Privacy
BigSkyAstro apps are designed to keep app data local unless a feature needs a weather, location, App Store, Microsoft Store, email, or sharing service selected by the user.
Also called Astronomy Observation Planner on the Mac and BigSky Planner on iPhone and iPad. Observing sites, equipment, plans, notes and logs are stored on your device, and there is no account. Optional online lookups, such as address search, elevation, weather, catalog updates and reference images, send only what each request needs. Purchases are handled by Apple or Microsoft. Contact support@bigskyastro.com for privacy questions.
Formerly Smart Telescope Sort, for Mac and Windows. It works only with the folders you choose, keeps its settings on your computer and makes no network connections of its own. Full Telescope Data Sort notice below.
Weather Magic PWS stores station settings and readings locally, contacts selected weather services to refresh conditions and alerts, and uses the website feedback form only when a user submits a support message. With Pro, your station's data goes only to your own Turso or Supabase database; it is not sent to BigSkyAstro.
Readings, stations and settings stay on your PC, or in your own cloud database if you set one up in Pro. There is no BigSkyAstro account. Full Windows notice below.
Mac and Windows app
Telescope Data Sort for Mac and for Windows PCs organizes your telescope image files on your own computer. It does not collect, sell or share any personal data, has no account, no ads and no analytics, and sends nothing to BigSkyAstro or anyone else.
The app works only with the folders you pick: your Capture Folder, your Target Folder and, if you make backups, your Backup Storage folder. It reads folder names, file names, sizes and dates, and reads file contents only to copy them, to back them up, and to check copies byte for byte. It does not read image metadata such as FITS headers or EXIF. Sorting copies files into your Target Folder; a backup writes a zip or tarball to the folder you choose. Files are deleted only after you confirm, and they go to the Trash (Mac) or Recycle Bin (Windows) where the drive has one.
Your preferences (file types, delete options, backup format) and the folders you chose are saved on your computer only: in the app's preferences on a Mac, and in a settings file in your Windows user profile (%LOCALAPPDATA%\SmartTelescopeSort). When you accept the first-launch terms, the app saves a record of the date and time, the app and terms version, and your computer's network hardware (MAC) address in a locked PDF in the same place, so you can see when you agreed (Help → Terms Acceptance Record). This record is never transmitted. On Windows, if the app hits an unexpected error, it writes the error details to a log file in your temporary folder (SmartTelescopeSort-errors.log); that file also stays on your PC.
Sorting works entirely offline. The app makes no network connections of its own. The Privacy Policy, Support, source code, app and companion-app links in the Help menu and sidebar open in your web browser, and Contact Support opens your email app; what those sites and apps collect is covered by their own policies.
Write to support@bigskyastro.com.
Microsoft Store app
Weather Wizard for Windows stores its database and backups on your PC. It does not include an account with BigSkyAstro, and BigSkyAstro does not collect analytics, advertising identifiers, or your weather history. The Microsoft account is used only for the Microsoft Store purchase. BigSkyAstro will never ask for your user identification, your name, or your location.
The SQLite weather database in your local AppData WeatherWizardDesktop folder; backup copies in Documents\WeatherWizardDesktop-Backups; the API keys you save in Settings (in a key file in version 1.0.2, and in Windows Credential Manager from version 1.0.3); and the first-launch ZIP code and privacy acceptance.
Weather requests go to the services you use: the National Weather Service, Weathercloud, Weather Underground, OpenWeather, AirNow and Open-Meteo (from version 1.0.3, Open-Meteo only with your own key). Each sees the station coordinates or station ID needed for the request, and your API key only when one is saved for that service.
Google Maps loads inside the Add window without a Google sign-in. The lightning and station-search maps load the Leaflet map library from unpkg.com. The radar map and the weather.com forecast page come from Weather.com. Those sites have their own privacy policies and cookies; limit cookie storage in your browser settings if you prefer.
Only if you connect your own cloud database. In version 1.0.2, the app signs in to your own Supabase project and pulls indoor readings. From version 1.0.3, you can connect your own Turso database or Supabase project, and the app saves your station's readings there and reads them back on your other devices. BigSkyAstro does not host or see that database.
Get Pro and Restore purchase talk to the Microsoft Store. They send the purchase request, not your weather database. Microsoft handles payment; BigSkyAstro does not receive your payment details.
A support email or feedback form needs only a reply address and a description of the problem; it does not need your name, a user ID, or your location. If a voice call is the only way to finish the help, BigSkyAstro asks for a first name and a phone number, stored only until the issue is resolved and then not kept.
Uninstalling Weather Wizard removes the app. Backup copies in Documents\WeatherWizardDesktop-Backups are kept until you delete them. If a WeatherWizardDesktop folder remains in your local AppData directory after uninstalling, delete it to remove the rest. Data in your own cloud database stays there until you delete it.
Write to support@bigskyastro.com. More detail is in the Windows user manual.