SkyWindow — Privacy Policy
Last updated: 29 September 2026
SkyWindow ("the app") is published by Vision Path Studio. This policy explains what the app does with your information. In short: nothing about you leaves your device, except — only if you switch on the optional cloud forecast — the rounded coordinates of your saved locations, sent to the weather service Open-Meteo to get the forecast. Example images of targets are requested with the target's position in the sky only.
Data the app uses
| Data | Why | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Location (only when you tap "Use my current position") | To calculate where objects are in your sky. | Stored only on your device as part of the locations you save. Never transmitted. |
| Camera (only in the AR view) | To show the live camera image behind the sky overlay. | Images are displayed live and are never recorded, stored or transmitted. |
| Motion / compass sensors | To know where the phone is pointing in the AR view. | Used live, never stored or transmitted. |
| Approximate location for the cloud forecast (only if you turn on Cloud forecast in Settings; off by default) | To get the hourly cloud forecast for your observing spot. | The latitude and longitude of the active location, rounded to about 1 km, are sent over an encrypted connection to Open-Meteo (weather API, Switzerland). No name, account or device identifier is sent. Open-Meteo's own privacy policy applies to that request. The forecast received is stored on your device until it expires or is replaced. |
| Notifications (only if you turn on Clear-night alerts or Rain and storm alerts in Settings; off by default, require the cloud forecast) | To tell you when a clear, dark night is forecast at the locations you chose, or when rain, snow, thunderstorms or stormy wind are on the way at your active location. | For clear-night alerts, once a day at the time you choose, the app refreshes the forecast for those locations in the same way as above (rounded coordinates to Open-Meteo); for rain and storm alerts it does so for the active location about every two hours. It decides on your device whether to show a notification. No push service is used and nothing is sent to us. |
| Example images (only when you tap Show example image, or if you turn on automatic download in Settings; off by default) | To show what a target looks like, cut from a sky survey to your telescope's frame. | The request contains only the target's sky coordinates and the image size — nothing about you or your location. It goes over an encrypted connection to the hips2fits service of CDS (Strasbourg Astronomical Observatory, France); CDS's own policies apply to that request, which, like any web request, includes your IP address. The image (under 1 MB) is kept in the app's cache on your device. |
| My profile and shared plans (only when you tap Share plan, Save as plan file or Export targets) | To send your imaging plan to someone or to another program. | Your nickname and profile stay on your device. A shared plan contains your targets, goals and imaging settings, plus only what you switch on: your nickname, your telescope names, your locations (name, position rounded to about 1 km, Bortle number — never blocked directions or horizon lines) and your progress per target. It goes only through the app you choose in Android's share menu, or into the one plan file you pick with Android's file picker (e.g. in Google Drive), which the app then keeps up to date until you tap Stop updating plan file; nothing is sent to us. Plans others share with you are stored only on your device. |
| Plans from a link (only when you import a plan from a link) | To read a plan someone shared through a cloud file, and — if you switch on automatic updates — to re-read it when you open the app. | The app downloads that file from the address you entered (e.g. Google Drive or Dropbox); like any web request, that service sees your IP address. Nothing else is sent. |
| Saved locations and settings | So you don't have to enter them again. | Stored in the app's private storage on your device. Removed when you uninstall the app or delete them in the app. |
What the app does not do
- It does not require an account.
- It never sends data to us. It only connects to the internet for the optional cloud forecast (Open-Meteo), for example images (CDS) and for plans from a link you entered, as described above; without those it makes no internet connections at all.
- It shows no advertisements and contains no advertising, analytics or tracking libraries.
- It does not use the Android advertising ID (the app does not request the
AD_IDpermission) or any other identifier to track you across apps or websites. - It does not sell or share personal data.
Android's own backup service may include the app's saved locations in your personal device backup, under your Google account's settings; we have no access to those backups.
Children
The app is not directed at children under 18 and does not knowingly collect data from anyone.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be published at the same address with a new date.
Contact
Questions: see the developer contact e-mail on the SkyWindow Google Play page.