Outhaven

Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 1, 2026

Overview

Outhaven ("we", "us") is an app that helps you go outdoors every day. This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with and the choices you have. We don't sell your data and there are no ads.

What we collect

Your account

When you sign up with email, Google or Apple we receive your email address. You choose a display name and username. Passwords are handled by our sign-in provider and stored only in hashed form; with Google or Apple we never see your password. If you use Apple's "Hide My Email", we only see the relay address.

Your goal and progress

Your goal, the trips you told us you make, your daily tasks and completions (date, time spent outside, step count, whether a photo was taken, and for a full completion a summary of the weather during it: rain, snow and the temperature, never where; and how the outing felt, if you tap one of the five faces afterwards), your streak, rank, rewards, chosen avatar and streak freezes.

Your avatar, leaves and world

The names you give your avatars and when you adopted them; your leaves (the in-app currency, which can't be bought with money) and a record of each time they were earned or spent; the things you own, wear and place in your world, and where you placed them; and the things you've found outside, with what kind of outing found them (for example "rain" or "sunset").

Location

We use your location when you set your home and during an outdoor session, and while your avatar's world is on screen (the phone's last known location, rounded to about 1 km, for the weather there). During a session, and only then, the app keeps using your location while your phone is locked or you're in another app, so the timer starts, pauses and carries on as you walk (iOS shows the blue location indicator meanwhile); it stops when the session ends, is left, or the day ends, or after a while with nothing happening. Outside a session the app never uses your location in the background. Those positions stay on your phone: we store only your home location and the places where each session started and ended, to check you really went outside and away from home, and how far from the start you got. We don't keep or send where you go between those points. If the app was closed during a session, it checks where you were when it closed and when it opened again. For a closed app, those two places are also sent to us to check that time; they aren't kept. For the world's weather our server looks it up for that rounded location; the answer is kept for that rounded area for 30 minutes and deleted within a day, and is never linked to you. After a session our server looks up the weather there (see Open-Meteo below) to decide what you might find outside. Only a summary of the outing's weather (rain, snow and the temperature, never the place) is kept with that day, so the outing card on a post and your Found outside shelf can show it.

Photos

Photos you take for a task, and any extra photos you take during a session to share later, stay on your phone. To check a photo was taken outdoors, your phone itself looks at it (with Apple's on-device image recognition) and reads its exposure; only the result (a few words such as "sky" or "tree" with a score, and a brightness value) is sent to us, never the photo. Photos for the surprise sky check are not kept at all. If you choose to share photos with friends (a post or a story, up to 4), each is uploaded with its location and camera details removed first. Stories are deleted automatically after 24 hours.

Motion and light

During a session we count your steps with the phone's motion sensor and may read the light level, to help verify the session. We keep the session's total, its outdoor score (0 to 100) and the checks that made it up. If the app was closed or in the background during a session, we also keep the step count for each 5-minute stretch of that time, without times or places, to check that time, and to improve how we judge it; these are kept for 90 days. Outhaven never uses your microphone.

Friends and groups

Friend requests, friends, buddy groups, invites (and whether you accepted them in time), reactions and nudges you send or receive, and any reports you make about other people (a report about a post keeps what the post said at that moment). Posts and stories you share: the photos, what you write, a place if you type one (only those words, never a location), and which of your days it came from. When you go outside with a friend you invited, we record that you went together and the bonus leaves it earned.

Notifications

If you allow notifications, we store a push token so we can send reminders and updates from friends. You choose which kinds you get.

Purchases

If you subscribe to Outhaven Plus, Apple handles the payment; we never see your card details. We learn whether your subscription is active and when it renews or ends.

App usage

We collect usage events (for example, which screens are opened, how far someone gets through the first screens, and whether a session was completed), to fix problems and improve the app. Before you have an account they're tied to a random ID on your phone; when you sign in, they're linked to your account. They never include what you type, your photos or your locations. You can turn this off in Account > Privacy > Share usage data; then none are sent.

App Lock and Screen Time

App Lock (part of Outhaven Plus) uses Apple's Screen Time tools. You pick the apps in Apple's own picker, and Apple only gives Outhaven an anonymous token for them: we never learn which apps you chose, and your choice never leaves your phone. We don't collect your screen time or app usage. Emergency unlocks stay on your phone: we don't record them, and they don't affect your streak.

How we use it

Who can see what

Friends

Your friends can see your display name, username, avatar, streak, rank, the posts and stories you share (with the outing they came from: minutes and steps unless you hide them, the weather, anything you found that day, and the day's prompt if the outing answered one), and whether you went outside today (unless you turn off "Show when I've been outside" in Account > Privacy; then they see your streak and days this week as of yesterday). If you turn on "Show my prompt photos to everyone" in Account > Privacy (it's off unless you do), the posts you share that answer the day's prompt are also shown, for 24 hours, to anyone using the app in the Feed's Today section, with your display name and avatar, except to people you've blocked. They can also visit your world and see the things you've placed in it. Friends you go out with see that you went together.

Buddy group

Members of a group you join see the same, plus the group's weekly progress.

Everyone

Other users can find you by username and see your display name and avatar, your avatar's name and age, and what it wears. Your world is for friends only, unless you turn on "Let anyone visit my world" in Account > Privacy; then anyone can visit it, except people you've blocked. If you choose to join the public ranking (you're asked the first time you open it, and can change it in Account > Privacy), anyone can see your display name, username, avatar, rank, streak and days outside this week there. Your friends and buddy group see the same on their rankings.

Your email, your home, your session locations, your leaves and your photos (unless you share them with friends) are never shown to anyone.

Services we use

We use a few providers to run Outhaven. They process data for us and only for these purposes:

We never sell your personal information or share it for advertising. We may disclose information if the law requires it.

Storage and security

Your data is stored with Supabase and sent over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Shared photos are kept in private storage that only you and your friends can open. Some data, like your progress and task photos, is also kept on your phone.

How long we keep it

We keep your account data until you delete your account. Stories are deleted after 24 hours. When you delete your account in the app (Account > Delete account and all data), we delete your account, progress, history, leaves, the things you own, wear, placed and found, your avatars' names, posts, stories, shared photos, reactions, friends, group membership, invites and nudges, along with the completion photos Outhaven keeps on the phone you delete it from. Pictures you saved to your Photos library stay there; Outhaven can't reach them.

Your rights and choices

If you live in the EU or UK, you also have the right to object to or restrict how we use your data, and to complain to your data protection authority. We use your data to provide the service you asked for and, for analytics and safety, because of our legitimate interest in keeping the app working and safe.

Children

Outhaven is for people 16 and older; everyone confirms their age when they create an account. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If we learn an account belongs to someone younger, we delete it and its data. If you think a child has given us data, contact us.

Changes

If we change this policy we'll update it here and in the app, and tell you in the app if the change is important.

Contact

Questions or requests: privacy@outhaven.app