Effective date: August 31, 2026 · Last updated: October 1, 2026
Remote Viewfinder ("the app", "we", "us", or "our") is a two-part camera-remote app — a companion app for Android phones and an app for Wear OS smartwatches — operated by an independent developer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This Privacy Policy covers both parts and explains what information the app does and does not handle, and the choices you have. By using the app you agree to the practices described here.
Remote Viewfinder does not collect or share any personal information. There is no account, and the app never sends anything to us or to any server on the internet. Specifically:
When you start a session, Android shows you a screen-sharing prompt on your phone and you choose what to share — normally just your camera app. Only after you accept does the phone app begin capturing. Each captured frame is shrunk to a small image and sent straight to your watch so you can see what the camera sees.
Those frames exist in memory only, for as long as it takes to send them. They are never written to storage, never queued or logged, never combined with anything else, and go nowhere but your watch (or, in a browser session, the browsers you opened). The session ends — and capture stops — when you stop it from either device, when your phone's screen locks, or when you revoke sharing from the status bar.
Android's own protections apply throughout: the permission is granted fresh for every session and cannot be cached, and the system displays a persistent screen-sharing indicator for the entire time capture is running.
The phone app can also show the viewfinder in a web browser — on a tablet, laptop or another phone — on the same Wi-Fi network as your phone. While the phone app is on screen, or while a browser session you started is running, the phone runs a small web server on your local network. It answers only requests that carry the private link shown in the phone app (a random code generated on your phone), and it stops when you leave the app and no browser session is running.
After you start a browser session and accept Android's screen-sharing prompt, the phone encodes the shared screen as video and sends it directly to the browsers that opened the private link. The stream travels over your local network only; it does not go through the internet, us, or any third party. It is sent over plain HTTP and is not encrypted, so anyone on the same network who has the link can watch while a session runs. Share the link only with people you trust, use the viewer on networks you trust, and stop the session from the phone, its notification, or the status-bar chip when you are done.
To fire the shutter, your watch presents itself to your phone as a Bluetooth camera remote and sends a Volume-Up key press — the same thing a selfie-stick clicker does. Your phone's own camera app receives that key press and takes the photo or starts the recording, saving it to your phone exactly as if you had pressed the button yourself.
Remote Viewfinder never sees, reads, copies, or stores your photos and videos. It requests no camera, microphone, or storage permission and has no ability to access your gallery.
Communication between the phone app and the watch app uses the Wear OS Data Layer, a part of Google Play services, over the direct Bluetooth or Wi-Fi link between your own paired devices. Both of your devices must be connected for a session to run. Google's handling of that transport is governed by the Google Privacy Policy, not this one. The developer receives nothing.
The browser viewer does not use the Data Layer: the phone sends the stream straight to the browser over your local Wi-Fi network, as described in section 3.
Remote Viewfinder is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google, Samsung, or any device manufacturer.
On your phone:
| Permission | Why the app uses it |
|---|---|
FOREGROUND_SERVICEFOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROJECTION | Keep streaming the viewfinder to your watch while you are away from the phone and the app is not on screen. This is the whole point of the feature. |
WAKE_LOCK | Keep the screen on during a session. Android ends screen capture the moment the phone locks. |
POST_NOTIFICATIONS | Show the ongoing-session notification, and let you tap through to the phone when your watch starts a session. |
INTERNET | Run the browser viewer's web server on your local Wi-Fi network. Android requires this permission for any network socket; the app makes no connections to the internet. |
On your watch:
| Permission | Why the app uses it |
|---|---|
BLUETOOTH_CONNECT( BLUETOOTH, BLUETOOTH_ADMIN on older watches) | Present the watch to your paired phone as a Bluetooth camera remote, so the shutter button works. |
FOREGROUND_SERVICEFOREGROUND_SERVICE_CONNECTED_DEVICE | Hold that remote connection open for the length of a session, including while the watch screen is off. |
POST_NOTIFICATIONS | Show the ongoing-session notification on the watch. |
That is the complete list. Neither app requests camera, microphone, location, contacts, or storage access, and the watch app has no network access of its own. The phone app declares two <queries> entries so it can find your default camera app in order to launch it; it does not request the ability to see your full list of installed apps.
We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information, because the app does not collect or receive any. No data is shared with advertisers, analytics providers, or any other third party.
There is nothing to retain. Viewfinder frames are discarded as soon as they are sent, and the app keeps no history, no logs, and no records of your sessions. Any preferences the app stores live in its private storage on your device and are removed when you uninstall it.
Nothing is stored and nothing is sent to us. Between your phone and watch, frames are protected by the encrypted Bluetooth pairing between them and the operating system's app-storage sandbox. The optional browser viewer is reachable only from your local network, only with the private link, and only while the phone app is open or a browser session runs; its stream is not encrypted (see section 3).
The app is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. Because the app collects no personal information, it does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above and post the new version on this page. Your continued use of the app after an update means you accept the revised policy.
Questions about this Privacy Policy? Email us at support@transitnowapp.com.