Qibla — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 October 2026

In short

Qibla shows the direction of the Qibla with a compass and through your phone's camera, and keeps a simple count of your prayers. Everything it works out stays on your phone. There is no account and no sign-up, and we don't run any servers. We don't collect or sell your personal data. The app shows ads from Google AdMob, and Google collects some data to show them, as explained under Advertising below.

Who we are

Qibla is made by an independent developer. You can reach us at dumpsterfirestudio.art@gmail.com.

What the app uses, and why

• Your location (precise or approximate, whichever you allow), only while the app is open on screen. It is used to work out the direction of the Qibla from where you are, the distance to Makkah, and the difference between magnetic north and true north at your location. The app never asks for or uses location in the background.
• Your phone's camera, only while you hold the phone upright and only if you allow it. The picture is shown live on your screen with the Qibla line drawn over it. It is never recorded, saved or sent anywhere.
• Your phone's motion sensors (compass, accelerometer and gyroscope), to know which way the phone is pointing. These readings are used on the phone and not kept, except for the compass correction described below.
• Vibration and a short sound, to let you know when you face the Qibla and when a prayer is counted. Both can be turned off in Settings.

What is stored, and for how long

The app keeps a few things in its private storage on your phone:

• Your last known location (latitude and longitude only), so the direction can be shown straight away the next time you open the app. Each new location replaces the old one.
• Your prayer count: how many prayers you counted today, the date of today, and the total. These are only numbers.
• A compass correction worked out from your phone's own magnetic readings, so the compass is accurate without recalibrating every time. It holds no places or times.
• Your settings (language, vibration, sound, whether to show the angle and distance) and whether you have seen the tutorial, raised the phone once, and allowed the camera.

All of this stays until you clear the app's data or uninstall the app. If your phone's own backup (Android backup to your Google account) is turned on, Android may include this data in your personal backup; that backup is handled by Google under your account and we never see it.

What leaves your phone

Your location, the camera picture, your prayer count and your settings never leave your phone through us. The app has no analytics or crash-reporting tools of its own. Advertising is the only thing that talks to the internet; see the next section.

If you tap "Share Qibla", the app hands a short message with a link to the app's Google Play page to the app you choose, such as WhatsApp. It does not include your prayer count or location. Nothing is sent unless you choose to share, and it goes only where you send it; that app's own privacy policy then applies.

The "Privacy policy" button in Settings opens this page in your web browser.

Advertising

The app shows ads from Google AdMob (Google LLC, or Google Ireland Limited in the UK and EU): a single banner at the bottom of the screen.

To show ads, measure them and prevent fraud, Google may collect your phone's advertising ID, your IP address and the approximate location that can be worked out from it, information about your device (such as model, operating system and language), and how you interact with the ads. The app does not give Google your location from the phone's location services, the camera picture or your prayer count.

In the UK, the European Economic Area, Switzerland and other places where the law requires it, the app asks for your consent before any ad is requested, using Google's consent form. You can change your choice at any time with "Privacy settings" in the app's Settings. In US states with privacy laws, such as California, ads may use this data unless you opt out with the same "Privacy settings", where it is offered. Wherever you live, you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings (on Android: Settings > Privacy > Ads, or Settings > Google > Ads), which also turns off personalised ads.

Ads are limited to content suitable for general audiences. How Google uses this data: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites and Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy

Sharing and selling

We do not sell or rent personal data, and we don't receive any ourselves. The only data shared with a third party is what Google AdMob collects to show ads, described under Advertising.

Children

Qibla is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Your choices and rights

Because your data stays on your phone, you are in control of it: clear the app's data or uninstall it to delete everything it stored, and turn off location or camera access for the app at any time in your phone's settings (the app can't find the Qibla without location; the camera view is optional). For ads, see the choices under Advertising.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights over your personal data, for example under the EU and UK GDPR, Turkey's Law No. 6698 (KVKK), Indonesia's Personal Data Protection Law, Malaysia's Personal Data Protection Act 2010, India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 or Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law. We hold no personal data about you ourselves, so there is normally nothing for us to access, correct or delete; for data collected by Google for ads, Google's privacy policy explains how to exercise your rights. You are always welcome to contact us with any question or request.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update it here and change the date at the top.