Privacy policy
In short
- Sense Launcher and Sense Wallpapers do not collect, store or share your personal data. I, the developer, receive nothing from your phone.
- There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no tracking in either app. I do not sell anything about you.
- Your settings and anything you enter, such as habits, to-dos and step counts, stay on your device.
- Sense Wallpapers never connects to the internet. The one thing Sense Launcher sends is a weather request, described below.
Who is responsible
Sense Launcher and Sense Wallpapers are made by Ben Simms, an independent developer based in the United Kingdom. Because the apps send me no personal data, I do not hold any information about you. If you have a question about this policy, email me at info@ideatoimpact.co.uk.
What stays on your device
Each app saves the following in its private storage on your phone, so it can remember your setup.
Sense Launcher
- Your settings: colours, layout, which widgets and gestures are on.
- Your chosen home-screen apps and their order.
- Widget data you enter: habits and ticks, to-do items, water count, timer, and your step goal.
- For the Steps widget: today's step count and the step sensor's last reading.
Sense Wallpapers
- Your settings: which wallpaper you chose and how you set it up (speed, detail, look and the options for each wallpaper).
- If you use the wallpapers that draw your day (Space ink live and Orbit): the number of steps you took in each hour of the last 14 days, so the wallpaper can draw your usual routine.
- Which Sense wallpaper was set, so the app can offer to put it back if Android clears it after a reinstall.
This data is not uploaded, and app backup is turned off in both apps, so it is not copied to Google's cloud backup either. It is deleted when you clear an app's storage or uninstall it.
Permissions, and what each is for
The apps ask only for what their visible features need. Apart from those a launcher cannot work without, every permission is optional, and each app explains them in its own settings.
Sense Launcher
| Permission | Why it is used | What happens to the data | Optional? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installed apps | Shows your app list, the A-Z index and the app picker. | The list is read on your phone and never sent anywhere. | Required for a launcher |
| Notification access | Shows the current track and controls it (Now playing), and shows missed notifications with the app, title and a short snippet. | Displayed on screen only. Not saved and not sent anywhere. You grant this in Android's system settings and can revoke it there at any time. | Optional |
| Approximate location | Finds the weather and sunrise or sunset where you are. | Your phone's last known approximate position is used for one weather request. It is not stored by the app. If you decline, a default location (central London) is used instead. | Optional |
| Internet and network state | Fetches the forecast, and lets the network widget show whether you're online. | Used for the weather request described below and nothing else. | Needed for weather |
| Wi-Fi state | Lets the network widget show Wi-Fi strength, or that you're sharing a hotspot. | Read on your phone only. | Optional widget |
| Phone state | Reads mobile signal strength for the network widget. | Signal strength only. The app does not read calls, phone numbers, messages or contacts. | Optional |
| Physical activity | Reads your phone's built-in step sensor for the Steps widget. | The app stores only today's step count, your daily goal and the sensor's last reading, on your phone. No profile, location or account is involved, and nothing is uploaded. | Optional |
| Uninstall apps | Offers Uninstall when you hold an app. | Android always asks you to confirm. The app never uninstalls anything by itself. | Optional feature |
| Set wallpaper | Applies a background made in the Background maker. | Used only when you choose to apply a background. | Optional feature |
| Vibration | Haptic feedback and the timer alert. | Nothing is collected. You can turn haptics off in Settings. | Optional |
| Quick settings | Lets the swipe-down gesture open your quick settings panel. | Nothing is collected. You can turn the gesture off in Settings. | Optional |
Photos. The Background maker opens Android's photo picker so you can choose one picture. The app never gets access to the rest of your photos, and the picture is processed on your phone.
Sense Wallpapers
| Permission | Why it is used | What happens to the data | Optional? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical activity | Reads your phone's built-in step sensor, for the wallpapers that draw your steps (Space ink live and Orbit). | Steps per hour for the last 14 days are kept on your phone. No profile, location or account is involved, and nothing is uploaded. | Optional |
| Usage access | Lets the wallpapers draw how much time your screen was on in each hour of the day (Space ink live and Orbit). | Calculated on your phone from Android's own usage history, and not saved or sent anywhere. It counts time on screen, not what you did. You grant this in Android's system settings and can revoke it there at any time. | Optional |
Motion and battery. If you turn on tilt, the wallpapers read your phone's motion sensors so the picture moves with the phone, and Orbit shows your battery level. Neither needs a permission, both are read on your phone, and neither is stored or sent anywhere.
Live wallpaper. Sense Wallpapers runs as an Android live wallpaper. It draws only while the wallpaper is on screen and the screen is on.
Network use
Sense Wallpapers has no internet permission and makes no network requests at all.
Sense Launcher makes one kind of request. The weather widget asks Open-Meteo, a third-party weather service, for the forecast and sunrise and sunset times. Each request contains approximate coordinates (from your phone, or the default location if you decline location access) and standard technical details every internet request carries, such as your IP address. No account, device identifier or other personal information is included. The request uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. Open-Meteo's handling of requests is described in their terms and privacy information.
What the apps do not do
- No advertising, analytics or crash-reporting code from third parties.
- No user accounts or sign-in.
- No selling or sharing of data. There is no data to sell.
- No reading of your calls, contacts, messages, or files.
If you install the apps through Google Play, Google may collect its own information (such as installs and crash reports) under Google's privacy policy. I do not control that.
Your choices
- Turn any widget or gesture off in the app's settings, and remove any permission in Android's app settings at any time. The related feature stops, and the rest of the app keeps working.
- Revoke notification access in Android's Settings, Notifications, Notification access, and Usage access in Android's special app access settings.
- Clear all data an app holds by choosing Clear storage in Android's app settings, or by uninstalling it.
Because I hold none of your data, there is nothing to request from me or delete. If you are in the UK or EU, your rights under data protection law (such as access, correction and deletion) still apply, and I will help with any question about them.
This website
The apps above collect nothing, and this website has no sign-up forms or accounts. If you email me, I use your address only to reply to you.
Children
Sense Launcher and Sense Wallpapers are general-purpose apps and are not aimed at children. They do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone.
Changes to this policy
If an app changes in a way that affects your privacy (for example, if a feature starts sending different data), I will update this page and the date at the top before the change reaches you.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email me at info@ideatoimpact.co.uk.