Last updated: November 3, 2026. Applies to CatchTrail 1.3.0.
CatchTrail is a fishing journal that keeps your data on your phone. There is no
CatchTrail account and no sync service. The developer does not receive your
catches, photos, videos, notes or fishing spots.
What stays on your phone
Catches, places, photos, videos, notes, measurements, settings and imported
FishNet data are stored in CatchTrail’s private app storage.
- Backups you make. Settings > Back up to a file writes one ZIP file (your
journal plus every photo and video) to a folder you choose: the phone, an SD
card or a cloud drive. Anyone with that file can read it, including your
fishing spots. CatchTrail does not upload it anywhere else. - Android device backup. On Android, the journal database (catches,
places, settings; no photos or videos) is included in your Google account
backup if you have device backup turned on. When you move to a new phone
with a cable or Wi-Fi transfer, photos and videos are copied too. You
control this in your phone’s backup settings. - Photo library (optional). If you switch on “Also save camera photos to my
photo library”, photos you take in CatchTrail are also saved to the phone’s
photo library, where your other apps and photo backups can see them. - Sharing. Nothing is shared unless you tap Share. A shared photo is a copy
without its location data. A catch’s spot is only included when you switch on
“Include the spot”; sharing a saved place always sends its coordinates.
When CatchTrail uses the internet
None of these requests carry your journal, photos, videos, notes or an account
identifier. Each service receives the usual technical information for a web
request (IP address, app name and version).
- Maps (Esri, ArcGIS Location Platform). The satellite map and its labels
are loaded from Esri’s basemap service while a map is shown, together with
CatchTrail’s API key. Esri receives the map area being viewed. Esri’s terms
and privacy statement apply: https://www.esri.com/en-us/privacy/overview. - Fallback imagery and the plain map. If Esri is unavailable, satellite
imagery comes from USGS The National Map (USDA NAIP, lower 48 states) and EOX
(Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016, elsewhere). Labels and the plain “Map” layer come
from OpenFreeMap (OpenStreetMap data). These services receive the map area
being viewed. - CatchTrail settings service. At start-up the app may fetch a small
settings file (the current map key) from CatchTrail’s service on Microsoft
Azure. The request contains no location or personal data. - Weather (MET Norway). When a catch gets a spot close to the current time,
CatchTrail asks for the weather there. The coordinates are rounded to two
decimals (about 1 km) on the phone and sent to CatchTrail’s weather service on
Microsoft Azure, which passes them to MET Norway (Norwegian Meteorological
Institute) and keeps the forecast in memory for other requests from the same
area. Forecasts are also cached on the phone. Weather data: MET Norway, CC BY
4.0. - Nearby fish (iNaturalist). To suggest species seen nearby, CatchTrail sends
coordinates rounded to two decimals (about 1 km) to iNaturalist, searching 10
km first and widening to at most 50 km. With “Add the spot: Automatically” this
happens when you start a new catch; otherwise when you tap “Near me”. Results
are cached on the phone for up to 30 days. - Place names and search. Turning a spot into a place name, and searching
for a lake or town, uses the phone’s built-in geocoder (Google on Android,
Apple on iPhone), which receives the coordinates or the search text. - Species information. Species pictures are built into the app. Opening a
species’ details loads its Wikipedia summary and, if available, a picture
from Wikimedia Commons. Only the species name is sent. - Advertising (free version). Google AdMob can show a banner. When the free
catches are used up, you can choose to watch a rewarded ad for three more.
CatchTrail asks for any legally required consent first and offers “Ad privacy
choices” in Settings when Google requires it. Google’s Mobile Ads SDK can
collect and share IP address, app interactions, diagnostics and device or
advertising identifiers for advertising, analytics and fraud prevention. Ad
requests never include journal content or your spots. With CatchTrail Plus,
no ads are requested. - Purchases. Google Play or the App Store handles payment. RevenueCat checks
the Plus subscription using an anonymous app user ID, product IDs, purchase
history and subscription status. Automatic collection of advertising IDs by
RevenueCat is turned off.
CatchTrail Plus and Play Pass
CatchTrail Plus is a yearly subscription that removes the catch limit and the
ads. If CatchTrail is offered through Google Play Pass, Play Pass unlocks the
same Plus features. Purchases can be restored in Settings; subscriptions are
managed and cancelled in the store. Because there is no account, Plus cannot be
moved between an Apple and a Google store account.
Permissions
- Location (while using the app): adds your spot to a catch, when you choose
automatic spots or tap to add one. No background location. - Camera: takes photos and videos for a catch.
- Microphone (iPhone only): records sound with a video you take. On Android
the camera app records the video. - Photos: attaches photos and videos you pick, and saves camera photos to
your library if you switch that on. Android’s photo picker needs no
permission.
Deleting data
Delete entries in the app. To remove everything, clear CatchTrail’s storage in
Android settings or uninstall the app. Backup files you saved, photos saved to
your photo library and your Google device backup are deleted separately where
you keep them.
Contact
Questions about privacy or support: support@mindware.mobi.