AstroTonight Privacy Policy

Effective 8 October 2026

AstroTonight is an iPhone app for planning astrophotography, made by Vaughan Mitchell (“I”, “me”). This policy explains what information the app uses and what happens to it.

Information the app uses on your iPhone

AstroTonight uses the following only on your device, to do the job you ask of it. None of it is sent to me or to anyone else.

Location

If you allow it, AstroTonight uses your location to work out which stars, planets and targets are above you, and to help the compass find true north in the camera view. Your coordinates are saved only as part of the observing sites you create, on your iPhone. You can instead type coordinates in yourself, or turn location access off at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services.

Camera

When you map your skyline or find a target, AstroTonight shows the live camera picture behind its sky overlay. The app does not take photos or record video, and nothing from the camera is saved or sent anywhere.

Motion sensors and compass

These tell the app which way your iPhone is pointing in the camera view. The readings are used as they happen and are not stored. The only thing kept is a compass correction, if you choose to set one.

Photos and files you add

You can add your own images of a target from Photos or Files. You choose them in Apple’s picker, and the app only receives the images you pick; it cannot see the rest of your photo library. Copies of those images, and any notes you add to them, are stored inside the app on your iPhone.

Your sites, skylines and settings

Observing sites, mapped skylines, telescopes you add and your app settings are all stored on your iPhone.

What is shared

Nothing. AstroTonight does not send any information over the internet, and I do not receive, collect or have access to any of your data. I do not sell or share information with advertisers, data brokers or anyone else.

A few links in the app open a website in your browser when you tap them: lightpollutionmap.info (to look up your sky’s darkness), Wikimedia Commons (where the target photos come from) and the OpenNGC catalogue on GitHub. Those websites have their own privacy policies. If you use Share on one of your images, it goes only where you choose to send it.

Backups

Like other apps, AstroTonight’s data is included in your iPhone’s backups (iCloud Backup or a backup on your computer), depending on how you have set up your device. Those backups are handled by Apple under your Apple account settings.

Apple

AstroTonight is downloaded through Apple’s App Store, which Apple runs under its own privacy policy. If you have chosen to share analytics with app developers, Apple may give me crash reports and usage statistics that do not identify you.

Deleting your information

You can delete sites, images and telescopes inside the app at any time. Deleting the app removes everything it has stored from your iPhone.

Children

AstroTonight does not collect information from anyone, including children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new effective date.

Contact

If you have any questions about this policy or about AstroTonight, email nzvman75@icloud.com.