Exploras Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 24, 2026

Exploras is a free exploration journal with optional cosmetic in-app purchases. Your exploration history, photos, notes, and named places are stored locally on your device. Exploras does not send this journal to its developer, operate a server for it, or share it with other users automatically. No account is required.

Information used on your device

With your permission, Exploras uses your location to uncover the map, record visits, calculate distance and visit frequency, and place finds. Saved information includes discovered locations and times, visit records, daily distance totals, the current recorded path, recorded route geometry, achievement progress, photos you choose or take, captions and notes, named places and monument icons, and associated locations and dates. New location readings include ground speed and accuracy, which are used on-device to estimate walking, driving, or uncertain movement. The app stores lifetime driving mileage for earned vehicle models and accessories, walking and driving distance aggregates, medal earnings and repeat counts, calendar-period totals, a time zone for medal periods, and the recent driving time used to avoid counting slow traffic as walking. These estimates are not a verified fitness measurement.

The available sight collections are bundled with the app. County entry and nearby sight visits are checked on-device against its geographic data. The app stores unlocked city collections, approached sights, revealed sight names, and completed photo visits with dates. A collected sight links to its photograph in your local journal. Nearby hints and map glows use current location readings; they do not add a separate location polling service. Imported history does not unlock sights or walking medals. Explorer levels and cosmetic unlocks are calculated from saved medal, sight, and Blue wisp earnings; avatar, outfit, and vehicle preferences are also stored locally. Optional gender and hairstyle choices customize your explorer profile and are stored only as local preferences; they are not sent to the developer.

Bases and retreats are saved on your device with their names, locations, upgrades and chosen keepsake. Precise stationary visits can create suggestions for frequent stops; you choose whether to establish a base. Confirmed walking records also create a limited set of familiar-trail cells with locations and visit days. Supplies, daily earning totals and discovery reward identifiers are saved locally. Supplies are earned through exploration and have no monetary value. Sight keepsakes and their display choices remain in your journal. Evening lighting uses an on-device calculation from the time and location.

Exploras has no advertising, cross-app tracking, or third-party analytics SDKs. The developer does not receive, sell, or share your local journal for advertising.

Location, camera, and photos

Location access is controlled by iOS. When tracking and “Explore with the screen off” are enabled and Always location permission is granted, Exploras can record exploration in the background. Adaptive battery use allows iOS to pause while you rest and uses significant location changes and a temporary departure region to resume tracking; the start of short trips may be less detailed. You can pause history recording by turning off “Uncover as I move” in Settings. Map positioning and actions such as adding a find may still use your location while recording is paused.

Camera access is used when you choose to take a photo. The system photo picker provides the photos you select; Exploras does not scan your photo library. These photos are saved as local app copies, not uploaded to the developer.

You can change or revoke available permissions in the iOS Settings app under Exploras. Revoking a permission does not erase information already saved.

Companion care and notifications

Companion feeding dates, care time zone, daily walking time and walking allowance are stored on your device. Feeding once per care day allows a selected companion to join walks and earn walking XP. Daily walking time determines when the companion rests. Erasing travel history keeps feeding and rest status for the current day.

Each notification category is off by default. If you enable a category, iOS asks for notification permission. Exploras schedules local feeding reminders and alerts for companion rest, earned medals, collected sights, nearby Blue wisps, and level-ups. Feeding reminders are scheduled for up to 30 days ahead and refreshed when you open the app or feed a companion. Other alerts require the app to observe the event. Blue wisps are matched against the bundled sights atlas on your device while tracking is active. Notification preferences and a bounded record of recent alert identifiers are kept locally to prevent repeats. Notifications can include companion or sight names on your lock screen, subject to your iOS preview settings. Exploras does not register remote push tokens or send these events to a notification server. You can disable each category in Exploras Settings or revoke notifications in iOS Settings.

Apple services and external links

Exploras uses Apple Maps to display maps and Apple’s location services to look up place names. These features can send map requests and relevant coordinates to Apple. They are subject to Apple Maps & Privacy and Apple’s Privacy Policy. Local journal storage does not mean that all map features work offline.

Weather ambience uses Apple Weather through WeatherKit. When this option is enabled, Exploras may request current conditions as you open or return to the app. The request uses your approximate current location, with latitude and longitude rounded to two decimal places. Apple receives this approximate position to provide the local weather. Your saved exploration history, routes, photos, notes and bases are not included in weather requests. WeatherKit is subject to Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Exploras keeps one recent weather observation on your device, including its approximate location, observation and request times, conditions, temperature, wind, cloud cover and provider attribution. This small cache allows recent conditions to be reused on a later visit. Weather requests run while the app is open; panning the map does not request weather for other locations. Turning off “Weather on the trail” cancels an outstanding request and clears the saved weather observation. Day and night lighting is calculated on your device from the time and location. Weather clothing changes are temporary and preserve your chosen explorer and pet appearance.

Blue wisps are optional and start off. When enabled, it highlights nearby undiscovered sights using the bundled atlas and historical copy stored on your device. It does not send search areas or walking-route endpoints to a separate search service. Approached clues, revealed names, and photo collections are saved locally. Turning the feature off hides the current glow; discoveries already saved in your journal remain. Reading a story uses bundled text; opening one of its source links visits that external website. Previously earned Blue wisp rewards are retained locally.

Apple may also process platform diagnostics according to your device settings and Apple’s policies. Opening an external app or website from Exploras is subject to that provider’s privacy practices.

If you install a beta through TestFlight, Apple shares beta-testing information with the developer, such as crash reports, usage information, tester details, and feedback you submit. Feedback can include screenshots or other information you choose to provide. This is handled by Apple’s TestFlight service; Exploras does not upload your local journal to the developer. See TestFlight privacy and testing information.

Optional purchases

The Shop uses Apple’s App Store payment system for optional, one-time cosmetic purchases. Apple processes payment and may require you to sign in to your Apple Account. Exploras does not receive your payment-card details. The app reads Apple-verified product identifiers and purchase status on your device to unlock purchased designs, restore purchases, and respond to refunds or revocations. Your selected outfit and vehicle are saved as local preferences. This purchase check does not send your exploration history, location journal, photos, or notes to the developer.

Apple may provide the developer with sales, financial, and purchase-related reports through App Store Connect. These are separate from your private journal. Apple’s handling of payment and account information is described in App Store & Privacy and Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Restore Purchases checks ownership using your Apple Account. Deleting journal data or removing the app does not delete your purchase history held by Apple. Purchased designs can be restored independently of your explorer level. Refunds or revoked transactions may remove access to the affected cosmetic without deleting journal data or earned rewards.

Importing location history

History imports read files you choose and process their route locations and times on your device. Imported exploration and visit records are saved locally. Exploras does not ask for your Google or Apple account password or receive direct access to your account history.

The import guide can open Google Maps or Google help pages so you can obtain your own data. Files or photos selected from a cloud provider may be downloaded by that provider through iOS. Deleting an import from Exploras does not delete the original file or history held by its source provider.

Daily recaps and sharing

Daily recaps store accepted travel segments and medal award dates on your device. They combine this with saved distance totals and confirmed first sight visits. Older days may have totals without route outlines or exact medal dates. Erasing your uncovered map also removes its daily route geometry and travel medal recap history.

When you choose to share, Exploras creates a recap image on your device. It includes the selected day's route outline, distances, medal highlights, and sight names. It does not embed GPS coordinates as photo metadata. The outline and sight names may still reveal places you visited. Only the image you choose to share is handed to another app; your complete journal is not shared. Exploras does not publish posts automatically.

Instagram Story sharing temporarily places the recap image on the device's local clipboard, with a five-minute expiration, and opens Instagram. Other sharing uses the iOS share sheet. The receiving app handles anything you choose to publish under its own privacy policy. Saved or shared copies are outside Exploras and are not removed when you erase your journal.

Storage, backups, and deletion

Saved journal information stays in the app until you delete it or remove the app. Exploras does not provide its own cloud sync. Depending on your settings, iOS may include app data in iCloud or computer backups. Those copies are controlled through your device and backup settings; see Apple’s backup information.

In Exploras Settings, “Erase the uncovered map” deletes recorded exploration, visit frequency, daily records, current and learned paths, familiar-trail geometry, frequent-stop suggestions, city-collection discoveries, approached clues, revealed sight names, and sight visits. Earned medals and completed Blue wisp discoveries are kept; all-time medals and each Blue wisp remain earned once. Explorer XP and levels are recalculated from the remaining earnings. Photos, notes, named places, bases, Supplies, keepsakes, lifetime vehicle mileage and upgrades, and place-creation achievements are kept. Bases can be removed individually from Bases & retreats in the field journal. “Delete every find” removes the app’s saved photos and notes. You can also delete individual finds and remove named places from the named places list. Hiding a map layer does not delete its data.

Deleting the app removes its local app data. Offloading the app keeps its data. These actions do not remove original photos from your photo library, original import files stored elsewhere, or existing backups. The developer cannot retrieve or erase your local journal remotely.

Contact

For privacy questions, email camggould@protonmail.com.

If you choose to email, the developer receives your email address and any information you include so they can respond. Contacting support does not give the developer access to your local journal. Please include only the information needed for your question.

Changes to this policy

This policy describes the current version of Exploras. Updates will appear here with a revised effective date when the app’s privacy practices change.

Motion activity

With your permission, Exploras uses Apple’s Motion & Fitness activity estimates to distinguish walking from driving. These estimates are processed on your device to classify travel and progress. You can turn off access in iOS Settings; location-based estimates remain available.