Privacy Policy for the app "Apex Cosmos"

Last updated: 22 September 2026

1. Controller

Apex Studios
Owner: Stefan Borchert
Kopenstr. 67
10243 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 163 1331139
E-mail: team.apexstudios@gmail.com

No data protection officer has been appointed; there is no obligation to appoint one.

2. The short version

Apex Cosmos has no user account, no server of its own, no advertising and no analytics or crash-reporting services. The app sends no data to us, and we collect no data about you. What it retrieves from the internet are images, maps and forecast data from public sources of NASA, ESA, NOAA and CelesTrak – and with each retrieval, as with any access on the internet, the IP address of your device is transmitted to the respective server.

Two things the app reads on your device do say something about you: the motion sensor (kept in memory only, section 3.1) and – only if you switch it on explicitly – the coarse device location (kept on the device only, section 3.9). Neither leaves your device. The rest of this policy explains that in detail.

Providing this data is required neither by law nor by contract. You are under no obligation; if you do not switch a feature on, only that feature is unavailable and the rest of the app keeps working.

3. Processing in detail

3.0 What every internet request transmits

This applies to all requests described in section 3: the server receives the IP address of your device, the time, the requested file and an identifier of the app in the form "ApexCosmos/version number (Android live wallpaper; +https://apexstudios-de.github.io/)". That identifier names the app, its version and our website as a way to contact us, not your device and not you; it is necessary so that the archive operators can recognise and contact the app if there is a problem instead of blocking an anonymous application. From the IP address and the identifier together, an operator can recognise for short periods that requests come from the same connection. From which requests happen at all, an operator can also infer which features you have switched on – for example that you use notifications about passes. The individual cases are described in the sections below.

3.1 Running the wallpaper (motion sensor)

If you use a photo as wallpaper, the app reads your device's motion sensor (rotation vector or accelerometer) to move the image when you tilt the device. The live wallpapers do not use it. These values are processed in memory only; they are neither stored nor transmitted. You can switch the feature off in the settings; the sensor is then not registered at all.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (providing the function you requested).

3.2 Image search

When you search for images in the app, your search term is sent to the image archives of NASA (images-api.nasa.gov, USA) and ESA (esahubble.org, esawebb.org). The respective server receives your IP address and the time of the request. The app does not store a search history. A search only happens when you start it. The archives are in English. If you enter a German search term, the app translates it into the English technical term before sending; the transmitted request therefore reveals that the search was made in German. Whatever you type into the search field is sent to the archive unchanged – do not enter anything there that you would not entrust to a third-party server. The preview images of the ESA results are loaded from cdn.esahubble.org and cdn.esawebb.org. These addresses belong to ESA but are served through the CDN77 delivery network; its server therefore also receives your IP address and the time of the request.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

3.3 Image download

When you download an image, it is loaded from the archive (images-assets.nasa.gov, esahubble.org, esawebb.org) onto your device. The server receives your IP address in the process. The image is stored on your device.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

3.4 Live wallpapers "The Sun, now" and "Earth from space"

If you choose one of these two wallpapers, the app fetches the current image automatically and repeatedly from NASA servers: the Sun from sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov about every 30 minutes, the Earth from epic.gsfc.nasa.gov about every 6 hours. Each time, the IP address of your device and the time are transmitted. The address of the Sun image contains the observation channel you selected and, so that the resolution matches your screen, whether your screen is at least 1000 pixels wide. The regular requests are skipped in battery saver mode, when the display has been off for more than an hour, and – if you set it so – outside Wi-Fi. As soon as you choose another wallpaper, they stop. If you open the preview of a live wallpaper or change the observation channel of the Sun, the app fetches the corresponding image once, immediately, even if that wallpaper is not set. The wallpaper "The Moon, tonight" is computed entirely on the device and needs no internet connection.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (the function you chose consists precisely of keeping the image current).

3.4a Live wallpaper "My planet"

This wallpaper shows a computed globe centred on a country you pick from a list. For this wallpaper the app does not request your location; it works without the location permission, even if you granted that permission for push notifications (section 3.9). The country of your system language is preselected. Only the country code is stored on the device. When you choose this wallpaper, the app fetches in the background: the Earth textures for the current month from eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov (NASA, USA; once a month, about 10 MB the first time; with the "High-resolution texture" option enabled an additional 28 MB or so per month, over Wi-Fi or, only if you enable "Also download over mobile data", over mobile data too), with the space station enabled its orbit data at most every 20 hours from celestrak.org (USA, a few kilobytes), and with the aurora enabled the aurora forecast (OVATION model, a grid of 360 x 181 probabilities) every hour from services.swpc.noaa.gov (NOAA, USA, about 150 kilobytes compressed; if the forecast is unavailable, the Kp index of about 5 kilobytes instead). Each request transmits the IP address of your device and the time. Space station and aurora can be switched off; those requests then stop. Sun, Moon, the day and night line and the times are computed on the device.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

3.4b Live wallpaper "Mars"

This wallpaper shows a computed globe of Mars, centred on a landing site you choose from a list. The map, the terrain, Mars time, the day and night line and the orbits of the moons are part of the app or computed on the device; the wallpaper works without the internet. If you choose this wallpaper, the app fetches in the background, at most every twelve hours, the current position of the rovers Perseverance and Curiosity from mars.nasa.gov (NASA, USA; under 2 kilobytes each) and at most once a week their driving track (about 600 kilobytes each). Only if you switch on "Load sharper Mars map" does the app additionally fetch map tiles around the chosen landing site from trek.nasa.gov (NASA Solar System Treks, USA; about 7 megabytes per zoom level, up to about 20 megabytes per site, over Wi-Fi or, only if you switch it on, also over mobile data). They stay on the device; only when the store of 80 megabytes is full are the oldest removed, and a site visited again later is fetched again. If the server repeatedly refuses requests, the app fetches no more tiles in this version. Each request transmits the IP address of your device and the time; the request contains no location and no information about you. It does contain the tile coordinate of the chosen landing site, so the operator can tell which region of Mars you are looking at.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

3.5 Storage on the device

The app's protected storage area holds:

• your settings,
• downloaded images together with title, credit and source address,
• the images of the Sun and Earth live wallpapers,
• the Earth textures for "My planet" (up to about 38 MB per month),
• for "Mars", the map tiles (up to 80 MB) and the rover positions,
• the orbit, Kp and aurora data of whichever features are switched on,
• with push notifications enabled, the planned events of the coming days together with the times and compass directions computed for your place,
• and, only with the device location enabled, that location in a separate file (section 3.9).

None of this is transmitted to us. Within the app you can delete downloaded images individually. Everything else, including the images, Earth textures and Mars tiles of a wallpaper you no longer use, stays on the device until you remove it through the Android settings for the app ("Storage" – "Clear data") or by uninstalling. These files contain no information about you. Access to this storage is necessary to provide the functions you requested (Section 25(2) no. 2 of the German TDDDG).

3.6 Backup by Android (Auto Backup)

If you have enabled data backup in Android, the system backs up the app's settings file with Google and transfers it when you move to a new device. It contains, among other things, the countries chosen for "My planet" – the one chosen last also serves as the place for sky events unless you use the device location –, the chosen Mars landing site, which kinds of sky events you want to be notified about and, if you changed them, the times of your quiet hours, that is, when you do not want to be disturbed. Not backed up are: downloaded images, live images, textures, Mars tiles, the planned events and the device location. Google is responsible for this backup; it sits in your Google account and remains there even after you uninstall the app, until Android discards it after a long period without use or you delete it in your Google account. You control the backup in the Android settings under "Backup".

3.7 Your own photo as wallpaper

If you choose your own photo as wallpaper through the app, it is handed directly to the Android system. The app neither stores nor transmits it.

3.8 Push notifications about sky events

If you switch push notifications on, the app computes on your device which sky events are visible from your place and reminds you of them. The computation runs entirely on the device; we receive nothing. For some event types the app fetches public forecast data: the Kp forecast and the list of recent solar flares from the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (services.swpc.noaa.gov, USA; at most every three hours, about 5 kilobytes each) and the orbit data of ISS and Tiangong from CelesTrak (celestrak.org, USA; at most every 20 hours). As with any request on the internet, the IP address of your device and the time are transmitted to the respective server; the request contains no information about you and no location. The fetched files are kept as a copy on your device. The Kp forecast and solar flares are no longer used after 24 hours at most, the orbit data until the next successful retrieval. Unlike the live wallpaper images, these requests are not restricted to Wi-Fi; they also happen over mobile data, because only a few kilobytes are involved. The planned events of the next seven days stay on the device until the next computation. They contain the times and compass directions computed for your place and are deleted as soon as you switch notifications off.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (your consent by switching notifications on); you can withdraw it at any time with effect for the future by switching notifications off.

3.8a "Sky" tab (calendar)

The "Sky" tab shows the sky events of the next 30 days for the chosen country or, if enabled, your stored device location. The list is computed on the device and kept in memory only. When you open the tab, the app fetches – regardless of whether push notifications are enabled, and at most every three hours – the Kp forecast and the list of recent solar flares from services.swpc.noaa.gov (NOAA, USA; a few kilobytes each). Your device's IP address and the time are transmitted, but no information about you and no location. The files remain on the device as a copy.
Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.

3.9 Device location (coarse, optional)

If you choose "Device location" under push notifications, the app reads the coarse location of your device (about 2 kilometres) only while the app is open. It is stored on the device (latitude, longitude, time, time zone) and used only to compute passes, eclipse and twilight times for your place. It is not transmitted to anyone and is excluded from the Android backup and from the transfer to a new device. The stored location is deleted

• as soon as you switch back to "Chosen country": immediately,
• if you have not refreshed it for 30 days: the next time you open the app,
• if you revoke location access in the Android settings: the next time you open the app,
• if you switch push notifications off entirely: immediately, together with the events computed from it,
• and when you uninstall the app.

Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; withdraw at any time via "Chosen country" or the location permission in the Android settings.

3.10 Handing over to other apps on your device

If you tap "Add to calendar", the app passes the event's title, description – depending on the event including the compass directions and altitudes computed for your place, for example for passes, planets and sunrise and sunset –, time and time zone to your calendar app. The entry is only created once you save it there; whether your calendar app syncs it with an online account depends on that app's settings and privacy terms. If you tap "Source", the archive's page opens in your browser; the privacy policy of that archive applies.

4. Recipients

• NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, USA): image library, SDO and EPIC images, for the "Mars" wallpaper the rover positions (mars.nasa.gov) and, if you choose so, map tiles (trek.nasa.gov). NASA is itself responsible for the processing on its servers; its privacy notice is available at https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
• ESA/Hubble and ESA/Webb (esahubble.org, esawebb.org): image archives. The preview images are delivered by CDN77 (DataCamp Limited, United Kingdom) via cdn.esahubble.org and cdn.esawebb.org. Where the servers of ESA and of the delivery network are located in detail is not known to us.
• CelesTrak (celestrak.org, USA): orbit data of the space stations ISS and Tiangong, only with "My planet" and the space station enabled or with push notifications for passes enabled.
• NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (services.swpc.noaa.gov, USA): aurora forecast (OVATION) and, as a fallback, Kp index, only with "My planet" and the aurora enabled; with push notifications enabled also the three-day Kp forecast (aurora alert) and the list of recent solar flares (flare info), about 5 kilobytes each, at most every three hours; these two also when you open the "Sky" tab.
• Google: distribution via Google Play, Android data backup if you enabled it, and as the operator of our e-mail inbox if you write to us (section 7a).

Apart from an e-mail you send us yourself, we receive no data.

5. Transfers to third countries

NASA's servers are located in the USA. The transfer takes place because you retrieve the image from there; only the technically necessary connection data (IP address, time, requested file) are transmitted, no further data about you. NASA is a US federal agency; an adequacy decision of the EU Commission does not apply to it. The same applies to CelesTrak and the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center; their servers are located in the USA as well. They are contacted when the space station or the aurora is enabled for "My planet", or when you have enabled push notifications for passes, aurora or solar flares, and – NOAA only – when you open the "Sky" tab. Where the servers of the ESA archives and of the delivery network for the preview images are located is not known to us. A transfer to a third country can therefore not be ruled out there. If you do not want this, use only the bundled images and the Moon wallpaper – these work without an internet connection.

6. Retention

On the device, unless stated otherwise above: until you delete the data or the app. In detail:

• Settings: until you clear the app data or uninstall.
• Downloaded images: until you delete them in the app.
• Live wallpaper images and textures: until replaced by a newer image, at the latest until you clear the app data.
• Mars tiles: until you clear the app data; no fixed period has been set for these yet.
• Planned events: until the next computation, at most seven days, and immediately when you switch push notifications off.
• Orbit, Kp and aurora data: until the next retrieval.
• Device location: at most 30 days, otherwise as described in section 3.9.
• Backup in your Google account: as described in section 3.6, under Google's responsibility.
• E-mail enquiries: as described in section 7a.

On the archives' servers: according to their rules, over which we have no influence.

7. Your rights

You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection (Art. 15–21 GDPR). Since we store no data about you, we can as a rule not provide information about your person; you are nevertheless welcome to contact the e-mail address above. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, for instance the one responsible for us: Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit, Alt-Moabit 59–61, 10555 Berlin, Germany, https://www.datenschutz-berlin.de

7a. If you write to us

If you write to the address given above, we process your e-mail address and the content of your message in order to answer it. The inbox is operated by Google (Gmail), so your message is held on the servers of a US provider. We delete the message once the enquiry has been dealt with and no retention obligation stands in the way.
Legal basis: for enquiries about your data subject rights Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR in conjunction with Art. 12 GDPR, otherwise Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our interest in being able to answer enquiries about our app). This is the only processing in which we ourselves receive data about you – and only because you send it to us.

8. No automated decision-making

There is no profiling and no automated decision-making.

9. App permissions

• Internet and network state: for search, download and live wallpapers.
• Set wallpaper: to put an image on the lock screen.
• Notifications (Android 13 and later, requested only when you switch push notifications on): for hints about sky events such as full moon, space station passes, meteor showers, eclipses or aurora. Events are computed on the device, from the centre of the chosen country – unless you also switch on the device location (next item). Nothing about you is sent to any server. Off by default.
• Location (coarse, about 2 km; only on request): if you choose "Device location" under push notifications, the app may read the coarse location. It is read only while the app is open, stored on the device and used to compute sky events (passes, eclipses, aurora). No background location, no transmission, no sharing. Switching back to "Chosen country" deletes the stored location. Off by default.

The Play Store permission list additionally shows "prevent device from sleeping", "run at startup" and "run foreground service". The app does not request these itself; they come from the Android component that schedules the recurring retrievals and the event planning (AndroidX WorkManager) and are used for nothing else. The motion sensor requires no permission. Apart from the coarse location described above, the app requests no access to contacts, camera, microphone, photos or files; you choose your own photo via the Android photo picker, which shows the app only that one file. The app uses no advertising ID and no device identifier.

10. Changes

If the app changes in a way that affects this policy, the new version ships with the next app release and is linked in the Play Store.