Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 November 2026

Steptastic is made by me, Tom Redway (Thomas Redway on the App Store), an independent developer based in the UK. This policy covers the Steptastic app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and this website.

The short version

• Your activity data stays on your devices and in your own iCloud account. I never receive it.
• If you join a Group Challenge, the other participants can see your username and your activity in that challenge.
• There are no accounts, adverts, tracking or third-party analytics.
• Anything you post on the in-app feedback board can be seen by other Steptastic users, along with your device model and software version.

Data that stays on your devices

Steptastic has no servers of its own. It asks for these permissions, which you can change at any time in the Settings app. Features that rely on a permission stop working without it.

• Apple Health. Steptastic reads your steps, walking and running distance and step length, plus cycling distance, swimming distance and active energy if you use them, to work out your challenge and goal progress. It only adds to Apple Health if you log a missed activity and allow it to.
• Location (optional). To use your current location as the start of a challenge. Maps and routes are provided by Apple.
• Notifications. To send you reminders and challenge updates.

Your solo challenges and activity goals are saved in the private part of your own iCloud account, so they can sync between your devices. Some settings sync through iCloud too. I can’t access any of this.

Device backups, including iCloud Backup, can include Steptastic’s data, and are handled by Apple under your own account.

To remove this data from your devices, delete Steptastic from them. You can remove what’s stored in iCloud in the Settings app, under your name, then iCloud. This doesn’t affect anything in Apple Health.

The app also asks Apple’s public App Store lookup whether a newer version is available. This request only contains the app’s own identifier.

Group Challenges

Group Challenges are optional. They run on CloudKit, Apple’s iCloud service, in a public database I control. You pick a username, and you don’t need to give your name or email address.

What other participants can see:

• your username and colour
• your total distance in the challenge and your recent weekly activity
• when you finished the challenge
• how long ago your progress updated, unless you turn off Activity Indicator in the app’s Group Challenge options

Also stored with the challenge:

• its name, activity type and start date
• its route, including the start and end locations
• an ID that lets the app recognise you in the challenge

If you start a Group Challenge from your current location, that location is part of the route, so other participants can see it. In a public Group Challenge, this information is visible to everyone who joins, so choose a username that doesn’t identify you if you’d prefer to stay private.

When you leave a challenge that’s still running, your entry is removed. A finished challenge is deleted once all but one of the participants have left it.

Feedback board

Provide Feedback, in the app’s Settings, opens a board where you can report bugs and request features. Using it is optional. It runs on CloudKit in a database I control. You don’t create an account, and I don’t receive your name or email address.

What other Steptastic users can see:

• the title and description of your requests, and your replies
• up to three images per request, once I’ve reviewed them
• your device model, operating system, platform, app version and build number
• your votes and the category of any report you make, neither of which contains any text

What only you and I can see:

• the requests you follow

Everything you do on the board is linked by an ID tied to your iCloud account. That ID doesn’t show who you are, but it does link your activity together, so the board is pseudonymous rather than anonymous. Please don’t include your name, health details or anything else personal in your posts or images.

I use this information to fix bugs, decide what to build next and moderate the board, which can mean hiding or removing posts.

Your posts stay on the board until you or I delete them. To delete them, open Provide Feedback, tap My requests, then tap Delete my requests, replies and reports. This also removes the requests you follow. Votes on other people’s requests aren’t included, but you can withdraw a vote from the request itself.

Purchases

Purchases and subscriptions are handled by Apple, and I never see your payment details. The app only checks what you’ve bought. Apple sends me sales reports that don’t include your name or contact details.

Crash reports and usage statistics

If you’ve chosen to share analytics with app developers, Apple sends me crash reports and usage statistics that don’t include your name or contact details. You can change this in the Settings app, under Privacy & Security, then Analytics & Improvements.

Emailing me

If you email me, I receive your email address and whatever you send. I use it to reply to you and keep it only as long as I need it to help you. My email is provided by Apple.

This website

This website uses no cookies, no analytics and no third-party scripts. It’s hosted on Firebase Hosting, run by Google, which processes technical data such as your IP address to deliver pages and keep the site secure. Links to the App Store take you to Apple’s website, where Apple’s privacy policy applies.

Who else is involved

I don’t sell your data, share it for advertising or use it to track you. Apple and Google process data as described above, under their own privacy policies, and may do so outside the UK. The only third party that receives data from the app is Apple, which provides the same or equal protection of your data as this policy. I’d only share anything else if the law required me to.

Your rights

I’m the data controller for Group Challenges, the feedback board and emails you send me, and I rely on my legitimate interests in running and improving Steptastic to use that data.

Under UK data protection law you can ask to access, correct, delete or get a copy of this data, and you can object to or restrict how I use it. Email me and I’ll reply within one month. I can’t look you up by name, so I may need you to tell me your username or point me to your posts.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by changing Steptastic’s permissions in the Settings app, leaving a Group Challenge, or deleting what you’ve posted on the feedback board.

If you’re unhappy with how I’ve handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Children

Group Challenges and the feedback board aren’t intended for children under 13. If you think a child has posted on them, email me and I’ll remove it.

Changes to this policy

If anything changes, I’ll update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Email me at tom@tomredway.co.uk with any questions.