🌙 Moon Theory — Privacy Policy
Moon Theory computes everything it can on your device — moon phases, rise and set times, the star map, observing plans, and notification scheduling all happen locally. There is no account, no developer server, and no analytics. A few optional sky-condition features fetch public data over the network; they are anonymous, carry no identifiers, and are described in full below. Your information is never sent to the developer.
Data collected by the developer: none
Information the app uses on your device
To do its job, the app accesses and stores the following only on your device:
- Location — either your device's GPS position (with your permission) or coordinates you type in manually. It is used to calculate moon, sky, and rise/set data for your location and is stored only on your device. The single exception to "never transmitted": when the app fetches a cloud-cover and seeing forecast, it sends your coordinates to the Open-Meteo weather API (see Third-party services below) — anonymously, with no account and no identifiers.
- Preferences — your notification choices (which phase events to alert on, how far ahead, on/off), and your 12-/24-hour time format. Stored locally on your device.
- Scheduled notifications — upcoming moon-phase reminders are scheduled locally with the operating system. They are not remote (push) notifications and involve no server.
What the app does not do
- It does not collect, transmit, sell, or share your personal data.
- It does not use analytics, advertising, tracking, or crash-reporting services.
- It does not require an account and does not ask for your name, email, or contacts.
- It does not attach any identity to network requests — the only thing that ever leaves your device is the coordinates in an anonymous weather-forecast request, and nothing about you is retained.
Permissions
- Location (optional) — used to compute moon data for where you are. You can decline it and enter coordinates manually instead; the app still works.
- Notifications (optional) — used only to remind you of upcoming moon-phase events you've chosen. You can decline or turn these off at any time.
Data retention and deletion
All data the app stores lives on your device. You can change your saved location and preferences at any time in the app's Settings. Deleting the app removes all of its locally stored data and cancels any scheduled notifications.
Children's privacy
The app collects no personal information from anyone, including children. It is safe for users of all ages in this respect.
Third-party services
Astronomy calculations run locally using open-source libraries bundled into the app (including SunCalc); they send nothing anywhere. For sky conditions, the app makes anonymous requests to three public data services:
- Open-Meteo (cloud-cover & seeing forecast) — the request includes your coordinates so the forecast matches your sky. No account, no API key, no identifiers; Open-Meteo's service is designed for anonymous use. This is the only request that includes location.
- NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (geomagnetic/aurora data) — a public feed; the request carries no personal data and no location.
- CelesTrak (satellite orbital elements for ISS passes) — a public feed; the request carries no personal data and no location. Pass predictions are computed on your device.
All three are plain data downloads: nothing about you is stored by the app on any server, and everything still works offline — the app quietly falls back to what it can compute on-device.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this same address with a new effective date.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Contact the developer at j.landt@icloud.com.