Your plots, scans, and notes stay on your device. No tracking, no analytics, no ads. A few optional AI features send only the content you choose to submit, and the optional Department Hub crew workspace stores only what you share with your production.
Effective: July 2, 2026 · Data Controller: X0 Lighting Control Inc.
StageTools is designed with privacy in mind. The app does not track or sell personal data. Your data stays on your device and, optionally, in your personal iCloud account.
A small number of optional, clearly labeled features use cloud AI processing. When you choose to use them, they send only the specific content described in the AI Features section below — never your name, email, or Apple ID.
The optional Department Hub crew workspace is the one part of StageTools that involves an account. If you sign in and join a production, the data your crew shares there is stored on our backend so the whole crew can see it. Everything else stays on your device.
App data is stored locally on your device. This includes lighting plots, topology maps, Scout Notes, Curve Builder profiles, custom symbols, network scans, device labels, saved files, voice memos, NDI recordings, Quick Action shortcuts, and app settings. The one exception is the optional Department Hub: data you and your crew share inside a production is stored on our backend so every member can see it.
If you enable iCloud Sync in Settings, your data is also stored in your personal iCloud account to sync across your own devices. Apple manages iCloud storage under their own privacy policy. We never have access to your iCloud data.
StageTools talks to lighting, broadcast, and timecode equipment on your local Wi-Fi or Ethernet network. The app supports:
All of this traffic stays on your local network. Scan results, captured DMX, received NDI streams, and decoded timecode are stored on your device and never transmitted to us or any remote server.
When you actively use the DMX Transmitter, Micro Console, Curve Builder transmit, LTC generator, or NDI camera transmit features, the app sends data on your LAN at your direction. These outbound features require explicit user action and are off by default.
The NDI Monitor includes optional camera transmit and recording features. When enabled, video and audio are captured by your device's camera and microphone with your permission, and either sent over your LAN as an NDI source or saved to disk as an MP4 recording.
Recordings are saved on your device. You can share them through the iOS share sheet or move them to other locations at your discretion. We do not access, upload, or store your recordings.
The Fixture Library tab lets you browse and search lighting fixtures. Basic browsing and searching works without an account using a bundled fixture index that ships with the app.
If you choose to sign in with a free GDTF Share account (created at gdtf-share.com), the app connects to gdtf-share.com to download fixture files and refresh the fixture index. Signing in is entirely optional. Your GDTF Share credentials are stored locally on your device using iOS secure storage (Keychain). We do not have access to your credentials or your GDTF Share account. Please review the GDTF Share privacy policy at gdtf-share.com for information on how they handle your data.
Department Hub, in the Files tab, is a shared workspace for a production's crew: a common calendar, time cards, gear inventory, and documents as those modules roll out. Because a whole crew reads and writes the same data from different devices, this is the one part of StageTools that uses an account and stores data on our backend. It is entirely optional — if you never sign in, nothing in this section applies and no account exists.
Department Hub uses Sign in with Apple only. When you sign in, we receive your name and email address from Apple. You can use Apple's Hide My Email option, in which case we only ever see a private relay address. There is no password to create, and we never see your Apple ID credentials.
Your account (name and email), the productions you create or join, each member's crew role, department, and title, and invite codes. As Department Hub modules ship, production-scoped content your crew adds — calendar days, time entries, gear and cart records, and shared documents — is stored the same way. This data lives in our backend, hosted on Supabase infrastructure in the United States.
Only accepted members of the same production. Access rules are enforced in the database itself, not just in the app: a request from anyone outside your production returns nothing. Crew members see each other's display name, role, department, and title within a shared production. We do not sell this data, use it for advertising, or share it with anyone except the infrastructure providers that host it.
All Department Hub traffic is encrypted in transit (TLS), and the database is encrypted at rest (AES-256). Our backend provider, Supabase, is SOC 2 Type II certified. Your sign-in session is stored on your device in the iOS Keychain and never leaves that device.
You can leave any production at any time, which removes your access to its data. Deleting a production (owners only) removes it for the whole crew. Deleting your account — available in the app under Files → Sign In → Delete Account — permanently removes your account and every production you own from our backend. These deletions are immediate and cannot be undone.
StageTools includes two optional features that use cloud AI processing. Both are off by default, require an explicit action each time you use them, and send only the specific content described below. Each has a small monthly free allowance.
In the Fixture Library, Build GDTF from PDF can turn a fixture's manual into a GDTF profile. When you run a conversion, the app extracts text and data tables from the document you provide and sends that text — together with the manufacturer, model, and any firmware version you enter — to our server at stage-tools.net. We send extracted text only, not the original PDF file. The server uses a third-party AI provider to interpret the document and returns a structured fixture profile. This feature is limited to a set number of conversions each month.
Scout voice memos are transcribed on your device using Apple's built-in Speech Recognition, which is governed by Apple's privacy policy. If you then choose to generate an AI summary of a memo, the resulting transcript text — along with the scout name, location name, memo label, and date — is sent to our server at stage-tools.net and processed by a third-party AI provider. The original audio recording is never sent to our server. This feature is metered by a monthly allowance of AI minutes.
Content you submit through these features is sent to our server solely to produce the result you asked for, and is passed to our AI provider for that purpose. To enforce the monthly free allowance and prevent abuse, each device generates a random, anonymous identifier — stored securely in your device's Keychain — that is included with each request. This identifier is not linked to your name, email, Apple ID, or any other personal information. We do not sell submitted content, and we do not use it to train our own models. Our AI provider processes each request under its own API data-usage terms. If you never use these features, none of this data is ever sent.
When iCloud Sync is enabled in Settings, the following data syncs across your devices via your personal iCloud account:
iCloud Sync is optional and can be turned off at any time in Settings. iCloud storage is managed by Apple under their own privacy policy. We never access your iCloud data.
When you install StageTools through TestFlight or the App Store, Apple may collect crash reports and basic diagnostic information through iOS's standard reporting tools, governed by Apple's privacy policy. We see only the anonymized, aggregated data Apple surfaces in TestFlight and App Store Connect. StageTools does not include any third-party crash reporting service.
StageTools includes one open-source dependency: ZipFoundation, used to read GDTF fixture files (which are ZIP archives). It is a Swift library that runs entirely on your device and does not connect to any external service.
The optional AI features described above rely on a third-party AI provider to process the content you submit. That provider acts as a processor for those requests under its own data-usage terms. No content is sent to it unless you actively use an AI feature.
The optional Department Hub stores its shared production data on Supabase (SOC 2 Type II certified infrastructure hosted in the United States), which acts as a processor for that data. Nothing is stored there unless you sign in and use Department Hub.
The app does not include any analytics SDK, attribution framework, advertising SDK, or third-party tracking service.
All permissions are optional and only requested when you use the relevant feature.
Local Network
Required to scan for devices, receive DMX data, and use NDI and multicast detection. Requested only when you use a feature that needs it.
Wi-Fi Information
Used to display your current Wi-Fi network name and IP address. Requested only when you use the DMX Viewer or Network Devices features.
Camera
Used by the NDI Monitor when you choose to transmit video from your device, and by Scout Notes for capturing on-set photos and video.
Microphone
Used to receive SMPTE LTC timecode through audio input, and to capture audio for NDI camera transmit and Scout Notes voice memos. StageTools never sends your audio recordings to our server. Voice memos are transcribed on-device by Apple's Speech Recognition; only if you request an AI summary is the resulting transcript text sent for processing (see AI Features).
Speech Recognition
Used to transcribe Scout voice memos into text, only when you choose Transcribe. Transcription is handled by Apple's Speech Recognition under Apple's privacy policy.
Photo Library
Used to select background images for plots, network maps, and Scout Notes. Accessed through the system photo picker, which does not require broad photo library access.
Push Notifications
Used to alert you when a monitored network device goes offline or comes back online. Requested only when you enable device monitoring.
Because nearly all data lives on your device, you control deletion directly:
StageTools is a professional lighting tool not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any information from children.
If we update this privacy policy, the revised version will be posted at the same URL with an updated effective date.