Privacy Policy
Effective date: 2026-09-26
Femto Car Launcher (“the app”) is an Android home launcher. This policy explains what data the app accesses, why, and who it is shared with. The app does not contain advertising or analytics SDKs, and does not sell personal data.
Data the app accesses
| Data | Why | Leaves the device? |
|---|---|---|
| Precise / approximate location | Show the map, the current address, local weather, and trip distance | Yes — see “Third parties” below |
| Recorded trip track (position, speed, bearing, altitude) | Draw the trip visualization and export a GPX file when you ask for one | No — stored on the device only, and excluded from backup (see “Backup”) |
| Calendar events (read only) | Show upcoming events on the dashboard | No |
| Microphone | Voice assistant input and the optional music spectrum visualization | The app does not store or transmit audio; voice input is handled by the device’s speech recognizer (see below) |
| Installed apps (launcher app list) | Show and launch installed apps | No |
| Phone/cellular state | Show the signal-strength indicator | No |
| Media playback metadata | Show the now-playing card | No |
| App settings | Remember your preferences | Device backup only (see “Backup”) |
Calendar, music, and voice data are held only in memory while the app runs; none of it is written to disk or transmitted. Location coordinates are transmitted, to the third-party services listed below, to render the map, the address, and the weather.
The one thing the app writes to disk is the recorded trip track. While trip recording is on — it is on by default and can be turned off in Settings → Location — the app stores each position fix, with its speed, bearing, and altitude, in a database on the device. That history is kept for 90 days by default; Settings → Location offers 30 days, 90 days, a year, or no limit, and older points are deleted automatically. The history never leaves the device on its own: it is excluded from backup and device transfer, and it is sent nowhere. Exporting a trip as a GPX file writes it to the location you choose.
Third parties
The app contacts the following services, each governed by its own privacy policy. Map, weather, and address requests carry your location coordinates; font downloads and update checks carry none:
- Weather — MET Norway (the Norwegian Meteorological Institute,
api.met.no). - Map tiles (default / OSM backend) — OpenFreeMap and Mapterhorn (OpenStreetMap-based map data).
- Map tiles (custom style URL) — if you enter your own style URL in Settings (Appearance → Map color → Custom style URL), the map fetches that style and then its tiles, sprites and glyphs from whichever hosts the style names, and your location determines which tiles are requested. Those hosts are your choice and governed by their own policies; the URL, which may carry a key you hold with that provider, is stored with the app settings and included in your own account’s backup and device transfer like the Google Maps key below.
- Map tiles (optional Google Maps backend) — if you enter your own Google Maps
Platform API key in Settings to enable the Google Maps map backend, location
coordinates are sent to Google (
maps.googleapis.com) to render the map, satellite imagery, and traffic via the Google Maps JavaScript API. Your API key is stored in the app’s settings on the device and, like the rest of those settings, is included in Android’s backup and device transfer for your own account (see “Backup”); it is sent to no one but Google. The Google Maps JS API loaded in the WebView uses it to fetch map data directly from Google. This data is governed by the Google privacy policy, and your use of your own key is subject to the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service. - Reverse geocoding (address) — by default the app uses the on-device Android geocoder. On devices with Google services, that geocoder is provided by Google and may process the coordinates. If you configure a self-hosted geocoding server, coordinates are sent there instead.
- Fonts — if you choose a Google Fonts family, it is downloaded from
Google Fonts (
fonts.gstatic.com). If you choose a font already installed on the device, it is read locally and nothing is sent over the network. No personal data is sent. - App updates — the app checks GitHub (
github.com) for a small update-availability file published beside each release; GitHub redirects the actual file torelease-assets.githubusercontent.com. This check runs automatically at most once a day while the app is running — turn it off in Settings → Updates — and again whenever you tap “Check for updates”, “Update to …” or “Retry” there, or “Update” on the dashboard’s update prompt. Each check sends only the request information any web request carries: the device’s IP address and a User-Agent naming the app and its version. The update file itself, about 45 MB, downloads only when you tap “Update to …”, “Retry”, or the prompt’s “Update”.
Voice input uses the device’s built-in speech recognizer. On devices with Google services this may transmit audio to Google for recognition, outside the app’s control.
What the app does NOT do
- No advertising, no analytics, no crash-reporting SDKs — except the optional Google Maps map backend’s usage data collection, disclosed below.
- No sale or sharing of personal data for advertising.
- No collection of device or advertising identifiers — except when you enable the optional Google Maps backend with your own API key: the Google Maps JavaScript API sends usage data to Google as part of its standard operation, governed by the Google privacy policy. The default OSM backend does not send any analytics or telemetry.
- No background location collection. The optional trip-tracking foreground service runs only while you enable it and only while the app would otherwise lose the location stream; it does not use background-location access.
Backup
Android Auto Backup may copy app settings to your Google account. Location-related settings and the recorded trip track are excluded from backup and device transfer, so neither your position history nor your location settings is copied off the device.
Your Google Maps Platform API key, if you enter one, lives in the app settings and is therefore included in both that backup and a device-to-device transfer. This is deliberate: it is a client-side key designed to live in distributed applications, it is your key in your own account’s backup, and keeping it there means a replacement head unit restores the map without re-entry. If you would rather it were not copied, clear it in Settings → Map before a backup or a transfer runs, or turn off backup for the app in Android’s settings.
The same applies to a custom map style URL (Settings → Appearance → Map color), including any provider key it carries: clear it there before a backup or transfer if it must not be copied.
Children
The app is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect data from children.
Changes
This policy may be updated; the effective date above will change accordingly.
Contact
Questions: open an issue at https://github.com/seijikohara/femto-car-launcher/issues.