Privacy policy
Aosansaku is a photo walk journal for Android and iPhone, made by Vincent Deruaz in Geneva and published on Google Play as Heron Bleu. This page explains what the app does with your data on each platform.
The short version
- No account, no ads, no remote backend.
- Your walks, spots, photos and notes stay on your phone, unless you turn on Google Drive backup: then a copy goes to a private folder in your own Google Drive.
- The Android app sends anonymous crash reports and usage events to Google Firebase so bugs get fixed. The iPhone app sends nothing.
- To delete everything, see Delete your data.
1. What the app stores
- Location (latitude, longitude, time): recorded only while a walk you started is recording, to draw your route and place your spots.
- Photos you attach to a spot, kept in the app's private storage.
- Walk and spot details: titles, duration, distance, notes, ratings, visits and collections.
All of this lives on your device: in a local SQLite database and the app's private files. None of it is sent to the developer.
Google Drive backup (optional, from version 1.4)
If you connect your Google account in Settings, Google Drive backup, the app saves one backup file (your walks, spots, routes, notes and, if you keep the option on, photos) to the hidden app folder of your own Google Drive. Only Aosansaku can read that folder; it does not show in your Drive file list, and the developer has no access to it. The app asks Google only for that app folder and your email address (to show which account is connected). Backups run on the schedule you choose, over Wi-Fi only unless you allow mobile data, and each one replaces the previous one. Disconnecting the account stops backups. To delete the backup, open Google Drive on the web, Settings, Manage apps, Aosansaku, and choose Delete hidden app data. Google's handling of your Drive is covered by the Google privacy policy.
2. Android
Permissions
- Precise and approximate location: to record your route while a walk is recording.
- Background location: so the walk keeps recording when the screen is off or you switch apps. A notification shows while it runs.
- Foreground service (location, data sync): keeps the recording alive and runs backup export or import with a visible notification.
- Notifications (Android 13+): the recording and backup notifications.
- Internet: map tiles, the static map in share images, crash reports, and Google Drive backup if you turn it on.
Third-party services (Google LLC)
- Google Maps SDK and Static Maps API: draw the map. When you create a share image, the route coordinates are sent to Google to render the map tile. Google privacy policy.
- Firebase Crashlytics: anonymous crash reports (stack trace, device model, OS and app version).
- Firebase Analytics: anonymous usage events such as screens opened. No advertising ID is collected. Firebase privacy.
Crash reports and usage events are encrypted in transit and contain no name, email, phone number, route or photo.
3. iPhone
The iPhone app collects nothing. It has no analytics, no crash reporting and no tracking. Google Drive backup works the same way as described above, through Google Sign-In.
- Location (when in use): records your route while a walk you started is recording, including when the screen locks mid-walk. It never leaves the device.
- Camera and photo library: only when you take or pick a photo for a spot.
- Maps: Apple MapKit, handled by the system. Your route is not sent to any map service by the app.
- Bundled libraries (GRDB for storage, ZIPFoundation for backups) run on the device and send nothing.
4. Sharing
Aosansaku does not sell, rent or share your data. Nothing leaves the app unless you share it yourself (a share image, a GPX or KML file, an exported backup) or turn on Google Drive backup, which writes only to your own Drive.
5. Your control
- Export: Settings, Export data, saves every walk, spot, photo and collection to a single
aosansaku-backup-<date>.zipwhere you choose. - Import: Settings, Import data, adds a backup on the same or another phone.
- Delete: delete walks and spots in the app, or uninstall to remove everything. Details on Delete your data.
6. Children
The app is rated for everyone, needs no account, collects no personal information and shows no ads. It does not knowingly collect data from children under 13.
7. Changes and contact
This policy changes when the app changes; the date below is the latest revision. Questions: github.com/kamhyh.