Compare

What each one asks of you.

Every app, every question worth asking, and the honest answer — including the places where one of mine has to admit to something.

Every Plain and Simple app compared against what a typical free app in the same category does, across 19 measures.
Measure	Journal	Toddler	Games	Planes	Steps	Lunch Money	The usual free app
Ads	None, in any app						Yes
In-app purchases	None. Nothing is held back.						Yes
Subscription	None						Usually, after a trial
Price	Free, and free to keep						Free to install
Analytics	None						Yes
Third-party code	No SDKs, no trackers						Several SDKs
Sent to a Plain and Simple server	Nothing. There is no server.						Yes
Sold or shared	Never — I don't have it to sell						Commonly
Downloaded after install	Nothing	Nothing	Nothing	Live aircraft positionsSee note 1	Nothing — it only sends	Your own balancesSee note 2	Usually
Account required	Sign in with AppleSee note 3	None	OptionalSee note 4	None	None	None	Email and password
Works without the internet	Yes	Yes	Yes	Needs itSee note 5	Your own networkSee note 6	Reaches Lunch MoneySee note 7	No
Health data	Reads, if you allow itSee note 8	None	None	None	Reads your step countSee note 9	None	Read, and uploaded
Location	None	None	None	Rounded, ~1 kmSee note 10	None	None	Precise
Camera	For the photo of the daySee note 11	None	None	A viewfinderSee note 12	To scan the pairing codeSee note 13	None	Yes
Photos	One a day, optionalSee note 14	None	None	None	None	None	Full library access
Syncs through your own iCloud	Yes	Your settings	Yes	Nothing to sync	Nothing to sync	Runs in Home Assistant	Their cloud
Open source	No	No	No	No	Yes — MIT	Yes	No
Getting your data out	CSV, PDF, or a backupSee note 15	Nothing is recordedSee note 16	No export yetSee note 17	Nothing is stored	Already yoursSee note 18	Already yours	If you find the button
Where your data goes	Your own iCloud	Your own device	Your own iCloud	Nowhere — nothing is stored, by anyone	Your own Home Assistant	Your own Home Assistant	Their servers

AdsWill I be shown advertising?: All six appsNone, in any app
The usual free appYes
In-app purchasesIs there anything to buy once I'm inside?: All six appsNone. Nothing is held back.
The usual free appYes
SubscriptionWill this start charging me monthly?: All six appsNone
The usual free appUsually, after a trial
PriceWhat does it cost?: All six appsFree, and free to keep
The usual free appFree to install
AnalyticsIs my usage being measured and sent somewhere?: All six appsNone
The usual free appYes
Third-party codeWhose code is running inside the app besides yours?: All six appsNo SDKs, no trackers
The usual free appSeveral SDKs
Sent to a Plain and Simple serverWhat do you receive about me?: All six appsNothing. There is no server.
The usual free appYes
Sold or sharedDoes my data end up with anyone else?: All six appsNever — I don't have it to sell
The usual free appCommonly
Downloaded after installDoes it fetch anything once I've installed it?: Journal, Toddler and GamesNothing
PlanesLive aircraft positionsEverything the app *is* ships in the bundle — no content arrives later. What it fetches is the answer to your question, from two outside services and only two: adsb.lol for what is overhead, and adsbdb to turn a flight number into a route. The app has a test that fails the build if a third address is ever added.
StepsNothing — it only sends
Lunch MoneyYour own balancesIt reads them from your own Lunch Money account on the schedule you set. Nothing else is fetched, and nothing passes through me.
The usual free appUsually
Account requiredDo I have to create an account?: JournalSign in with AppleA lock on the journal, not an account with me. It asks Apple for no name and no email, and what it leaves behind is an anonymous identifier stored on your own device. There is no server behind it.
Toddler, Planes, Steps and Lunch MoneyNone
GamesOptionalIt does one thing: notices that a different person has picked up a device that already holds someone's games. The app requests no scopes at all, and every game works signed out.
The usual free appEmail and password
Works without the internetDoes it need a signal to be useful?: Journal, Toddler and GamesYes
PlanesNeeds itThe only Plain and Simple app that does. Where aircraft are right now is not something a phone can know on its own.
StepsYour own networkThe only request the app ever makes is to the Home Assistant address you entered. That is usually a machine in your own house.
Lunch MoneyReaches Lunch MoneyIt reads your balances from your own Lunch Money account, using a token you issued. Nothing passes through me.
The usual free appNo
Health dataDoes it read Apple Health, and where does that go?: JournalReads, if you allow itSleep, steps and exercise minutes, so that you are not retyping what your devices already recorded. It only ever reads from Health — it never writes — and what it reads stays in your journal, on your device and in your own iCloud.
Toddler, Games, Planes and Lunch MoneyNone
StepsReads your step countThat is the entire job of the app. Your daily step count goes to the Home Assistant running in your own house, where it becomes an ordinary sensor. It reaches no server of mine, because there isn't one.
The usual free appRead, and uploaded
LocationDoes it know where I am?: Journal, Toddler, Games, Steps and Lunch MoneyNone
PlanesRounded, ~1 kmIt has to know roughly where you are standing to say what is above you. What leaves your phone is that rounded coordinate and nothing else — no name, no device or advertising identifier. It goes straight to adsb.lol, the volunteer network that answers the question. Nobody stores it, including me.
The usual free appPrecise
CameraDoes it use the camera, and does anything get kept?: JournalFor the photo of the dayOnly if you choose to take one rather than pick one you already have. The photo goes straight into your journal and travels through your own iCloud — it is never uploaded anywhere.
Toddler, Games and Lunch MoneyNone
PlanesA viewfinderPoint your phone at the sky and it labels what is up there. Nothing is photographed, recorded, or kept.
StepsTo scan the pairing codeOnce, during setup, to read the QR code your Home Assistant shows you — so that you don't have to type an address and a webhook ID by hand. Nothing is recorded, stored, or sent anywhere.
The usual free appYes
PhotosDoes it get at my photo library?: JournalOne a day, optionalA photo of the day is one of the fields you can put in a prompt — and the app never gets your library to look through. It asks iOS for a picker, iOS hands back the one picture you chose, and that is all it ever sees. It stays in your journal and travels only through your own iCloud.
Toddler, Games, Planes, Steps and Lunch MoneyNone
The usual free appFull library access
Syncs through your own iCloudHow does it reach my other devices?: Journal and GamesYes
ToddlerYour settings
Planes and StepsNothing to sync
Lunch MoneyRuns in Home Assistant
The usual free appTheir cloud
Open sourceCan I read the code myself?: Journal, Toddler, Games and PlanesNo
StepsYes — MIT
Lunch MoneyYes
The usual free appNo
Getting your data outIf I want to leave, can I take it with me?: JournalCSV, PDF, or a backupSettings hands the whole journal back three ways — a CSV for a spreadsheet, a printable PDF book of your days, and a full backup you can put a password on. And a delete that genuinely deletes.
ToddlerNothing is recordedThere is nothing about your child to take out, because none of it was ever written down — not which pictures they finished, not how long they spent.
GamesNo export yetYour stats and half-finished boards live on your device and in your own iCloud, so they are not locked to one machine — but there is no button that hands them to you as a file. That is a fair thing to ask for and it isn't built.
PlanesNothing is stored
StepsAlready yoursIt arrives as an ordinary Home Assistant sensor on your own machine, so it is yours from the moment it lands — query it, chart it, or delete it like anything else in there.
Lunch MoneyAlready yours
The usual free appIf you find the button
Where your data goesWhen all of that is said — where does it actually end up?: Journal and GamesYour own iCloud
ToddlerYour own device
PlanesNowhere — nothing is stored, by anyone
Steps and Lunch MoneyYour own Home Assistant
The usual free appTheir servers

Not there at all
There, with a reason — see the notes
What it usually costs you elsewhere

Notes — the exceptions, explained

1 Downloaded after install · Planes. Everything the app *is* ships in the bundle — no content arrives later. What it fetches is the answer to your question, from two outside services and only two: adsb.lol for what is overhead, and adsbdb to turn a flight number into a route. The app has a test that fails the build if a third address is ever added.
2 Downloaded after install · Lunch Money. It reads them from your own Lunch Money account on the schedule you set. Nothing else is fetched, and nothing passes through me.
3 Account required · Journal. A lock on the journal, not an account with me. It asks Apple for no name and no email, and what it leaves behind is an anonymous identifier stored on your own device. There is no server behind it.
4 Account required · Games. It does one thing: notices that a different person has picked up a device that already holds someone's games. The app requests no scopes at all, and every game works signed out.
5 Works without the internet · Planes. The only Plain and Simple app that does. Where aircraft are right now is not something a phone can know on its own.
6 Works without the internet · Steps. The only request the app ever makes is to the Home Assistant address you entered. That is usually a machine in your own house.
7 Works without the internet · Lunch Money. It reads your balances from your own Lunch Money account, using a token you issued. Nothing passes through me.
8 Health data · Journal. Sleep, steps and exercise minutes, so that you are not retyping what your devices already recorded. It only ever reads from Health — it never writes — and what it reads stays in your journal, on your device and in your own iCloud.
9 Health data · Steps. That is the entire job of the app. Your daily step count goes to the Home Assistant running in your own house, where it becomes an ordinary sensor. It reaches no server of mine, because there isn't one.
10 Location · Planes. It has to know roughly where you are standing to say what is above you. What leaves your phone is that rounded coordinate and nothing else — no name, no device or advertising identifier. It goes straight to adsb.lol, the volunteer network that answers the question. Nobody stores it, including me.
11 Camera · Journal. Only if you choose to take one rather than pick one you already have. The photo goes straight into your journal and travels through your own iCloud — it is never uploaded anywhere.
12 Camera · Planes. Point your phone at the sky and it labels what is up there. Nothing is photographed, recorded, or kept.
13 Camera · Steps. Once, during setup, to read the QR code your Home Assistant shows you — so that you don't have to type an address and a webhook ID by hand. Nothing is recorded, stored, or sent anywhere.
14 Photos · Journal. A photo of the day is one of the fields you can put in a prompt — and the app never gets your library to look through. It asks iOS for a picker, iOS hands back the one picture you chose, and that is all it ever sees. It stays in your journal and travels only through your own iCloud.
15 Getting your data out · Journal. Settings hands the whole journal back three ways — a CSV for a spreadsheet, a printable PDF book of your days, and a full backup you can put a password on. And a delete that genuinely deletes.
16 Getting your data out · Toddler. There is nothing about your child to take out, because none of it was ever written down — not which pictures they finished, not how long they spent.
17 Getting your data out · Games. Your stats and half-finished boards live on your device and in your own iCloud, so they are not locked to one machine — but there is no button that hands them to you as a file. That is a fair thing to ask for and it isn't built.
18 Getting your data out · Steps. It arrives as an ordinary Home Assistant sensor on your own machine, so it is yours from the moment it lands — query it, chart it, or delete it like anything else in there.

Every one of those destinations is yours. There is no Plain and Simple server in the middle, because there is no Plain and Simple server at all.

That last column is what these categories are typically like, not a claim about any one app — some free apps are better than it, and a few are worse. You don’t have to take any of it from me, either: every app on the App Store carries a privacy label Apple makes it fill in, and an In-App Purchases line if it has any. Scroll any listing to the bottom and check mine against whatever else you were considering.

The whole architecture

youriPhone

Nothing here

no account · no server · no one in between

youriCloud

yourHome Assistant

youriPhone

Nothing here

no account · no server · no one in between

youriCloud

yourHome Assistant