Privacy

Privacy is a real feature.

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.

The short version

  • All app data stays on your device, or in your personal iCloud if you turn sync on.
  • Local network traffic stays on your LAN. Outbound DMX and NDI camera streams require your explicit action.
  • No third-party analytics, crash reporting, advertising, or tracking SDKs.
  • Optional AI features (Build GDTF from PDF, Scout Notes summaries) send only the content you choose to submit for processing — never your name, email, or Apple ID.
  • GDTF Share is the only other outbound connection, optional and used only to download fixture files.

Effective: June 11, 2026  ·  Data Controller: X0 Lighting Control Inc.

Overview

StageTools is designed with privacy in mind. The app does not collect, 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. Everything else stays on your device.

Data Storage

All 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.

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.

Local Network and Real-Time Protocols

StageTools talks to lighting, broadcast, and timecode equipment on your local Wi-Fi or Ethernet network. The app supports:

  • sACN (E1.31) on UDP port 5568. Receives and transmits DMX over IP multicast.
  • Art-Net on UDP port 6454. Receives and transmits DMX; sends ArtPoll discovery during network scans.
  • NDI discovery and video. Receives NDI video and audio streams from sources on your LAN.
  • SMPTE LTC. Receives and generates audio-rate timecode through the device's audio input and output.
  • Multicast traffic detection. Listens for sACN, Art-Net, Pathport, MA-Net, HogNet, ETCNet, OSC, and Dante control traffic to identify protocols active on your network.

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.

NDI Camera and Recording

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.

GDTF Share (Fixture Library)

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.

AI Features (Optional)

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.

Build GDTF from PDF

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 Notes AI Summaries

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.

What happens to submitted content

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.

iCloud Sync

When iCloud Sync is enabled in Settings, the following data syncs across your devices via your personal iCloud account:

  • Lighting plots, topology maps, and Quick Plots
  • Scout Notes (folders, photos, voice memos, file attachments)
  • Curve Builder profiles
  • Custom symbols and fixture profiles
  • Quick Action shortcuts (home grid)
  • Saved Files tab links
  • Network maps, scan profiles, and device annotations (tags and labels)
  • App preferences (theme, haptics, tab order, default units)

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.

Crash Reports

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.

Third-Party Services

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 app does not include any analytics SDK, attribution framework, advertising SDK, or third-party tracking service.

Data We Do Not Collect

  • We do not collect your name, email, or contact information
  • We do not use third-party analytics or crash reporting
  • We do not serve advertisements
  • We do not track your location
  • We do not sell your data. The only third party that ever receives your content is the AI provider that processes what you submit through an optional AI feature — and only when you use it.

Permissions

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.

Your Choices

Because all data lives on your device, you control deletion directly:

  • Plots, Scouts, Files, and other content: delete from inside the app (swipe to delete in lists, or use the trash icon in detail views).
  • iCloud Sync: turn it off in Settings to stop syncing. Sign out of iCloud entirely on your device to disconnect StageTools from your iCloud account.
  • Uninstall the app: removing StageTools clears all locally stored data. Data already synced to iCloud remains in your iCloud account until you delete it from another signed-in device or through Apple's iCloud management tools.

Children's Privacy

StageTools is a professional lighting tool not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any information from children.

Changes to This Policy

If we update this privacy policy, the revised version will be posted at the same URL with an updated effective date.