Privacy Policy
Star Cockpit app for iPhone and the Star Cockpit website · Last updated October 24, 2026
The short version
- No account, no sign-in, no ads, no analytics, no tracking.
- Your approximate location, or a place you type in, is used only on your iPhone to list ISS passes. It is never uploaded or stored on our servers.
- Purchases are handled by Apple. We never see your name, Apple ID or payment details.
What the app does not do
Star Cockpit does not ask you to create an account and does not collect your name, email address, contacts, photos or browsing history. It contains no advertising, no analytics or crash-reporting SDKs, and does not track you across other apps or websites. It does not use the advertising identifier (IDFA).
Location (optional, for the ISS passes list and alerts)
Your approximate location, or a place you type in, is used only on your iPhone to list upcoming ISS passes and, if you turn alerts on, to schedule local notifications. It is rounded to about 1 km and never uploaded or stored on our servers.
Location access is optional and only used while the app is open. If you would rather not share it, type in a place instead: places are looked up in a list built into the app, so even your search stays on your phone. The rounded position is saved only on your device so the passes list can be refreshed. You can remove location access at any time in iOS Settings → Star Cockpit → Location.
Notifications
ISS pass alerts are local notifications: they are calculated and scheduled on your iPhone. No push service and no server is involved. Turning alerts off cancels them; you can also disable notifications in iOS Settings.
Motion sensors and haptics
If you use gyro look, the app reads your iPhone's motion sensors to move the view. This happens on the device only and nothing is recorded. Haptic feedback is produced locally.
Public space data the app downloads
The whole cockpit is built into the app and works offline. When you are online, the app downloads public data through our server (a Cloudflare Worker):
- the current orbit of the ISS (orbital elements from CelesTrak), used for LIVE ISS, the passes list and pass alerts;
- recent satellite imagery of Earth (NASA GIBS) for the live Earth view.
These requests contain no personal information, no identifiers and never your location. As with any internet request, our hosting provider Cloudflare processes your IP address to deliver the response and may keep standard security and operations logs for a short time under its privacy policy. We do not use these logs to identify or profile anyone.
In-app purchase (Star Cockpit Lifetime)
The optional one-time Star Cockpit Lifetime purchase is processed by Apple through the App Store. To confirm your purchase and support Restore Purchases, the app uses RevenueCat, which receives your App Store purchase record (product, date, price, country) together with a random, anonymous ID created on your device. That ID is not linked to your name, email or Apple ID, and is used only to unlock the features you bought. Payment details are handled by Apple and are never shared with us or RevenueCat.
Data stored on your device
Settings such as your view preferences, whether you have used the free ORBITAL BOOST, your unlock status, your rounded location or typed place, the ISS passes list and alert schedule, and the last downloaded ISS orbit are saved locally on your iPhone (or in your browser for the website). Deleting the app (or clearing your browser's site data) removes them.
The website
The Star Cockpit website uses no cookies, no ads and no analytics. Like the app it downloads the public ISS orbit and Earth imagery from our server, and it saves its settings in your browser's local storage. An optional performance diagnostics mode, used only for testing and only when deliberately enabled in the page address, sends anonymous frame-timing numbers and the browser type to our server logs; it is never on during normal use.
Children
Star Cockpit is suitable for all ages. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13.
Your choices and rights
Because we do not hold personal data about you, there is nothing to access, export or delete on our side. Everything the app stores stays on your device and is removed when you delete the app. If you have a question about privacy, contact us below.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date at the top.