The short version
- Your fishing data never leaves your phone. Catches, spots, sessions, gear, rigs, pack lists and photos are stored on the device and nowhere else. There is no Bobber account and no Bobber server holding your data.
- One thing leaves the device: an approximate location, sent to the weather provider so it can return a forecast.
- No analytics, no tracking, no advertising, no third-party SDKs. Nothing profiles you and nothing is sold or shared.
- Every permission is optional. The app works without all four of them.
Who this is from
Bobber: Tight Lines is an iOS app for anglers. This policy explains exactly what the app does with information, in plain language. If anything here is unclear, use the support page — there is a contact form on it.
What stays on your device
Everything you create in the app is written to a private database inside the app's own storage container, which no other app can read. That includes:
- Catches — species, weight, length, depth, bait, rig, notes, and the photo if you added one
- The automatic conditions snapshot saved with each catch (pressure and its trend, wind, cloud, rain, air and water temperature, moon phase, and the bite score at that moment)
- Spots — names, coordinates, notes, access details, swim and peg numbers, photos
- Sessions, including the conditions timeline recorded while a session runs
- Tackle box contents, saved rigs, pack lists and planned trips
- Achievements and your settings
None of this is uploaded, backed up to us, or transmitted anywhere. It is included in your iPhone's own iCloud or computer backups if you have those switched on, which is between you and Apple. Deleting the app deletes all of it.
What leaves your device
| What | Where it goes | Why |
|---|---|---|
| An approximate latitude and longitude, rounded to about one kilometre | Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com), the weather provider | To return the hourly forecast the bite score is calculated from. Sent with no name, no device identifier and no account — the request cannot be tied back to you. |
| Whatever you type into the support form, plus the app version and platform | The Bobber support inbox | Only when you choose to submit it, so a reply can be sent. Nothing is sent if you don't use the form. |
| Ordinary web requests | The news and regulations sites you open in the app's browser tab | These are third-party websites shown inside the app. Their own privacy policies apply to what they collect. The app uses a non-persistent browsing session, so cookies from them are discarded when you leave. |
That is the complete list. There is no other network traffic.
The four permissions
Each is requested in context, after the app has explained what it is for. Each can be declined, and each can be changed later in iOS Settings.
Location While using the app
Used to work out which forecast to fetch, to make solunar and tide calculations accurate for where you are, and to place a pin when you save a spot. The app asks for kilometre-level accuracy rather than precise location, because that is all a weather forecast needs. Location is never stored as a history or a track — only the coordinates of spots you deliberately save.
If you decline: pick a spot on the map by hand and the whole app works normally.
Notifications
Used for bite-window alerts, pressure-drop alerts, sunrise and sunset reminders, session reminders and trip-day briefings. Every one is scheduled locally on your device from a forecast the app already holds. There is no push server and no device token — nothing about your notifications is known outside your phone. Each category has its own switch in Settings.
If you decline: nothing else changes; you simply check the app yourself.
Camera
Used only to take a photo of a fish while logging a catch. Photos are written to the app's private storage.
If you decline: choose an existing photo instead, or log the catch without one.
Photo library
Read access lets you attach an existing picture to a catch or a spot. Add access lets the app save a catch card to your library when you ask it to. The app reads only the specific images you choose; it does not scan or index your library.
If you decline: catches simply have no photo.
What the app does not do
- No analytics or telemetry of any kind
- No advertising, no ad identifiers, no IDFA
- No third-party SDKs — no Firebase, no crash reporters, no attribution tools
- No account, no sign-in, no email address collected
- No cross-app or cross-site tracking
- No sale or sharing of personal information, under any definition, ever
- No profiling and no automated decision-making about you
Retention
Your data stays on your device until you delete it — either individually, with Settings › Delete all my data, or by removing the app. Cached weather forecasts live in the system cache directory and are replaced as they age; iOS may clear them at any time. Support messages are kept only as long as needed to answer you.
Your rights
Because everything lives on your device, you already have direct control:
- Access and portability — Settings › Export everything (JSON) gives you a complete, readable copy, and Export catch log (CSV) opens in any spreadsheet.
- Correction — edit or delete any catch, spot or item at any time.
- Erasure — Settings › Delete all my data removes everything, including stored photos.
- Objection and restriction — turn off any permission in iOS Settings; the app keeps working.
If you are in the UK, EEA or Switzerland, the lawful basis for the one piece of data that leaves your device (approximate coordinates for a forecast) is legitimate interest in providing the feature you asked for. For the support form it is consent, given by choosing to submit it.
Children
Bobber is a general-audience fishing app and is not directed at children under 13. It collects no personal information from anyone, so it collects none from children. If you believe a child has sent something through the support form, use that form to ask for it to be deleted.
Security
Data is held in the app's sandboxed container and protected by the device's own encryption whenever the phone is locked. All network requests use HTTPS. Because there is no server holding your fishing data, there is no database of it to breach.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the effective date at the top changes with it and a summary of what changed is added here. Material changes will be surfaced in the app before they take effect. Continuing to use the app after a change means the updated policy applies.
Contact
Questions, corrections or requests about your data go through the form on the support page. Choose Data & privacy as the topic and you will get a reply at whatever address you provide.