Last updated: August 25, 2026
Wander is built to keep your information private. This policy explains what the app does, and does not do, with your data.
Data we collect
Wander has no account, no sign-up, and no analytics or tracking of any kind, and it processes your photos entirely on your device. The only times anything leaves your device are your own private iCloud sync and (only if you choose to use it) the single map coordinate for an optional elevation lookup. Both are explained below.
Photos and location
When you choose photos in Wander, the app reads each selected photo's capture date and embedded GPS location for one purpose only: to plot your route. This happens entirely on your device. Your photos and their metadata are never uploaded, shared, or sent to us or to any third party.
Wander asks for access to your photo library so its own picker can help you find the photos from one journey: filter your library to a day or a date range, group it by the places your photos were taken, or draw a circle on a map to gather everything you shot in one area. Doing that means reading the capture date and location of photos in your library, not only the ones you end up choosing. Wander never reads what is inside a photo, and nothing about your library leaves your device.
People and contacts
Wander lets you attach the people who shared a journey to your Wanders. If you import someone from your contacts, Wander reads only the contacts you pick in Apple's system contact picker: just the details used to create that person in the app. People you add are stored with your Wanders on your device (and in your private iCloud database if sync is on) and are never sent to us or to any third party. Contacts access is optional and only requested when you use the import feature.
Maps and directions
Wander uses Apple Maps (MapKit) to display the map, to calculate directions between your photo locations (walking, cycling, or driving, depending on each leg's activity), and to look up a coarse place name (like a neighborhood or city) shown alongside a photo's time. To do this, the relevant coordinates are processed by Apple under Apple's own privacy practices. Wander does not send your data to any other service.
Elevation lookup
When you add a waypoint, Wander can fill in that spot's height for the elevation chart by looking it up online. This happens only when you ask for it: either you tap Look up elevation on a waypoint, or you turn on Look up waypoint elevation in Settings (off by default), which then looks up each new waypoint as you add it. In either case Wander sends that single map coordinate to Open-Meteo, a free elevation service, and receives the elevation back. Nothing else is sent: no photos, no account, no device identifiers, no other coordinates, just the one point being looked up, with no information that identifies you. If you leave the setting off and never tap the button, nothing is ever sent, and you can always type an elevation in by hand.
Weather lookup
Wander can record the weather a journey happened in. This happens only when you ask for it: you tap Look Up Weather on a Wander, turn on Look up weather in Settings (off by default), or use Add weather to all Wanders in Settings. In each case Wander asks Apple's WeatherKit service for the conditions at the coordinates and times of that Wander's stops, and stores the result with the Wander so it never has to ask again. Nothing else is sent: no photos, no account, no device identifiers. Apple describes how it handles these requests in its Weather privacy notice. Leave the setting off and never tap the button, and Wander asks for no weather at all.
iCloud sync
If you are signed in to iCloud, Wander saves your walks to your own private iCloud database so they stay in sync across your iPhone and iPad. This data lives in your personal iCloud account under Apple's privacy practices; we have no servers and no access to it. You can stop syncing at any time by signing out of iCloud or disabling iCloud for Wander in your device settings.
Third parties
Wander contains no third-party advertising, analytics, or tracking software. The one third-party service it can contact is the Open-Meteo elevation service, and only when you tap Look up elevation on a waypoint, as described above.
Children
Wander does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version is posted here. Every revision is recorded below, oldest first.
- First published.
- Restructured into clear sections (data we collect, photos and location, maps and directions, third parties, children) and clarified that all processing happens on your device.
- Updated the privacy contact address to feedback@getwander.app.
- Added the iCloud sync section explaining that walks sync through your own private iCloud account.
- Added the People and contacts section for the People feature introduced in 1.5 (optional, picker-scoped Contacts access; nothing leaves your device or your private iCloud). Broadened the maps section: directions are now calculated per leg's activity, and Apple's geocoder supplies the coarse place names shown with photos.
- Added the Elevation lookup section for the 1.6 waypoint-elevation feature: looking up a waypoint's height sends that one coordinate to the third-party Open-Meteo service. It is optional. It happens only when you tap Look up elevation or turn on the off-by-default Look up waypoint elevation setting, and sends nothing else. Updated the opening and Third parties sections to reflect this.
- Added the Weather lookup section for the 1.7 weather feature: recording a Wander's weather sends its stop coordinates and times to Apple's WeatherKit service, only when you ask for it, and nothing else is sent.
- Corrected the Photos and location section. It said Wander accessed only the photos you pick through Apple's system picker, which stopped being true in 1.7: Wander's own picker reads the dates and locations of photos in your library so it can filter them by day, place, and map area. Nothing about your library leaves your device.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email feedback@getwander.app.