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Skycast Privacy Policy

Last updated: 29 May 2026

1. Summary

Skycast is built to respect your privacy. The short version:

  • No accounts. Skycast does not ask you to register or sign in.
  • No analytics, no tracking, no advertising. Skycast does not contain any analytics SDK, tracking pixel, advertising network, or telemetry framework.
  • No servers. Skycast has no backend that receives your data. Everything happens on your device.
  • No data sale. We do not sell, rent, or share your data with anyone.

The rest of this document explains the few exchanges that do happen: the optional iOS permissions you can grant, and the optional third-party services (weather providers, maps, community content) that Skycast can talk to on your behalf.

2. Data we do not collect

We do not collect, store, or transmit to ourselves:

  • Personal identifiers (name, email, phone number, address)
  • Device identifiers (advertising ID, device fingerprint)
  • Crash reports (Apple offers system-level crash reporting which you control under iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements)
  • Usage statistics
  • Diagnostic logs
  • Marketing data

The In-App Purchase flow is handled entirely by Apple via StoreKit; we receive a binary “is the user entitled to Pro?” answer from Apple’s servers, nothing more.

3. Data stored locally on your device

Skycast stores the following on your device, in standard iOS sandboxed storage. None of it leaves the device unless you explicitly share it (e.g., by exporting a theme via AirDrop):

  • Themes you create or import (Library/Application Support/Themes/)
  • Theme bundles ready for sharing (Documents/Themes/)
  • Icon sets, custom fonts, weather walls (Documents/IconSets/, Documents/Fonts/, Documents/WeatherWalls/)
  • Cached weather data (kept for up to 20 minutes, then refreshed)
  • Cached health data (steps, distance, calories — kept until midnight local time, then reset)
  • Cached location (kept for up to 30 minutes, then refreshed)
  • Your app preferences (saved in iOS UserDefaults)
  • Optional opt-in performance log (Documents/performance.log, capped at 500 entries, ring-buffered, on-device only)

Uninstalling Skycast deletes all of the above.

4. iOS permissions Skycast may request

You decide whether to grant any of these. The app works (with reduced functionality) when permissions are denied.

4.1 Location

  • Why: To fetch weather for your current location, derive sunrise and sunset times, and render the city / country / neighbourhood names that themes can display.
  • What we ask for: “When in Use” by default; you may upgrade to “Always” in iOS Settings if you want Skycast to refresh weather while the app is suspended.
  • Precision: Skycast requests precise location (~10 m accuracy) because some template tokens ({street}, {houseNumber}) require street-level resolution. You may toggle iOS’ “Precise Location” switch off to limit Skycast to coarse location.
  • Where it goes: Latitude/longitude is sent to the weather and geocoding services you have configured (see section 5). It is not sent to us.

4.2 HealthKit (Steps, Distance, Active Energy)

  • Why: Themes can display today’s step count, distance walked, and calories burned.
  • Access: Read-only. Skycast never writes to your Health database.
  • What we read: Only the three quantity types listed above, only for today.
  • Where it goes: Stored locally for the current day, then reset. Never transmitted off-device.
  • Lock-state behavior: When your device is locked, iOS may refuse access to Active Energy. Skycast handles this gracefully by preserving the last known value rather than overwriting it with zero.

4.3 Calendar (EventKit)

  • Why: Themes can list upcoming events from your calendars.
  • Access: Read-only.
  • Granularity: You choose which calendars are visible to Skycast in Settings → Calendars.
  • Where it goes: Event titles, start/end times, calendar names are read on demand and rendered into the theme image. Never transmitted off-device.

4.4 Reminders (EventKit)

  • Why: Themes can list incomplete reminders.
  • Access: Read-only.
  • Granularity: You choose which reminder lists are visible.
  • Where it goes: Read on demand, rendered into the theme image, never transmitted off-device.

4.5 Photos

  • Why: To let you choose photos as background images in your themes.
  • Access: Limited library access via the iOS Photos Picker (you pick the specific photos Skycast may see).
  • What happens to the photo: When you select a photo for a theme, Skycast copies it into the theme’s folder. The original stays in your Photos library.
  • Where it goes: Stays on device.

4.6 Bluetooth

  • Why: Optional. Themes may display a Bluetooth status indicator (powered on / off).
  • Access: Status only. Skycast does not pair with devices, exchange data with peripherals, or scan for devices in a tracking sense.

4.7 Background Modes

  • Background App Refresh: Lets iOS wake Skycast briefly to refresh weather data for your widget while the app is not in the foreground.
  • Background Processing: Lets Skycast complete a wallpaper render triggered by a Shortcut automation.
  • Both are subject to iOS’ battery and scheduling policy — iOS decides when and whether Skycast runs in the background.

5. Third-party services Skycast may talk to

These services are optional. Skycast uses them on your behalf, only when you have configured them. When Skycast contacts a third party, your request goes directly from your device to that service — we do not see it.

5.1 Weather providers (you pick one)

  • Open-Meteo — api.open-meteo.com (free, no API key required)
  • The Weather Channel / IBM — api.weather.com (requires API key you provide)
  • OpenWeatherMap (OneCall 3.0) — api.openweathermap.org (requires API key you provide)
  • Pirate Weather — api.pirateweather.net (requires API key you provide)

Skycast sends latitude, longitude, and your preferred unit (metric / imperial) to the selected provider. We do not send identifying information.

Each provider has its own privacy policy. Please review the policy of the provider you choose.

5.2 Reverse geocoding (city / state / country names)

  • Apple CLGeocoder (primary) — handled by Apple’s MapKit framework, governed by Apple’s privacy policy.
  • OpenStreetMap Nominatim (fallback or privacy-preferred mode) — nominatim.openstreetmap.org. You can choose “OSM only” mode in Settings → Weather → Address Provider to avoid Apple’s geocoder entirely.

5.3 Static maps (optional)

  • Geoapify — api.geoapify.com. Used only if you add a Map layer to a theme and provide a Geoapify API key. Not used otherwise.

5.4 Community content (downloads)

  • GitHub-hosted manifests + downloads — Skycast fetches the public manifests for WeatherWalls and Community Themes from GitHub Releases under github.com/liquid-me/SwiftWeather-Assets. These are anonymous HTTP downloads. GitHub may log your IP address per their own logging policy.

5.5 Custom JSON endpoints (advanced)

Skycast lets you configure arbitrary URLs as data sources for theme templates. You are responsible for what you configure here. Skycast sends your configured URL the parameters you specify, nothing more. API keys you save for these endpoints are stored in the iOS Keychain on-device only and never sent to us.

5.6 Apple StoreKit (purchases)

  • Apple App Store — handles all in-app purchases (Skycast Pro Lifetime and Tips). Skycast only sees a verified entitlement (“user has Pro: yes/no”). Apple’s privacy policy governs the transaction.

6. Children’s privacy

Skycast is rated 4+. Skycast does not knowingly collect data from children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction). Because Skycast does not collect data from anyone, this is true by construction.

7. Your control

  • Revoke a permission: iOS Settings → Skycast → toggle the individual permission.
  • Delete cached data: iOS Settings → Skycast → Reset All Caches (planned for a future version); meanwhile, uninstalling Skycast removes all locally stored data.
  • Delete everything: Uninstall Skycast. All themes, caches, preferences, fonts, and downloads are removed.
  • Restore a purchase on a new device: In-app → Settings → Restore Purchases. Apple verifies your previous purchase via your Apple ID.

8. iCloud backup

Skycast follows iOS’ standard backup behaviour. If you have iCloud Backup or iTunes/Finder backup enabled for your device, Skycast’s on-device storage (themes, preferences) is included in those backups, managed by Apple under Apple’s privacy policy.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when Skycast adds or removes features that affect data flows. Material changes will be noted in the in-app changelog. The latest version is always at this URL with the Last updated date at the top.

10. Contact

For privacy questions or to report a privacy issue, please open an issue at:

https://github.com/liquid-me/SwiftWeather/issues

Tag the issue with privacy so we can prioritise it.