Terms of Service

Using Sidelight

Sidelight helps you plan photographs with information about the Sun, Moon, night sky, terrain, weather and other conditions. You may use the app for lawful personal or professional photography planning. You agree not to interfere with the service, circumvent technical protections, or misuse its data and features.

No account is currently required. Features may be added, changed or removed in updates. Internet access is necessary for maps, place searches, weather, comet requests and certain downloads.

Predictions and practical safety

Solar positions, lunar events, forecasts, building shadows, light-pollution estimates and visibility scores are planning aids. Map geometry, terrain detail and weather forecasts may be incomplete, unavailable or inaccurate. Their appearance in Sidelight does not guarantee the conditions or photographic result at your location.

Check local conditions, access restrictions, weather alerts and authoritative event timing before traveling or photographing. Sidelight is not an emergency, navigation or safety service. Never look directly at the Sun without appropriate certified solar viewing protection, including during eclipses.

Third-party services and data

Some features rely on services provided by Apple, Mapbox, Open-Meteo, NASA/JPL and GitHub. Availability and terms of those services may affect Sidelight. Map data, weather and astronomical information may be subject to the providers' own conditions and attributions.

How Sidelight handles personal information is explained in the Privacy Policy.

Ownership and acceptable use

The app design, original code, writing and photographs are protected by applicable intellectual-property laws. Aashutosh Vyas retains rights in the original work, while third-party libraries, map data and other material remain under their respective licenses. Using the app does not transfer ownership of that material.

You may not copy or redistribute substantial app assets, remove required attribution, or represent Sidelight as your own service without permission. Nothing here restricts rights you have under applicable open-source licenses or law.

Availability and warranties

Sidelight is supplied on an “as available” basis. To the extent permitted by applicable law, no guarantee is made that information will be error-free, continuously available, or suitable for a particular location, shoot or purpose. Nothing in these terms excludes rights or protections that cannot legally be excluded.

Responsibility and liability

You are responsible for your own travel, camera use, location choices and safety decisions. To the extent allowed by applicable law, Aashutosh Vyas is not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential losses arising from using or being unable to use Sidelight. This limitation does not apply where prohibited by law.

Changes and contact

We may update these terms as Sidelight evolves. Material changes will be reflected on this page with an updated effective date. Your continued use after changes take effect is subject to applicable law.

Questions about these terms or the app can be sent to aashutoshvyas2010@gmail.com. For troubleshooting, visit Support.