Effective date: October 18, 2026
Plant Light Meter (the "app") is made by John Gillespie, an independent developer ("I," "me"). This policy explains, in plain English, what the app does with your information. The short version: the app does not collect your personal data. Everything it uses stays on your iPhone.
The short version
- The app estimates light from the rear camera's exposure metadata on your iPhone. Camera frames are never saved or uploaded.
- Location is optional and used once, on-device only, to choose a latitude band for the seasonal estimate. Your coordinate is not stored, and nothing is sent off the device.
- Saved spots, light logs, plant choice, and calibration stay on your phone.
- No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no tracking, and no servers run by me.
- Purchases are handled by Apple. I never see your payment card details.
- I do not sell your data. I don't have any to sell.
Camera
The app uses your iPhone's rear camera to estimate how much light a spot gets. It reads exposure metadata from camera frames on your device, in real time, only to estimate brightness. Frames are never saved to your device or photo library and are never uploaded or transmitted to me or anyone else.
You can turn camera access on or off anytime in Settings > Privacy & Security > Camera. The app needs camera access to take light readings.
Location (optional)
The Seasons feature (Premium) estimates how a spot's light changes through the year, which depends on how far north or south you are. If you choose to allow it, the app asks for location access only while you're using the app, uses your location once on-device to choose a coarse latitude band for the seasonal estimate, and does not store your coordinate. Only that latitude band stays on your iPhone. Your location is not sent off the device.
You don't have to share your location at all. You can pick your latitude by hand instead. You can change location access anytime in Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services.
Information stored on your device
Your saved spots, light logs, plant choice, calibration, and app settings are stored locally on your iPhone. I don't operate any servers, and this information is not sent to me or to anyone else.
Purchases
Premium subscriptions are purchased and processed by Apple through the App Store. Apple handles your payment, and I never receive your payment card information. The app checks with Apple (using Apple's StoreKit) to know whether you have an active subscription. Apple's handling of your purchase is covered by Apple's own privacy policy: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/.
No accounts, ads, analytics, or tracking
The app has no sign-up or login. It contains no advertising, no analytics software development kits (SDKs), and no third-party tracking. It does not track you across other apps or websites. I do not sell or share your personal information.
Children's privacy
The app is not directed at children under 13, and I do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children under 13. Because the app does not collect personal data, there is nothing to collect from a child either. If you have questions, contact me using the details below.
Your choices and deleting your data
Because your data lives only on your iPhone, you're in control:
- Turn off permissions for the camera or location anytime in your iPhone's Settings.
- Delete your data by deleting the app. Removing Plant Light Meter from your iPhone deletes your saved spots, light logs, plant choice, calibration, settings, and stored latitude band. (If your iPhone backs up to iCloud or a computer, copies may remain in those backups until they're replaced or deleted under your backup settings.)
- Cancel a subscription in your Apple ID settings. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription.
California residents
Plant Light Meter does not collect, sell, or share personal information as those terms are used in California privacy law. If you have a question about your privacy rights, contact me below.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, I'll update this page and the effective date above. If a change is significant, such as the app starting to collect new information, I'll update this policy before the change takes effect.
Contact
Questions or concerns? Email apps@dabbly.net.