Commute Alarm

Commute Alarm – Privacy Policy

Effective date: 12 October 2026 · App: Commute Alarm (com.manasseh.commutealarm) · Developer: Manasseh Abraham

Commute Alarm wakes you up before your bus or train stop. This policy explains what data the app uses and why. In short: your location stays on your phone. We have no servers, no accounts, no analytics and no ads.

1. Location

When you start a trip, the app uses your device's precise location (GPS) to calculate the distance to the destination you chose and to ring an alarm when you are within your selected distance. Because you are often asleep or have the screen locked, this continues while the app is closed or not in use, through a foreground service with a visible "Tracking" notification. Tracking stops when you dismiss the alarm or tap Stop, and automatically after 12 hours. To save battery the app checks your location only every few minutes when you are far away, and more often as you get close.

  • Location is processed only on your device. The app reads it through Android's location services (Google Play services fused location and geofencing), which Google operates under its own privacy policy; the app itself sends no location anywhere.
  • Location is not stored as a history, uploaded, shared, sold or used for advertising.
  • The last selected destination and alert distance are saved locally on your device so they are pre-filled next time. Uninstalling the app deletes them.

2. Data that leaves your device

The app has no backend of its own. Two kinds of requests go to third-party map services, only when you use the destination picker:

  • Place search (geocoding): the text you type in the search box (for example "Chennai Central"), and when you tap the map, the coordinates of the point you tapped, are sent to a geocoding service to find matching places. By default these are Photon (operated by komoot, photon.komoot.io) and OpenStreetMap Nominatim (OSMF privacy policy). Your current location is not included with searches.
  • Map images (tiles): to draw the map, the app downloads map tiles for the area you are viewing from OpenStreetMap's tile servers (OSMF privacy policy). Tiles are cached on your device.

Like any internet request, these services receive your IP address and the app's name and version (User-Agent). Your live trip location is never sent to them; trip tracking itself works without internet.

3. Permissions

  • Location (precise, and "Allow all the time"): to measure distance to your stop during a trip, including with the screen locked.
  • Notifications: to show the trip status and the alarm.
  • Full-screen notifications: so the alarm can appear over the lock screen and wake you up.
  • Foreground service (location), wake lock, vibration: to keep the alarm running reliably and vibrate when it rings.
  • Internet: only for place search and map images described above.

4. Children

The app is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone.

5. Data security and retention

We do not collect or keep personal data on any server, so there is nothing for us to retain, share or delete. Settings saved on your phone are removed when you clear the app's data or uninstall it.

6. Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be published at this address with a new effective date.

7. Contact

Questions or requests: manasshe2@gmail.com