Privacy Policy — Camstead

Last updated: 24 October 2026

Camstead is a local-first camera app published by Mobile Alchemy LTD. It views IP cameras on your own network, and it can turn a spare iPhone or iPad into a camera. It is built so that your video travels between your own devices and cameras, not through us. This policy explains exactly what is stored, where, and the few cases where data leaves your devices.

What we do not collect

• The app has no Camstead server or cloud service, and we receive no video, audio, images, recordings, events or camera details from you.
• No account or sign-up is required to use the app.
• We add no analytics, advertising, tracking or crash reporting of our own. The only third-party service the app contacts without you setting it up is Adapty, which manages Pro subscriptions and the Pro offer (see Purchases).
• We do not sell your data or share it for advertising. We do not track you across apps or websites.

What stays on your device

• Camera list and settings — the names, addresses, ports and usernames of your cameras, and the app's settings, are stored on the device. The most recent snapshot of each camera (taken by you, or on a motion event) is also kept in storage shared with the Home Screen widget.
• Camera passwords — stored in the iOS Keychain, and sent only to the camera you entered them for. A password typed into a stream address, instead of the password field, is part of that address and is saved with the camera list.
• Snapshots, recordings and motion events on a viewing device — written to the app's private storage on that device. Recordings contain video only, no sound. Events are kept until you delete them, up to the most recent 500, usually with a small picture. Camstead does not upload them; if you share one through the iOS share sheet or Shortcuts, it goes where you send it.
• Clips and events on a device used as a camera — when Motion and Auto-record are switched on, the camera device saves video clips in the app's private storage on that device, up to a storage limit you choose (1 GB unless you change it), deleting the oldest first. It also keeps a short log of recent motion events (time, label, whether a clip was saved). Your other devices are told about each event, but clips are never sent to them or to us. You can delete clips in the camera device's settings (Clips), and Stop camera mode offers to delete them.
• Motion and AI detection — motion is found by comparing video frames on the device or, for some cameras, by asking the camera over your network whether it sees motion. The optional AI labels (person, animal, face, vehicle) use Apple's Vision framework on the device. They say what appears, never who it is. No frame is sent anywhere for analysis.
• Backups — Camstead does not back anything up itself. iOS may include the app's files in an iCloud or computer backup of the device. The clips and event log of a camera device are excluded from backups.

Local network

The app connects directly to cameras on your local network using standard protocols (RTSP, ONVIF, MJPEG) and vendor local APIs. To find them it uses network discovery (Bonjour and ONVIF multicast). iOS asks for Local Network permission for this. The connection is between your device and your camera; we are not in the path. You can also add a camera by typing its address, for example one you reach over a VPN; that connection is direct too.

When you turn an iPhone or iPad into a camera, it announces itself on your local network under the name shown on its screen (the device's name, unless you change it). It streams its camera and, unless you switch it off, its microphone to devices that connect with its PIN. That stream is plain RTSP, which is not encrypted, so use it on a network you trust. Nothing is sent to us.

Optionally, a camera device can connect out to a relay server that you run yourself (Camera settings, Remote access), so that you can watch it from outside your network. Your video then passes through that server. We do not provide or operate a relay.

Optional vendor cloud sign-in

Some camera brands only work through their manufacturer's cloud. If — and only if — you choose to sign in to one of these services in the app (for example Wyze, Tuya/SmartLife, Ring, Nest, Blink or Eufy), then:

• Your credentials are sent directly to that vendor to authenticate, together with a random identifier for this installation where the vendor's sign-in needs one. We never receive them. Where you sign in on the vendor's own page (Wyze and Nest offer this), the app never sees your password.
• The tokens the vendor returns, and for some vendors the keys or secrets you entered for setup, are stored in the iOS Keychain on your device. The account name you signed in with is saved in the app's storage.
• The app then fetches your camera list, snapshots and events from that vendor and, for Tuya and Nest cameras that offer it, a live video stream from the vendor's servers. That data goes from the vendor to your device; none of it passes through us.
• Your use of that service is governed by that vendor's own privacy policy.

If you never sign in to a vendor cloud or set up a relay, the only connections the app makes are to the cameras and devices you add, to Apple and Adapty (see Purchases), and, when you open our Support, Privacy Policy or Terms pages from the app, to this website.

Purchases

Optional Pro features are sold as in-app purchases. Payment is handled by Apple; we never see your payment details. We use Adapty to manage subscription state and validate receipts. For this purpose the app contacts Adapty when it starts, and Adapty receives identifiers for this installation and device, your purchase and receipt information, and basic technical details (app version, device model, iOS version, language, time zone and IP address). This is used to determine whether your Pro access is active, to choose which Pro offer the app shows, and for aggregate subscription analytics (such as how many people subscribe) — it is not used for advertising, the app never asks for permission to track you, and we do not link it to your identity.

Camera, microphone and local network permissions

Camera access is requested when you turn a device into a camera, so that its picture can be viewed on your other devices, and when you scan the pairing QR code shown by another device running Camstead. Microphone access is requested when you use Talk (your voice goes directly to the camera you are viewing) and when a device acts as a camera, so that viewers can hear the room; the Send audio switch in the camera's settings turns that off. Local Network access lets the app find and reach your cameras and devices. Camera and microphone data go only to the camera you talk to and to the devices that connect to your camera device, over your own network or a relay you run yourself. Neither is sent to us. Recordings and clips made by Camstead contain video only.

This website

The Camstead website is a set of static pages hosted by Cloudflare. The pages run no scripts, set no cookies of their own, and include no analytics or advertising. Like any website, Cloudflare receives technical details of each visit, such as your IP address and the page requested, in order to deliver the page, and may keep request logs. The app loads the Support, Privacy Policy and Terms pages from here only when you tap them.

Children

The app is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect personal information from them.

Your rights

Because your data stays on your devices, you remain in control of it:

• Removing a camera deletes its saved password and settings. Recordings and events already made from it are not deleted with it, and its clips can no longer be opened in the app, so delete them first (Clips in the live view, and Delete all events in the Events tab).
• On a camera device, Clips in the camera's settings deletes its clips, and Stop camera mode offers to delete them too.
• Signing out removes a vendor cloud account from the app: in Settings, open Vendor cloud accounts and choose Sign out. The app deletes the account's tokens and any keys or secrets you entered for it from the Keychain, forgets its account name, and removes the cameras you added through it with version 1.2.1 or later (their events and clips are kept, but the clips can no longer be opened; cameras added through an account with an earlier version stay until you remove them). Signing out of Nest also asks Google to end the sign-in. For Wyze, Ring, Blink and Eufy the app has no way to ask the vendor to end a sign-in, so it stays valid there until it expires; to end it sooner, revoke the app's access in that vendor's own account settings. Tuya keeps no sign-in for the app: the Access Secret you entered stays valid until you reset it in the Tuya IoT console. If your device is offline, the account is still forgotten on the device, and the app tells you the vendor was not asked.
• Deleting the app removes the files it stored. iOS may keep an app's Keychain items, such as camera passwords and vendor sign-in tokens, after the app is deleted, so remove your cameras and sign out of your vendor cloud accounts first if you want their passwords and tokens gone.
• Where vendor cloud accounts are involved, contact that vendor to exercise rights over data held by them.

Changes

If this policy changes, the revised version will be posted on this page with a new date.

Contact

Questions about this policy: privacy@mobilealchemy.co
Mobile Alchemy LTD