear as "Mine" pins on the atlas and in the near-me scan; that is worked out on your phone from this stored list, and other people cannot see them. You can delete any capture in the app, and deleting the app removes all of it. Like any app's data, it is included in your device backups (iCloud or computer) if you use them.
Network connections
The app contacts these services. Each is listed with what it receives.
- Apple's App Store. To process the Investigator subscription, restore a purchase and check that it is active. This is handled by Apple's StoreKit and Apple's privacy policy applies. I do not receive your name, email address, payment details or any identifier from Apple. I see anonymous, aggregated sales figures in App Store Connect, as any developer does.
- An aircraft-data service (adsb.lol), only for the sky check after a capture, which you can switch off in Settings. The app sends your position rounded to a grid about 17 miles across and a search radius, to ask which aircraft were nearby. The service can also see your device's IP address, as any website can. It does not receive your exact position, your photo or anything you wrote.
- CelesTrak. The app downloads public satellite orbit data, at most every two hours. The request contains nothing about you or your location; satellite positions are worked out on your phone. Your IP address is visible to the server.
- NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center. The app downloads the public geomagnetic (Kp) figure. The request contains nothing about you or your location. Your IP address is visible to the server.
- Open-Meteo, only for the weather report, which is part of the Investigator subscription and runs as part of the sky check. The app sends your position rounded to about 7 miles and the time, to ask for the modelled weather there. The service can see your IP address. It does not receive your exact position or anything you wrote. The weather is modelled for the area, not measured at your spot, and the app says so.
I do not run any server that receives data from the app. Those services have their own privacy practices and may keep ordinary request logs. If you switch the sky check off, the app makes none of requests 2 to 5.
When you tap a link to another website (for example a research group's report page or Reddit), your browser opens that site and its own privacy policy applies. The app copies report text to your clipboard when you ask it to, so you can paste it there. It does not submit anything on your behalf.
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