The iPad edition
iPad privacy policy
The Book of Worlds is published by Tony Farley. The support and privacy contact is tonyfarley@mac.com. This document covers the iPad app; the browser edition has a separate website privacy notice.
Information saved on your iPad
The app saves visited destinations, reading position, bookmarks, observer and sky settings, sound preferences and Read aloud voice/speed choices locally. It has no separate app account or app-operated cloud synchronization. These choices do not sync with the website or another device through this app.
Optional observing location
The app requests device location only when you choose Use my location. It uses a foreground, one-time request to calculate the local sky and saves the selected observing coordinates in local settings. No app-operated server receives those coordinates. You can use a city or manual coordinates instead.
Choose Forget saved location to clear the saved observing place. Location permission can also be managed in iPadOS Settings. The observer’s GPS coordinates are not attached to survey-image requests.
Read aloud and sound
Read aloud uses the iPad’s system speech voices. The app does not request microphone or speech-recognition recording. Voice availability and downloads depend on iPadOS. Ambient music and interface sound are separate from speech; archived recorded narration is not an active feature.
Apple purchases
The app uses Apple StoreKit 2 for a one-time, non-consumable Full Access purchase. Apple processes payment. The app checks verified purchase-entitlement information on the device to unlock content, and includes purchase restoration. No separate app login or app-operated purchase-verification backend has been added.
Apple’s own handling of store accounts, purchases and payments is described in App Store & Privacy. The browser edition is free for now and does not use this iPad purchase.
Optional survey images and external websites
The illustrated book, planetary textures, catalogs and many images are bundled with the app. Some optional uncached galaxy images are requested from Legacy Surveys when selected. Those requests name an astronomical sky field and send normal network request information, including an IP address and the requested resource, to the image service. They do not contain the observer’s saved GPS coordinates.
Legacy Surveys operates the external image service. Its logging and retention schedule has not been independently verified by the publisher. Image requests should not be considered anonymous or unlogged. You can avoid these requests by not opening optional online galaxy images.
Research links open external websites in a Safari sheet. Those sites receive their own network requests and may use cookies or other technologies under their own privacy practices.
Advertising and analytics
The app does not include an advertising or third-party analytics SDK, cross-app tracking integration or user-account service. Apple’s services and the external image and research providers have their own data practices.
Support email
If you email tonyfarley@mac.com, Tony Farley receives your email address, message and any attachments through email services and uses them to understand and reply to your request. Please send only what is needed to explain your issue and omit passwords or payment details.
This policy does not specify a fixed retention period for support correspondence. Contact the same address with questions about your correspondence or to request its removal. Email providers and Apple manage their own records under their policies; removing local app data does not remove those records.
Your choices
You can use manual sky settings, decline device-location access and avoid opening optional online imagery or research links. Forget saved location clears the app’s saved observing place. Other local preferences can be changed in the app or removed with its local data through iPadOS. Device backups and Apple Account information are managed through Apple’s settings and services.
Questions and updates
Contact tonyfarley@mac.com with privacy questions or requests concerning information you have sent to the publisher. Material changes to this policy will be reflected on this page with an updated effective date.