Privacy Policy

This notice describes SteadySky 1.4.18 (version code 33) and explains relevant differences in older installed versions.

Version 1.4.18 (version code 33) preserves the network, data-handling, billing and permission behaviour described below for version 1.4.17 (version code 32). Complete weather credits and source information remain available in the optional Weather info panel. Available saved timeline samples may use neutral map symbols. An expired forecast is labelled as historical data; unverifiable validity has a separate notice. In either case, the samples must not be used as an indication of current conditions, and displaying them does not extend forecast validity.

App: SteadySky / SteadySky Turbulence Tracker (com.flightoffline.tracker). Developer: Arc4dia. Privacy contact: polinix73@gmail.com.

SteadySky records flight sessions and GPS track points locally. It does not require a SteadySky account. Optional online functions and Google Play libraries exchange data with their respective providers. Local recording, location-based weather, map resources, purchases, technical diagnostics and reviews are described separately below.

1. Flight recording and location permissions

Android location permissions and a foreground service allow the app to record a flight and show your position. Flight sessions and recorded GPS points are stored on your device; they are not automatically uploaded to a developer-operated flight-recording server. Tracking status notifications are generated locally.

In versions with the separate Location-based local weather control, Android location permission and local-weather consent are independent. Granting location permission does not enable local weather. Enabling local weather does not grant an Android permission. A new or existing user who has not made the weather choice is not treated as having agreed. “Not now” leaves weather disabled, without repeated automatic prompts; the choice remains available in Settings. Older versions without this separate control may request local weather when location-based screens are used with location available. These descriptions do not imply that an older installation already contains the new consent control.

2. Optional location-based local weather

When enabled in a version with the separate control, SteadySky sends the device coordinates rounded to two decimal places to an external weather service operated by Open-Meteo to obtain current weather. This request does not send the full GPS precision used for local recording. Reducing precision does not make these coordinates anonymous; they still fall within Google Play's Precise location classification.

Updates may start while a screen using local weather is visible, when the relevant location area changes, or when you return to that screen and a new reading is needed. A valid cached reading may be reused. A request already started may finish after you leave the screen. There is no periodic background job starting local-weather requests. Flight tracking can continue independently.

You can disable local weather in Settings. This prevents new requests, cancels pending work where possible, invalidates its local reading and prevents a late result from being used. It does not stop recording or delete flight sessions. The app cannot withdraw information that has already reached a provider. Android location permissions can also be revoked separately.

Open-Meteo receives the request parameters and the connection's source IP address. Its notice describes technical processing for service maintenance and abuse prevention, and troubleshooting logs that may contain coordinates. It states that these logs are deleted after 90 days. This is the provider's stated practice, not a guarantee that SteadySky can inspect or delete a particular log. See Open-Meteo's privacy notice.

3. Airport, route and aviation services

In version 1.4.17 (version code 32), turbulence route searches use an external weather service operated by Open-Meteo and NOAA Aviation Weather Center. The route timeline is calculated locally as a theoretical estimate from the selected airports and planned times; it is not the aircraft's actual altitude, a flight plan or the user's recorded flight track. Weather forecasts, available pilot reports (PIREP) and significant meteorological warnings (SIGMET) remain external data. Requests can include selected airport coordinates, route samples or bounding areas and dates. These requests convey information about what you searched for in the app, even though SteadySky does not upload a saved list of past searches. Such inputs describe the selected airport or route; they are not automatically the device's current location. Turning off device-based local weather does not disable these independent functions. Providers receive network metadata and may keep technical records under their own policies.

In versions 1.4.13 (version code 28) and 1.4.14 (version code 29), turbulence searches could also contact OpenSky Network for historical aircraft tracks. Requests could include airport ICAO codes and a time interval, followed by the selected aircraft identifier and track time. Version 1.4.15 (version code 30) and version 1.4.17 (version code 32) do not contact OpenSky Network. Cache files from previous versions may contain earlier source labels and timelines; an old source label does not establish that a historical track was obtained. A saved file does not by itself establish that a forecast is complete, readable or still valid. Cache recovery and expiry are separate: an expired result must not be treated as a current forecast. Versions 28 and 29 can contain a release-format persistence defect; recovery of their stored results in version 30 or version 32 depends on the actual stored format and completeness of the data. A new route search regenerates its forecasts and timeline together.

Weather-data attribution remains explicit: Open-Meteo.com, with data licensed under CC BY 4.0. SteadySky performs unit conversion, route interpolation and derived turbulence estimates. Source-specific model credits and processing notes remain available in the app’s weather information panel. This data licence and attribution do not establish a commercial service contract.

4. Maps, imports and exports

The supplied map and local map archives use resources on the device. A map style you import can contain remote tile, style, glyph or image addresses. The renderer may request them automatically while displaying that style. The remote provider can see the requested map area and source IP. A tile address identifies a map area; it is not always a person's location. If a remote map follows your GPS position, its requested area can reveal an area associated with that position, with precision depending on zoom and viewport. Avoiding or removing the remote style avoids that resource path. The weather switch does not control map requests. Explicit downloads use the address chosen for that download.

Exports are initiated by you. GPX, CSV or JSON exports can contain recorded coordinates and flight information. Files are written through Android's document picker to the destination you select. A document provider or another app may then store or share them according to its own settings and policy. SteadySky does not automatically send all recordings to the developer. Copies you export outside the app must be managed at their destination.

5. Google Play purchases and technical diagnostics

Google Play Billing handles optional Pro purchases. SteadySky receives purchase, product, token and entitlement information to recognise access, restore purchases and acknowledge them to Google Play. The app does not receive payment-card or bank-account details. Google handles payment-method data directly.

The Billing library also has its own technical logging. It can transmit billing API and purchase-flow outcomes, result or error information, app/package versions, device and network characteristics, and a generated identifier reused for a BillingClient instance/session. That identifier is distinct from a claim that the app reads an Android ID or advertising ID. SDK transport can keep pending technical events locally before sending them to Google. These records support operation, reliability analysis and security; they are separate from Firebase Analytics and are not controlled by the local-weather switch or the legacy usage preference present in version 1.4.13 (version code 28). Billing startup and connection work can generate technical records without a purchase. Google controls retention of its service records; this policy does not promise their deletion after 90 days. See Google's privacy policy.

6. Usage analytics and reviews

Firebase Analytics is not operative in the distributed app configurations described here. Version 1.4.13 (version code 28) contains a legacy usage-data preference; its presence does not establish that Firebase uploads are active. Versions 1.4.14 (version code 29) and 1.4.15 (version code 30) use inactive app analytics and contain no usage-analytics consent control. Version 1.4.17 (version code 32) preserves this inactive app-analytics configuration. None of these preferences or configurations switches off Google Play's independent technical logging. Crashlytics is not configured in these app configurations.

The app can offer Google Play In-App Review. You choose whether to submit a rating or text. Google Play handles submission: a production review may be public, while closed-test feedback can be private to the developer. You can manage or delete a review through Google Play or your Google Account. SteadySky does not require a review for flight tracking or purchases.

7. Storage, backups and deletion

Sessions, points, settings, map archives, purchase state and caches are stored locally. The app's Android backup rules include only the lifetime count of successful free turbulence checks; they exclude flight databases, maps, other settings and the purchase-entitlement cache. If operating-system backup or device transfer is enabled, that counter can be backed up or transferred by the system. This does not mean that recorded GPS tracks are included in the configured backup. Backup controls and retention belong to the operating system and selected backup provider.

Deleting a session or clearing app data removes the corresponding local information under Android's behaviour. Uninstalling removes private app data; it does not remove exports, provider records, or system backup copies. A restored quota counter can survive a reinstall through a system backup. The local weather reading is held in memory and invalidated when that feature is disabled; external technical logs can remain. Google Play purchases and reviews follow Google's account and retention controls. Contact the relevant provider for its available rights and controls; SteadySky cannot promise remote deletion of every technical record through an in-app switch.

8. Transport security

The app's standard API and SDK endpoints use HTTPS/TLS, with certificate and hostname verification by their Android/client stacks. The app supports Android 8 and 8.1 as well as newer versions. On Android 8/8.1 its current network-security configuration does not enforce a universal block on external unencrypted HTTP: an imported map style can request HTTP resources, and a client following a redirect can change from HTTPS to HTTP. On Android 9 and later, the reviewed configuration blocks external cleartext HTTP. Consequently, this notice does not claim that every collected or shared data transfer is encrypted on every supported version. This is a finding from configuration and source review; it does not establish that an unencrypted transfer actually occurred. Local tile-server HTTP uses loopback on the same device, not an Internet transfer. Google documents encryption while its Android backups move between the device and backup service; this does not establish end-to-end encryption for every backup or device-transfer implementation. Export recipients and other apps have their own transport protections. Receiving providers can read data sent to them; HTTPS is not a promise that data is anonymous, unlogged or encrypted from the recipient itself.

9. Website, purpose and contact

Website browsing is distinct from using the Android app. The Cloudflare website's counter stores aggregate page/day/country statistics rather than flight records; the hosting network derives the country from the web request and processes connection metadata. These website operations are not evidence that the Android app collects a website browsing history.

The currently served Cloudflare website also includes Cloudflare's performance beacon, separate from the page/day/country counter. Depending on the browser and reporting settings, it can report page and referrer information and navigation or rendering timings to Cloudflare. Connection metadata is processed by the receiving service. See Cloudflare's description of this collection. The Cloudflare pages load Google-hosted font stylesheets and font files; those resource requests also disclose connection information to Google. These website requests are distinct from the Android app's inactive usage analytics and from locally stored flight recordings. This notice does not promise a fixed retention period or app-controlled deletion for these website providers.

Version 1.4.17 (version code 32) includes a clearly labelled link to this complete notice in Settings / Info & Privacy for both Free and Pro users. Showing that link does not start a web request or require a weather-consent choice or purchase. Tapping it opens the system browser at the policy URL registered in Google Play. The browser and hosting services then process the web request. Loading the page requires connectivity; the local summary does not replace the complete notice.

SteadySky is informational and recreational and must not be used for aeronautical navigation, flight safety or operational decisions. It is not intended for children under 13. Privacy enquiries may be sent to polinix73@gmail.com; information you voluntarily include in an email is handled for that enquiry. Updates to this notice are posted at the policy URL with the actual publication date.