Lightning AutoShot Privacy Policy
Last updated: 12 November 2026
Lightning AutoShot does not collect any data about you. There is no account, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking, and the developer runs no server that the app talks to.
What the app uses, and where it stays
Camera. The app watches the camera's picture to find lightning. The picture is analysed on your iPhone. The photos and clips of lightning are saved to your Photos library. If you do not allow Photos, the clips are kept in the app's own folder in the Files app and no photos are saved.
Possible lightning. When the app sees something that could be lightning but decides it probably is not, it keeps a short clip of it, with sound, so that a real flash is not lost. These clips are kept in the app's own storage on your iPhone, not in Photos or Files, and are listed under Possible lightning in the capture list. There you can keep one as lightning or delete it. A clip you do not keep is deleted once it is more than 3 days old, the next time the app is used, and the app holds at most 40 of them or 1.5 GB, removing the oldest first.
Microphone. The app records the thunder into each clip and times it to estimate how far away the strike was. The sound is analysed on your iPhone and exists only inside the clips described above.
Photos. The app adds the photos and clips it takes to your library. If you let it read the library, it opens only what it saved itself, to show, share or join into a reel. If you use iCloud Photos, your library syncs with Apple as your own settings say.
Location. If you allow it, the app uses your location to ask Apple Weather for the weather and the thunderstorm forecast, and to note where and in which direction a capture was taken. The app asks for an approximate location; it gets a precise one only if you turn on Precise Location for it in the iPhone's Settings. The location is sent to Apple for the weather request, under Apple's privacy policy. The developer never receives it. A copy you share with an info card carries no location metadata; the card itself shows the place unless you turn that off before sharing. An original photo or clip shared as it is keeps what it was saved with.
Motion. The motion sensor is read on your iPhone to tell when the phone is being moved, to show a level, and to note which way the camera was pointing.
Notifications. If you set a storm reminder, the app schedules one notification on your iPhone. Nothing is sent from a server.
Full recording. Settings > Diagnostics has a switch, off unless you turn it on, that keeps the video of each watch on your iPhone so a missed flash can be looked at later. It never leaves the phone unless you share it, and Delete Recordings removes it.
Sharing. Photos, clips, reels and the camera report in Settings leave your iPhone only when you share them, to wherever you choose.
Deleting your data
Everything the app keeps is on your iPhone. Delete photos and clips in Photos or Files, delete possible lightning clips in the app, and delete the app to remove the rest. The app's list of captures may be part of your iPhone's own backup, which you control.
Children
The app collects nothing from anyone, including children.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.