Sól
Sól Privacy Policy
Sól is a weather app for photographers made by Sasank Sasikumar, an independent developer. In this policy, “I” and “me” mean Sasank. If you have a question about it, email support@solweather.app.
The short version
- Sól has no accounts, no ads and no tracking. I don’t sell your data, and I don’t run a server that stores it.
- Your spots, alerts and settings stay on your iPhone. Deleting Sól deletes them.
- To show forecasts, maps and tides, Sól sends the coordinates of your spots to the services that provide them. Those requests don’t include your name or your Apple Account.
- The map on the Light tab comes from Mapbox. Its map software counts how many people use Mapbox maps, with a random identifier for your iPhone. It tells Mapbox more about how you use the map only if you turn that on; see Mapbox.
What stays on your iPhone
Sól keeps these on your iPhone, in storage only Sól can read:
- your spots: their names, coordinates, region and time zone
- your alert rules, and the alerts you’ve received, until two weeks after the time each alert was about
- your settings, and whether you have Sól Pro
- forecasts, tide tables and terrain data that Sól has downloaded, so it doesn’t need to fetch them again
- your most recent location, if you allow location access
Sól’s widgets read a copy of your spots, forecasts and upcoming alerts that the app saves in a container it shares with them on the same iPhone. Nothing is synced to iCloud or sent to me. Deleting Sól removes all of it.
Your location
Sól asks to use your location only while you’re using the app. It uses your location to centre the map when you add a spot, to show where you are on that map, and for Use Current Location, which saves where you are as an ordinary spot. Sól doesn’t follow your location after that, and it never sends your location to me. It remembers your most recent location on your iPhone so the map opens in the right place.
Alerts use the coordinates of your saved spots, never your current location, including when Sól checks forecasts in the background.
You can change this at any time in Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Sól. Without location access you can still add spots by searching or by tapping the map.
What Sól sends, and to whom
When you look at a spot, and when Sól checks a spot that has an alert in the background, it sends that spot’s coordinates, and the dates it needs, to these services:
| Service | What it receives | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Weather (WeatherKit), from your iPhone | The spot’s coordinates | Forecasts, and sun and moon times |
| Sól’s weather proxy, run on Cloudflare | The spot’s coordinates, the dates, and which forecast values are needed | Passing the request on to the three services below |
| Open-Meteo, Stormglass and WorldTides, through the proxy | The spot’s coordinates and the dates | Fog inputs, marine weather and tides |
| Mapbox, from your iPhone | The map area and the terrain around the spot, and usage counts (see Mapbox) | The Light tab’s map, the terrain behind the ridge, and the shadows |
| Apple Maps, from your iPhone | What you type when you search for a place, or the coordinates of a place you pick | Finding places, naming spots, and finding each spot’s time zone |
The coordinates are exact. Fog and shadows depend on precisely where you stand, so Sól doesn’t round them.
The proxy
Sól’s proxy holds the keys for Open-Meteo, Stormglass and WorldTides, so they aren’t stored in the app. For each request it builds a new one with only the values those services need, and passes it on. Those services see the proxy, not your IP address or anything about your iPhone.
The proxy keeps no record of ordinary requests. When it rejects a request or finds it unusual, Cloudflare logs it so I can keep the service working and stop abuse. Those records can include the request’s address, which contains the coordinates, and your IP address, and they are deleted within 7 days. Cloudflare also uses your IP address for a minute at a time to limit how many requests one connection can make.
Mapbox
Mapbox’s map software draws the map on the Light tab. To count how many people use its maps, which is how Mapbox charges for them, it sends Mapbox a random identifier that Apple gives apps from the same developer on your iPhone, with basic details such as your iOS version. Mapbox also sees your IP address when your iPhone downloads map and terrain tiles.
Mapbox Telemetry, which sends Mapbox more about how its maps are used, is off unless you turn it on. It adds your iPhone model, your screen and text-size settings, and when a map loads. Mapbox says this information is de-identified, that it can include location data, and that it uses it to improve its maps. To turn it on, tap ⓘ on the Light tab’s map, then Mapbox Telemetry → Participate; Stop Participating turns it off again. Earlier versions of Sól left it on unless you turned it off, and updating turns it off.
Notifications
Alerts are worked out on your iPhone and delivered as notifications from your iPhone itself. No push server is involved, and nothing about your alerts is sent to me.
Calendar
When you add a shoot to your calendar, Sól opens Apple’s event editor, filled in with the time, the spot’s name and its coordinates. Nothing is saved unless you tap Add, and Sól can’t see your calendar.
Apple Intelligence
On iPhones that support it, Sól uses Apple’s on-device model to suggest names for alerts and to describe the conditions on the timeline. This happens on your iPhone, and the model isn’t given your location.
Purchases
Apple sells Sól Pro. Sól checks on your iPhone whether you have a subscription. I never see your payment details or your Apple Account.
What Sól doesn’t do
- no accounts or sign-in
- no advertising, and no advertising identifiers
- no analytics or crash-reporting services of my own
- no tracking across other companies’ apps or websites
- no selling of data, and no sharing with data brokers
If you email me, I use your message and your address to reply and to fix problems, and keep them only as long as that takes. Ask, and I’ll delete them.
How long data is kept
- On your iPhone: until you delete it or delete Sól. Alerts leave your inbox two weeks after the time they were about, and downloaded data is replaced as it goes out of date.
- Sól’s proxy: nothing from ordinary requests. Logged requests are deleted within 7 days.
- The services above: under their own policies. For example, Mapbox keeps IP addresses for up to 30 days, and Open-Meteo deletes its request logs after 90 days.
Your choices and rights
- Location: Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Sól.
- Notifications: Settings → Notifications → Sól.
- Mapbox Telemetry: off unless you turn it on, from ⓘ on the Light tab’s map → Mapbox Telemetry.
- Everything on your iPhone: delete Sól.
Apart from emails you send, I don’t hold personal data about you, so there’s nothing else for me to look up, export or delete. Depending on where you live, for example in the EU or the UK, you have the right to access, correct and delete your personal data, to object to how it’s used, and to complain to your data protection authority. For data that the services above hold, contact them through their policies, listed below.
Legal bases (EU and UK)
- Sending coordinates to the services above: to provide the app you asked for (contract).
- The proxy’s logs: my legitimate interest in keeping the service working and preventing abuse.
- Mapbox’s usage counts: my legitimate interest in providing the map, which Mapbox charges for by the number of people who use it.
- Mapbox Telemetry, if you turn it on: your consent, which you can withdraw from the same menu.
- Replying to email: my legitimate interest in answering you.
Where data is processed
The services above work in several countries, including the United States (Apple, Cloudflare, Mapbox and WorldTides), Sweden (Stormglass) and Switzerland (Open-Meteo), so your requests may be processed outside your own country.
The services Sól uses
I chose these services because their privacy policies protect what they receive at least as well as this one does, and Sól sends each of them only what it needs:
Children
Sól isn’t directed at children, and I don’t knowingly collect personal data from anyone, children included.
Changes
If this policy changes, I’ll update this page and the date at the top. If a change affects what leaves your iPhone, Sól’s release notes will say so.
Contact
Sasank Sasikumar · support@solweather.app