Privacy Policy
Last updated:
Overlook is a dashboard app for Apple TV, made by Matt Jones (“we”, “us”). This policy explains what information the app uses, where it goes, and the choices you have.
- No tracking
- No accounts
- Data stays on your Apple TV
- Only connects to what it needs
The short version
- No accounts, no ads, no analytics, no tracking. We don’t collect, store or sell your personal data, and we have no servers that receive it.
- Your settings stay with you. They’re stored on your Apple TV and synced between your own Apple TVs through your iCloud account.
- The app only talks to the services it needs to show what you asked for (Apple Weather, Apple Maps, Open-Meteo, and any servers you add yourself). Each is listed below.
Information the app uses
Addresses and location
- You can enter a home address, a work address and extra weather locations (for example, a postcode or town). These are used to show weather, air quality and your commute.
- If you leave the home address blank, Overlook can use your Apple TV’s approximate location, with your permission. Apple TV has no GPS, so this location is approximate (roughly neighbourhood level). You can turn location access off at any time in Apple TV Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services.
- Addresses and locations are sent only to the services listed under “Services the app connects to”, and only to look up weather, air quality, maps and routes.
HomeKit
- If you turn on cameras, the Home card or doorbell/motion alerts, Overlook asks for permission to access your HomeKit home.
- It reads camera feeds and snapshots, sensor readings (such as temperature, humidity and door or window contacts), light, fan and thermostat states and your scenes. When you choose to, it runs a scene, switches or dims an accessory, or changes a thermostat. Those changes are made on your Apple TV through HomeKit.
- The activity log in the Home view (doors, motion, doorbell rings, lights, alarms and devices going offline) is kept on your Apple TV for 48 hours and is never uploaded. Clear it or switch it off in Settings › HomeKit.
- All HomeKit data is handled on your Apple TV through Apple’s HomeKit framework. It is never sent to us or to anyone else, and the app doesn’t record or save camera footage.
- You can change HomeKit access at any time in Apple TV Settings › Privacy & Security › HomeKit.
Photos
- If you turn on the Photos card or the Photos wallpaper, Overlook asks for permission to access the photo library on your Apple TV (your iCloud Photos).
- It reads your photos only to display them on your TV. Photos are never copied, stored outside your Apple TV, uploaded or shared, and they’re never sent to us or to anyone else.
- The name of the album you choose is saved with your settings, so it syncs through your own iCloud account like the rest of them.
- You can change Photos access at any time in Apple TV Settings › General › Privacy & Security › Photos.
Apple Music
- If you switch on the Music card, Overlook asks for permission to access Apple Music.
- Your library, recently played items and recommendations are read on your Apple TV through Apple’s MusicKit, and playback goes through Apple. Nothing is sent to us.
Servers you add yourself
- If you add a Glances server, an Uptime Kuma status page or a Home Assistant instance, Overlook connects directly from your Apple TV to the addresses you enter, usually on your own network. Nothing passes through us.
- A Home Assistant access token is stored in your Apple TV’s Keychain. It is never synced to iCloud and never sent anywhere except your own Home Assistant server.
Calendar
- If you add one or more published calendar links, Overlook downloads each calendar directly from its host (Apple’s iCloud or Google) to show your upcoming events.
Settings and sync
- Your settings (addresses, dashboards, colour scheme, your chosen photo album and so on) are stored on your Apple TV. They’re also synced through Apple’s iCloud key-value storage, so your other Apple TVs signed in to the same iCloud account stay in step. This data is held by Apple under your iCloud account; we can’t access it.
- On Apple TVs with more than one user, each person’s settings are kept separately.
- Weather and air quality forecasts, and images for the Apple TV Home screen (“Top Shelf”), are cached on your Apple TV so the app doesn’t have to download them again. These stay on the device.
Siri
- If you use Siri with Overlook, to set a postcode, start a timer or open a dashboard, your request is processed by Apple under Apple’s privacy policy. Overlook only receives what it needs to act on it, such as the postcode, the timer length or the dashboard name.
Services the app connects to
| Service | Why | What’s sent |
|---|---|---|
| Apple Weather (WeatherKit) | Current weather, forecasts, warnings, rain alerts | The location of each weather place you’ve set |
| Apple Maps (MapKit) | Finding addresses and postcodes, maps, driving routes and live traffic | Your home and work addresses or locations |
| Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com) | Air quality and pollen | Approximate coordinates of your home location (rounded to about 100 m) |
| ipify (ipify.org) | Showing your network’s public IP address, if that option is on | A standard web request, which reveals your public IP address to the service. You can turn this off in Settings › Appearance. |
| Your own servers | Glances, Uptime Kuma, Home Assistant | Requests go only to the addresses you enter |
| Apple Photos | Showing photos from your library on the Photos card and wallpaper | Nothing. Photos are read on your Apple TV; iCloud Photos syncing is handled by Apple. |
| Apple Music (MusicKit) | Playing music and showing your library, recently played and recommendations, if the Music card is on | Requests go to Apple under your Apple Music account. Nothing is sent to us. |
| Your calendar hosts (iCloud or Google) | Loading the published calendars you add | A standard request to each calendar link |
| Apple iCloud | Syncing your settings | Your settings |
Apple’s services are covered by Apple’s Privacy Policy (apple.com/legal/privacy). Open-Meteo and ipify are covered by their own privacy policies. None of these services receive any information that identifies you by name or account.
What we don’t do
- We don’t run any servers that collect data from the app.
- We don’t use analytics, advertising or tracking tools, and we don’t use any third-party SDKs.
- We don’t sell or share personal data.
- We don’t track you across apps or websites. The app doesn’t use Apple’s advertising identifier.
Children
Overlook is a general-audience app and doesn’t knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.
Your rights
Because we don’t hold personal data about you, there’s nothing for us to access, correct or delete. You’re always in control on your Apple TV:
- Change or clear your addresses and servers in Overlook’s Settings.
- Turn location, HomeKit and Photos access on or off in Apple TV Settings › Privacy & Security.
- Deleting the app removes its data from your Apple TV. Settings synced through iCloud can be managed in your iCloud account.
If you’re in the UK or EU, you have rights under UK GDPR / GDPR. Contact us with any questions, using the address below.
Changes to this policy
If we change how the app uses information, we’ll update this page and the “Last updated” date.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email [email protected].