WayTrove records the routes you walk, lights up your Footprint Map, and turns your photos and videos into trip memories.
The sections before “Android version” cover the iOS app. For the Android app, see Android version.
Key points
- We have no servers of our own, and there is no WayTrove account. Your routes, photos and videos are never sent to us.
- Your data stays on your device. Backups and cloud storage go only to your own iCloud or Google Drive. On a new install, if your device is signed in to iCloud, the app turns on automatic iCloud backup; you can turn it off or switch to Google Drive in Backup & Restore.
- The app has no ads, tracking or analytics tools, and no crash-reporting SDK. We don’t sell data.
Data stored on your device
- Location history: While Everyday Fog Clearing is on or a trip is being recorded, the app stores location, time, accuracy, altitude, speed and heading to draw your routes, footprints and fog.
- Trips and memories: Trip Card titles, places and attachment lists, and whether a card is in the Trash.
- Photos and videos: Photos and videos you add to a memory are stored encrypted on your device, with the capture date and location from the original file.
- Imported routes: Routes and file names from the GPX or KML files or folders you import.
- Name & Photo: The display name and profile photo you set.
- Settings: Units, backup settings, whether Suggested Memories is on, and similar.
- Keychain: Your Google sign-in and the encryption keys for backups and media. The key that opens your iCloud backups syncs through iCloud Keychain to devices on the same Apple Account; everything else stays on this device only.
Permissions
The app asks for a permission only when you use the feature that needs it. You can change permissions anytime in iOS Settings.
- Location: “While Using the App” shows your location on the map and records trips. “Always” lets the app record routes in the background while Everyday Fog Clearing is on or a trip is being recorded, including when the app isn’t open.
- Photos: When you choose photos yourself in the picker, you give the app only the items you choose, and no Photos permission is needed. When you turn on Suggested Memories, the app asks for Photos access and reads the capture time, location, file name and thumbnail of photos and videos taken during a trip, to find ones that match the route. You decide whether to add them. The app remembers which suggestions you skipped so they don’t come back; items you add keep their capture time, location and file name.
- Adding to Photos: Used only when you tap Save to Photos or Save Original to Photos.
- Camera and microphone: Used only when you take a photo or record a video in the app.
- Notifications: The app asks for notification permission while Everyday Fog Clearing or trip recording is running. If recording stops because your device restarted or the app was closed, your device reminds you to resume once you’re about 1 km (0.6 miles) from where it stopped. This check happens on your device, and your location isn’t sent anywhere.
The app doesn’t use remote push notifications, contacts, Bluetooth or the advertising identifier. While a trip is being recorded, the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show the trip timer and pause status (a Live Activity). It is created only on this device and contains no location.
Location in photos and videos
Photos and videos you add keep the capture date and location from the original file. When you tap Share, the app makes a separate copy with the location removed and the date kept, and shares that copy. Files saved with Save to Photos keep both the date and the location.
Outside services the app connects to
Apart from the services below, the app doesn’t connect anywhere else.
Maps (OpenFreeMap)
Map tiles and fonts come from OpenFreeMap. When a map is shown, OpenFreeMap receives your IP address and the area of the map you’re viewing. If the map shows the area around you, that area also reflects roughly where you are. Route thumbnails on Trip Cards use the same service. See the OpenFreeMap privacy policy.
Apple
- iCloud: The app gets an anonymous identifier for your iCloud account from Apple, to check which account a backup belongs to. Backups and media in iCloud Drive are uploaded to your iCloud by iOS.
- iCloud Photos: If your original photos or videos are in iCloud, iOS downloads them from iCloud when you add them to a memory or preview a suggestion.
- Apple Maps: If the map can’t load, you can switch to Apple Maps, and the app passes your current location to the Apple Maps app.
Google (only if you connect Google Drive)
See the next section.
Google user data
WayTrove accesses your Google Account data only after you tap Connect Google Drive in the app.
Permissions requested
drive.file: Reads and writes only the files WayTrove itself creates in your Google Drive. It can’t see your other files.openid,email: Gets your Google Account ID and email address.
How it’s used
- Email address and account ID: Shown on the backup screen so you know which account is connected, and used to check that backups belong to the same account.
- Google Drive: Stores encrypted backups and, if you use Optimize Device Storage with Google Drive, encrypted photos and videos. Files are kept in a “WayTrove” folder in your Google Drive.
Storage
- Your Google sign-in (access token and refresh token) is stored only in this device’s keychain. Your account ID and email address are also stored only on this device.
- The app doesn’t send them to us and doesn’t put your sign-in in backups.
Sharing
- Google user data isn’t sent to us or to any third party.
- It isn’t used for advertising, isn’t sold, and isn’t used to train AI models.
WayTrove’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Removal
- Tapping Disconnect on the backup screen deletes your Google sign-in from your device. If some photos or videos are stored only in Google Drive, you need to download them back to your device before you can disconnect.
- To revoke WayTrove’s access to your Google Account, remove WayTrove under Third-party apps & services in your Google Account.
- Files already in Google Drive aren’t deleted automatically. Delete the “WayTrove” folder in Google Drive.
Backups
- You can back up to iCloud Drive, Google Drive, or both.
- Backups are encrypted with AES-256 on your device before they’re uploaded.
- The keys that open your backups are kept in your iCloud Keychain for iCloud backups, and in the WayTrove folder in your Google Drive for Google Drive backups. We can’t get these keys and can’t open your backups for you.
- The cloud service can see backup file names (including date and time), file sizes, the device type (iPhone or iPad) and a random device code.
- Automatic backups use only Wi‑Fi or a wired connection, and in the background they also need your device to be connected to power. Manual backups may use cellular data.
- After a new backup is verified, the app deletes this device’s older backups in the same cloud. Backups from other devices are left alone.
- After a restore, this device’s previous backup stays in the cloud for 7 more days (you can change this to 14 or 30 days in the app). When that period ends, it’s deleted after the next backup finishes; the cloud photos and videos it uses are kept until then too.
- Backups include trips, location history, memories with their photos and videos, route corrections and imported routes.
- Backups don’t include Name & Photo, app settings, your Google sign-in or the map cache.
Cloud storage for memories (Optimize Device Storage)
- If cloud backup is on and you haven’t chosen a storage option, the app turns on Optimize Device Storage automatically when you’re on Wi‑Fi, and uploads your photos and videos, encrypted, to your backup cloud (iCloud if you use both). Without cloud backup, photos and videos stay only on your device. You can choose Download and Keep Originals instead.
- Your device keeps thumbnails and recently viewed originals (256 MB by default, adjustable); the rest download when you view them.
- The key that lets the app fetch these files automatically is also kept in the WayTrove folder of the same account. So anyone who can sign in to that cloud account can open these photos and videos. We recommend turning on two-step verification for the account.
- After you permanently delete a Trip Card, its photos and videos in the cloud are deleted after the next backup finishes. Files still used by another device on the same account are deleted only once that device stops using them too. To delete them yourself, delete them from the WayTrove folder in iCloud Drive or Google Drive. If your device no longer has the full file, it can’t be recovered once the cloud copy is deleted.
- If you switch to a different cloud, files in the previous cloud aren’t deleted.
Support email
- When you write to support@waytrove.world, we receive your email address and message, and use them only to answer your question.
- The email template in the app includes only the app version and iOS version. Routes, photos and backups are never attached automatically.
- Please don’t include routes, addresses, passwords or backup files in your email.
Deleting your data
- Trip Cards: A card moved to the Trash is kept for 30 days, then deleted automatically. You can also tap Delete Permanently in the Trash; the card and all its attachments are deleted and can’t be recovered. Footprints and fog are kept. Backups already in the cloud aren’t updated until the next backup finishes, and an older backup kept after a restore still contains the card during its retention period.
- A single photo or video in a memory: Tap Remove from Memory. The original in the Photos or Files app isn’t affected.
- Imported routes: Remove them on the Import Footprints screen.
- Profile photo: Remove it in Edit Profile.
- All data on your device: Delete the WayTrove app. Old data may remain in iCloud backups of your device or in computer backups, which are kept and deleted under Apple’s rules.
- Cloud data: Delete the WayTrove folder in iCloud Drive or Google Drive.
We don’t have your data, so we can’t delete it for you. If you have questions, email us.
Android version
The Android additions take effect on the date they are publicly published on this website; last updated: 2026-10-25 · Operator: Laplace Data Systems Co., Ltd.（拉普拉斯數據系統有限公司）
This section explains how WayTrove for Android handles data. For the iOS version, see the iOS section on this page. Contact: support@waytrove.world.
Data and its purpose
WayTrove uses location records to organize your trips, footprint map and memories. There is no WayTrove account. Your device is the primary place where routes and memories are kept. You may connect your own Google Drive for backups and cloud media storage. Backups go directly to Google Drive, without a backup relay operated by WayTrove.
We have no servers of our own. The app does not send us your locations, routes, photos, backups or Google account data. The app has no ads, analytics or crash-reporting SDK. All connections use HTTPS. The app connects only to OpenFreeMap for the map and, after you connect Google Drive, to Google. If you open an external map, the app can pass your position to that map app or to the Google Maps website.
The app stores location, time, accuracy, altitude, speed and heading; trip titles, places, attachments and Trash status; photos and videos you add, with their dates, locations and file names; imported routes and file names; route corrections; your display name, profile photo and settings. These are used to display and manage your personal footprints and memories. Added media is stored encrypted. Route data still needs to be read and processed on your device; this does not mean all local data is one encrypted file.
Android Keystore protects the cryptographic keys used for the saved Google Drive connection and media keys. This device protection serves a different purpose from the Drive recovery keys described below. It does not mean someone with access to your cloud account is necessarily unable to recover its contents.
WayTrove is not directed to children under 13.
Location, notifications and controls
Showing your location, recording trips and Everyday Fog Clearing use location permission. When you start a trip or turn on Everyday Fog Clearing, an Android location foreground service requests location updates. Recording may continue when you switch apps or lock the screen. You can pause or end a trip, turn off Everyday Fog Clearing separately, and change location permissions in Android Settings. Trip recording and Everyday Fog Clearing have separate controls; turning off one does not necessarily stop the other.
The app uses notifications to show recording status and available controls, and to show transfer progress or reminders when needed. Notification visibility depends on Android and your notification permission. Turning off notifications does not itself stop recording. Signals, the device, permissions and power management may affect recording; continuous or accurate results are not guaranteed. The iOS “Always” permission flow, Dynamic Island and approximately one-kilometre reminder described in the iOS section are not promises for the Android version.
Selected media, Suggested Memories and the camera
When you manually add photos or videos, the system picker provides the items you select. Enabling Suggested Memories requests access to photos and videos. The app searches permitted items within a trip's time range and reads their capture dates, available original locations, file names and previews to find related suggestions on your device. The available range depends on Android and whether you grant full, selected-item or no access. Original photo locations may also require media-location permission.
Suggestions do not automatically add or upload your whole photo library. You decide what to add. Skipped suggestions are remembered locally so they do not keep appearing. A manually selected item supplied by the system or another service may need to be downloaded from that source's cloud storage.
Taking a photo or video is handled by the device's camera app. That app requests any camera and microphone permissions it needs, and WayTrove receives the completed photo or video to add to a memory. This does not mean WayTrove opens the camera or records audio by itself in the background.
Added media retains readable original dates and locations. Sharing media creates a separate copy with location metadata removed. This does not remove location clues visible in a photo or video, or audible in its sound. Saving to the system photo library preserves dates and location metadata. After sharing or saving, copies are managed by the receiving app, file location or service.
Maps and other external services
Map tiles and fonts come from OpenFreeMap; trip route thumbnails also use the map service. Map requests disclose a connection IP address and the requested tiles or map area to the service. These requests may reveal the geographic area being viewed; the extent of that area depends on the map view. This is different from uploading the complete trip record. Logging and retention are governed by the OpenFreeMap privacy policy. OpenFreeMap may keep some logs that include IP addresses.
If the map cannot load, you may choose an external map. When a position is available, the app passes those coordinates to the map app you open, or to the Google Maps website. That service handles them under its own privacy policy. Even without coordinates supplied by WayTrove, an external service may determine location using its own permissions or connection information.
Google account and authorization
After you choose Connect Google Drive, the app uses the Google Play services authorization interface to connect a Google Account and Google's userinfo service to obtain its account identifier and email address. These identify the connected account, check that backups and media belong to that account, and support transfers you enable.
The requested scopes are drive.file, openid and email. drive.file grants per-file access, not permission to read your entire Drive. It lets WayTrove use only the files it creates in your Drive, or files you choose to open with it. WayTrove uses it for its app-created WayTrove folder, backups, media and recovery keys. See Google's Drive scope documentation.
On Android, Google Play services manages authorization tokens. WayTrove obtains and uses an access token when calling Google APIs. The record WayTrove itself persists contains the account ID, email address, display name and reconnection status, encrypted using a Keystore key. WayTrove never receives your Google password or a refresh token. Sign-in, authorization and network transfers involve Google's processing of account and connection information and are also subject to the Google Privacy Policy.
WayTrove uses Google data for the backup, restore and media features described here, not for advertising, sale or AI model training. Its use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Google Drive backups, keys and media
Google Drive is the Android version's cloud destination; it does not offer iCloud backups. On an installation where backup settings have not been chosen, the first Google Drive connection enables automatic backups over Wi-Fi only. You can change or turn this off in Backup & Restore. Background automatic backups also wait for suitable network and charging conditions. Manual transfers may use cellular data.
Backups are encrypted on the device before being sent to your Google Drive over HTTPS. Keys used to restore backups and automatically retrieve cloud media are also stored in the WayTrove folder of the same Google Account. The encrypted contents and usable keys are therefore with the same provider. This must not be understood as a guarantee that Google, or someone with access to that account, cannot decrypt them. Protect your cloud account. Deleting cloud originals or their keys may make content already removed from the device unrecoverable.
Storage information available to Google Drive includes file names and sizes, backup and random device identifiers, device type, creation times and other metadata, alongside account and connection information. This is distinct from the encrypted backup contents.
Backups include trips and location records, memories with media or verified cloud references, corrections and imported routes. They are not whole-device or all-preferences backups. They currently exclude your personal name, profile photo and map cache. Backups do not include this device's Google account connection record or Google authorization tokens. If a backup references media stored in Google Drive, it includes the references needed to identify that cloud account and those files, including the account identifier. These references cannot be used to sign in to Google; retrieving the media still requires connecting the matching account and obtaining authorization. Completion status and restore checks determine whether a backup has succeeded and can be restored.
When media storage has not yet been chosen and a backup cloud is available, the app asks whether to store originals in the cloud or only on the device. Connecting Google does not silently upload your entire photo library. With cloud optimization enabled, media added to memories is encrypted and uploaded to Drive; thumbnails and cached files remain on the device, and originals may download when viewed. You can choose Download and Keep Originals. Wait for that download to complete before deleting cloud files or disconnecting.
Turning features off, retention and deletion
You can turn off automatic backups, turn off cloud media storage and download originals, or change permissions in system settings. These actions are different from deleting data already stored.
- Disconnecting Google removes this device's app account connection record and disables that backup destination. If media exists only in Drive, the app requires it to be downloaded first. Disconnecting does not delete your Google Account, other devices' grants or existing Drive files. To revoke Google's authorization, remove WayTrove under Third-party apps and services in your Google Account.
- Trip Cards and attachments: Cards in the Trash have a 30-day retention period and are then deleted when the app performs expiry cleanup. You can also delete them permanently. This does not erase the underlying footprints and fog. Removing one photo or video from a memory does not delete the original in the system photo library or its original file location.
- Imports and profile: Imported routes can be removed in Import Footprints; a profile photo can be removed in profile editing. An app update or backup does not silently migrate old names or profile photos into cloud storage.
- Private local app data: Android's clear-storage or uninstall controls remove the app's private local data. They do not automatically delete exported, shared, photo-library or Drive copies. Keep a usable backup and any needed originals first.
- Drive and older backups: You can manage or delete the WayTrove folder and files in Google Drive. Deleting a local card or disconnecting does not immediately erase every cloud history copy. Backup retention, restore-protection periods and media-reference checks affect later cleanup. Media still referenced by another device on the account or by a retained backup may remain. Google Drive governs its own trash and service-side retention rules.
WayTrove does not administer your Drive account and cannot sign in to delete or recover its contents for you. Turning off location or deleting one type of data does not delete every other type or copies already shared elsewhere.
Support and contact
If you email support@waytrove.world, we receive your email address and the content you provide to handle your support request. We retain support emails only while handling the issue and any necessary follow-up. For ordinary cases, we delete them no later than 12 months after the case is closed, and sooner when they are no longer needed, except where retention is required by law or necessary for a specific dispute. You may email us to request deletion. The app's template includes app and Android versions and does not attach routes, photos or backups automatically. Do not send passwords, recovery codes, private routes or backup files. You can use the same email address for questions about data handling or deletion. We hold no copy of your app data; delete it in the app, in Android Settings, or in Google Drive.
This website
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Children
WayTrove for Android is not directed at children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal data through customer support, you can email support@waytrove.world to request its deletion. Support data is processed and retained as described in the Android privacy policy above.
Changes to this policy
When this policy is updated, we change the effective date on this page. Major changes are also noted in the app’s release notes.