sextant-support

Sextant – Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-05-20

Sextant is a celestial-navigation logbook for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. This policy explains, in plain language, what data Sextant handles and what we do (and don’t do) with it.

The short version

• Sextant stores only what you log: your voyages, sights, noon runs, Polaris observations, running fixes, derived fixes, and (optionally) imported chart overlays.
• Your data lives in your private iCloud database and on your devices. It never reaches our servers — we don’t have any.
• Sextant uses the camera, motion sensors, and (optionally) GPS while it’s open, never in the background, and only to compute on-device navigation values. Those readings never leave your device.
• We don’t use analytics. We don’t use ad SDKs. We don’t track you across apps. There are no third-party SDKs in the app at all.

What data Sextant handles

Data	Where it lives	What we do with it
Voyages, sights, fixes, noon runs, Polaris observations, running fixes, chart overlays	Your private iCloud database (CloudKit) and locally on your devices	Display them, reduce them, plot them
Your sextant calibration (index error from AR setup)	Local device storage (UserDefaults)	Apply to subsequent AR readings on the same device
Unit and display preferences	Same as above	Format the display
Camera frames during AR sextant use	RAM only, while AR mode is open	Render the live preview behind the reticle — no frames are saved, transmitted, or analyzed
Device motion (pitch / yaw) during AR sextant use	RAM only, while AR mode is open	Compute the live altitude / azimuth read‑out
Current GPS position (only on explicit tap of “Compare with GPS” on a saved fix)	Saved to that fix’s record in your private iCloud database	Show the distance between your celestial fix and your actual GPS position. GPS is never read automatically.
Current GPS position (only on first Sky Tonight open, if you grant it)	Filled into the Sky Tonight observer field on the device; not persisted further	Pre-fill the observer position so you don’t have to type it. You can override at any time.

What Sextant does not do

• We do not collect analytics. There is no third-party SDK in this app.
• We do not show advertising.
• We do not transmit your data to any server we control.
• We do not sell your data. We could not — we don’t have it.
• We do not require an account, an email address, or a sign-in.
• We do not access your photo library, contacts, microphone, calendar, or any other Apple Health data.

How sync works

Sextant uses Apple’s CloudKit. Your voyages and sights are stored in the private database of your iCloud account. Apple manages the storage; only your devices, signed in to your iCloud account, can read it. We have no access to it.

If you sign out of iCloud or disable iCloud Drive on your device, Sextant falls back to local-only storage. Your data is then on the device only and won’t sync.

Camera details

The AR sextant feature uses the rear camera to overlay a reticle on the live view of the sky. The frames stay in RAM while AR mode is open:

• We do not save any photos or videos.
• We do not transmit any frames off the device.
• We do not run any image recognition or analysis on the frames.
• The only data we extract from the AR session is the device’s tilt angle (from motion sensors, not the camera) at the moment you tap MARK.

You can revoke camera access at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Camera → Sextant.

Motion details

The AR sextant uses Core Motion (pitch, yaw, magnetic-north heading) to turn how you’re holding the phone into a sextant altitude reading. Like camera frames, motion data stays in RAM and is never saved or transmitted.

You can revoke motion access at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Motion & Fitness → Sextant.

Location details

Sextant uses Core Location in two places, both opt-in:

1. Sky Tonight — on first open, if you have not entered your observer position manually, Sextant offers to fill it from your device’s current location. One-shot, kilometer accuracy. Not persisted as a “location” beyond filling the observer field, which you can edit or clear at any time.
2. “Compare with GPS” on a saved fix — only fires when you explicitly tap the button. Captures one location reading and saves it to that fix’s record so you can see how close your celestial fix was to your actual GPS position. This is stored in your iCloud database alongside the rest of your fixes; it never goes anywhere else.

Sextant does not request “Always” location access and does not read your location in the background or while the app is closed.

You can revoke location access at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Sextant.

Children

Sextant has no user-generated content, no comments, no chat, no advertising, no in-app purchases, and no analytics. It is rated 4+ on the App Store.

Changes to this policy

Material changes will bump the “Last updated” date at the top. The historical text remains in the project’s git history.

Contact

If you have any privacy questions, file an issue at https://github.com/willarentz/sextant-support/issues — no GitHub account is necessary to read; a free account is needed to comment.