Privacy Policy
Last updated 9 June 2026
VarioBud is a variometer and navigation app for free-flight pilots, made by Karla Digital. We built it to be private by design: it has no user accounts, no analytics and no advertising, and your flight data stays on your device. This policy explains exactly what the app accesses and why.
Location
With your permission, VarioBud uses your device's location (GPS) to show your position on the map, draw your flight trail, estimate wind, and track distance and time from launch. Location is processed on your device to power these features. We do not collect, store on our servers, or share your location history.
The relevant iOS permission is “Your location is used to show your position on the map when no vario is connected.”
Bluetooth
VarioBud uses Bluetooth solely to connect to your variometer and read its sensor data (vertical speed, altitude, pressure, temperature, battery and GPS sentences). It does not scan for or track other Bluetooth devices for any other purpose.
The relevant iOS permission is “VarioBud needs Bluetooth access to connect to your variometer and display sensor data.”
Third-party services
To display maps and flight-relevant overlays, VarioBud contacts the following services. These requests may include your approximate coordinates or map tile references so the correct data can be returned. No account, login or personal identity is required or sent.
- Mapbox — map tiles and rendering.
- thermal.kk7.ch — thermal probability overlays (data licensed CC BY 4.0).
- Open-Elevation — ground elevation lookups used to calculate height above terrain.
- Airspace data sources (OpenAIP / openAir) — airspace boundaries, used offline once downloaded.
Each of these providers operates under its own privacy policy. VarioBud is not affiliated with them, and shares no personal information with them.
What we don't do
- No user accounts or sign-in.
- No analytics, tracking or advertising SDKs.
- No selling, renting or sharing of your data.
- No flight data uploaded to our servers — your settings and history live on your device (stored locally via iOS UserDefaults).
Changes
If this policy changes, we'll update this page and revise the “Last updated” date above. Material changes will be reflected here before they take effect.
Contact
Questions about privacy or your data? Email gustav@variobud.com and we'll be happy to help.