Privacy by not collecting
The short version of Orange Lantern's privacy policy is one sentence: the app does not collect any data. This note is the long version of how that works, because "we respect your privacy" has come to mean very little.
No server
The app makes no network requests. There is no account to create and no sign-in, no analytics library, no crash reporter of ours, no advertising code, no third-party code at all. It works fully offline, and it works the same way with the network off as on, because it never notices the difference.
What stays on the phone
The app keeps a small record of each day: the date, which small thing it was and the wording shown that day, the energy level you picked, which picture was shown, when you lit the lantern, and the time zone your phone was set to. It also keeps your settings: reminder time, language, reduced motion. That is everything. There is nowhere in the app to type, so it never stores anything you write. It does not store moods, photos, location or contacts, and it never asks for location or for access to your photo library.
What leaves the phone, only if you send it
- Sending a lantern. The share card is drawn on your phone and handed to the system share sheet. Where it goes is up to you; we do not know.
- Saving to Photos. The app asks only for permission to add an image. It can never read your photos.
- Export and import. Export writes a file that you keep. Import reads a file you choose. The file never passes through us.
- Backups. Your phone's own backup may include the app's data. That backup is yours and covered by Apple's policy; we cannot read it.
Reminders are optional, off by default, and scheduled on the phone itself. Nothing is sent from anywhere.
What it costs
Not collecting is a design decision with a price. There is no sync between devices, because there is no cloud. There is no "community", no leaderboard, no sharing inside the app. If you lose your phone and have no backup, the lanterns go with it. We think these are the right trades for an app whose whole point is to be small and to leave you alone, and we would rather say so plainly than add a server later and change the policy.
Beta builds
If you use a TestFlight version, Apple collects crash and usage data and any feedback you send, under Apple's TestFlight terms, and shares crash logs, feedback, device model and iOS version with us. We delete tester information when testing ends. The full policy is at dako.world/orangelantern/privacy.