Privacy Policy
The short version: Little Homestead keeps your information on your iPhone. There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no tracking. I do not run any servers, and I do not collect, sell or share your personal information. The app only goes online for the optional features listed below, and it names every outside service it contacts.
What stays on your iPhone
Your garden, harvest, hive, rainwater and pantry records, your Homestead Score, the photos you add, your reminders, your zip code and your settings are stored only on your iPhone, in the app’s own storage. I never receive a copy. They may be included in your own iCloud or device backups, which Apple handles under its own privacy policy. Deleting the app deletes this data from your iPhone.
If you use Save a backup (in Settings, under “Your data”), the app makes a text copy of your records. You copy it, or send it with the iPhone share menu, and it goes only where you choose to put it, for example your Notes app or an email to yourself. The same is true for a Homestead Wrapped picture of your year that you choose to share or save. The app never sends a backup anywhere by itself.
Camera and photos
The camera is used only when you tap to take a photo for an entry, and iOS asks your permission the first time. To choose an existing photo, the app uses the standard iOS photo picker, which gives the app only the photo you pick; the app does not ask for access to your photo library. Photos you add are copied into the app’s storage on your iPhone. They are never uploaded and are not part of the text backup.
Weather and rainfall (optional)
Automatic rain (part of Pro) is off unless you turn it on. To use it, you choose a place in one of two ways:
- Zip code: when you tap Use this zip, the 5-digit zip code is sent to Zippopotam.us (api.zippopotam.us) to look up its approximate map point, which the app rounds to 2 decimal places.
- Use my location: the app asks iOS for permission to use your location while the app is in use, reads your approximate location once, and immediately rounds it to 2 decimal places (about 1 km or 0.7 miles). The app never uses your location in the background.
The rounded map point is saved on your iPhone. To get recent rainfall, the app sends only that rounded point (never your exact location) to the US National Weather Service (api.weather.gov), at most about once a day when you open the app, or when you tap Check now. As the Weather Service asks, each request names the app and gives a developer contact email; it contains nothing about you.
Like any internet service, Zippopotam.us and the National Weather Service can see your device’s IP address and may keep standard server logs under their own policies. I do not receive or store this information. No other weather or location service is used.
You can use the app, and log rain by hand, without sharing a zip code or location. You can turn off Automatic rain in the app, or turn off location access in iPhone Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services.
Reminders
Reminders are local notifications scheduled on your iPhone. There is no push notification server, and no reminder or notification data leaves your device. You can turn reminders off in the app or in iPhone Settings › Notifications.
Purchases
Garden, Harvest, photos, your Homestead Score and Wrapped are free. Little Homestead Pro is available as:
- Yearly: an auto-renewing subscription for $29.99 per year, with a 3-day free trial. It renews automatically unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the trial or the current year. You can manage or cancel it any time in iPhone Settings › your name (Apple ID) › Subscriptions.
- Lifetime: a one-time purchase of $59.99, with no renewals.
Prices are in US dollars and may differ in other countries. All purchases and the free trial are processed by Apple through your Apple ID, under Apple’s terms and privacy policy. I never see your name, email or payment information. The app asks Apple, on your iPhone, whether your Apple ID owns Pro and keeps that status on your iPhone.
Links to Amazon
Some screens show a Need supplies? line with shopping links. Tapping one opens an Amazon search page in your web browser. The app sends nothing about you or your homestead with these links. Once you are on Amazon, Amazon’s own privacy policy applies.
No accounts, ads, analytics or tracking
The app has no sign-in, shows no ads, and contains no analytics, crash-reporting or advertising tools. It does not track you across other companies’ apps or websites.
Outside services, in one list
- Apple (App Store): purchases, the free trial and Restore Purchases.
- Zippopotam.us (api.zippopotam.us): only if you look up rain by zip code.
- US National Weather Service (api.weather.gov): only if you use Automatic rain.
- Amazon (amazon.com): only if you tap a “Need supplies?” link, which opens in your browser.
Children
The app is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.
Your choices
Because I do not hold any of your data, there is nothing for me to send you or delete. You stay in control on your iPhone: edit or delete any entry, use Clear all data in Settings to remove your records and photos, delete the app to remove everything, or change camera, location and notification permissions in iPhone Settings.
This website
This site (littlehomestead.app) is plain pages with no cookies, analytics or trackers. Like any website, the company that hosts it may log visitors’ IP addresses for security and operations.
Changes
If this policy changes, I will update this page and the effective date above.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email support@littlehomestead.app.