Chronicle Privacy Policy
Effective date: September 29, 2026
Chronicle is a night-out journal for iPhone. It records where you go and what you log during a session you start, so you can look back on the night later. This policy explains what Chronicle stores, what leaves your phone, and the choices you have.
The short version: Chronicle has no account, no server, no ads, no analytics and no tracking. Everything you record stays on your iPhone. A few features rely on Apple or Google services, which are described below.
What Chronicle stores on your iPhone
Chronicle keeps these on your device, in the app's own storage:
- Sessions: start and end time, title and icon, and optional call-it time and drink goal.
- Your route: GPS locations recorded only while a session you started is running, including while your phone is locked or Chronicle is in the background. Tracking stops when you end the session.
- Stops and places: places where you stayed a while, worked out from your route on the phone, and any places you name ("Home", "The Rusty Nail").
- What you log: notes, photos, videos, voice notes, drinks and water, food, taxi and bike-ride entries, and parking spots. These include the location where you logged them when one is available (a parking entry always tries to save your location).
- Settings: reminders, whether you've seen the intro, and which version of the disclaimer you've accepted.
When a session ends, Chronicle also saves a copy of it (a data file, a GPX route file and its photos, videos and voice notes) in the app's folder, which you can see in the Files app on your iPhone.
We (the developer) cannot see any of this. There is no Chronicle server and no copy anywhere else.
What leaves your iPhone, and when
- Maps (Google). Chronicle shows maps using the Google Maps SDK for iOS. To draw a map, Google receives requests for the map area on screen. According to Google's own disclosures for this SDK, it also collects a device identifier, crash data, performance data and product-interaction data for analytics and to provide the service. This isn't used for tracking. Chronicle doesn't send your route, sessions or logs to Google. See Google's Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
- Street addresses (Apple). To show a Stop's street address, Chronicle sends that Stop's coordinates to Apple's geocoding service. The answer is saved on your phone so the same place isn't looked up again.
- Find my car (Apple Maps). When you tap "Find my car", Chronicle opens Apple Maps with your saved parking spot so it can give you walking directions.
- Report an Issue (email, only if you send it). Settings → Report an Issue opens an email in your mail app, addressed to our support address. It includes what you wrote, a screenshot only if you choose one, and the app version, iOS version, device model and whether a session is active. Nothing is sent unless you send the email yourself. We use it only to answer you and fix the problem.
- Saving to Photos (only when you tap). Chronicle saves a photo or video to your photo library only when you tap its download button. It can add to your library but doesn't read it. The one exception is when you choose a screenshot to attach to an issue report: then you pick a photo yourself.
Chronicle doesn't sell, rent or share your information, and doesn't use it for advertising.
Permissions
Chronicle asks for these only when you use the feature that needs them, and works without them where it can:
| Permission | Used for | If you say no |
|---|---|---|
| Location (While Using / Always) | Recording your route during a session. "Always" lets it keep recording while your phone is locked | Sessions still work (logging, the Drinkometer), without a route or Stops |
| Camera | Photos and videos you take in Chronicle | Everything else still works |
| Microphone | Voice notes, and sound on videos | Everything else still works |
| Photos (add only) | Saving a photo or video when you tap download | Everything else still works |
| Notifications | Reminders you turn on (water, photos, call-it time, drink goal) | Reminders appear only while Chronicle is open |
You can change any of these at any time in the iPhone Settings app → Chronicle.
Deleting your information
- A session: open it and choose Delete. This removes it from Chronicle's sessions. Its photo, video and voice-note files, and the copy saved when it ended, stay in Chronicle's folder in the Files app, where you can delete them yourself.
- A place you named: open it in Your Places and choose Delete. Only the name is removed.
- Everything: delete the Chronicle app from your iPhone. Because nothing is stored anywhere else, this removes all of your Chronicle data (unless you've copied exports elsewhere yourself, or your iPhone backups include app data).
Age
Chronicle is meant for adults of legal drinking age (21 or older in the US, or the legal drinking age where you are). It isn't directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.
Security
Your data is protected by your iPhone's own security (passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, and iOS data protection). Chronicle doesn't transmit your sessions anywhere, so there's no server copy to be breached.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we'll update the effective date above, and for significant changes we'll say so in the app or in the release notes.
Contact
Questions about privacy: chroniclemynight@gmail.com
Paul McCullough