Privacy

Last updated November 2, 2026

Southward is built to need as little about you as possible. There's no account, and your exact location never reaches our server.

What the app sends to our server

• An anonymous install ID and a secret the app uses to prove it's the same install. Neither is linked to your name, email or Apple Account.
• Your push notification token, so we can send alerts. If you use Live Activities (Pro), their update tokens too.
• A coarse area for each saved place: a grid cell 0.5° (about 30 miles, 50 km) across. Never your exact coordinates.
• Your alert settings: sensitivity, which alerts you want, quiet hours and any custom thresholds.
• Whether you have Pro, so we know which alerts you get.

We use these only to decide which alerts to send and to show conditions for your areas. We don't sell or share them, and we don't use them for advertising.

What stays on your iPhone

Your exact location, the names and coordinates of your saved places, your camera gear and your Home Screen layout stay on the device. If iCloud is on, they sync through your own iCloud account, which we can't read.

The estimated Bortle class for a place is worked out on your iPhone from a light-pollution grid for its coarse area, so even that doesn't need your exact location.

Location

Southward asks for your location while you're using the app, to set up a place near you. The app turns it into a coarse area before anything is sent to our server.

To name a place, and when you search for one, the app uses Apple Maps on your iPhone. Apple receives those coordinates or that search text under Apple's privacy policy; we never see them.

Purchases

Subscriptions are handled by Apple. We never see your payment details.

On-device AI

On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, the Tonight summary may be worded by Apple's on-device model from facts the app has already worked out. That happens on your iPhone. Alerts never use AI.

Data sources

Our server reads public space weather and weather data: NOAA SWPC, NOAA NCEI, USGS, GFZ, FMI, NASA DONKI, NASA Black Marble and a weather service. The weather service receives only the coordinates of coarse areas, never anything about you.

This website

southward.app uses Google Analytics to count visits: pages viewed, the site that sent you, your device type and an approximate location from your IP address. Google Analytics sets cookies. The app doesn't use Google Analytics or any other analytics service.

How long we keep it

Your install's record stays while the app is installed. It holds no name, email or exact location, so we can't tie it to you or look it up on request.

You can stop it at any time: turn off notifications or location for Southward in Settings, or delete the app. When you delete the app, Apple tells us its push token is no longer valid and we stop sending to it; the anonymous record is then left unused and is not currently deleted automatically.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top.

Who we are

Southward is made by Andrew Clemente in Rhode Island, USA. Questions about this policy or your data: support@southward.app