Shake Flashlight
Privacy Policy for Shake Flashlight
Last updated: 9 November 2026
Shake Flashlight ("the app") is developed by Sherwood Technology ("we", "us", "our"). This policy explains how the app handles your information.
Summary
Shake Flashlight does not collect, transmit or share any personal data. It has no internet access at all: the app does not request Android's internet permission, so it is not able to send anything anywhere. There is no account, no advertising, no analytics and no crash reporting. Everything the app uses stays on your phone.
Data we collect
None. We do not receive any information from the app, about you or about how you use it.
What stays on your device
The app keeps two things in its own private storage on your phone, which other apps cannot read:
- Your settings — whether gesture control is on, which gesture is chosen, the sensitivity, and the options such as vibration, sounds and automatic switch-off.
- A gesture you teach it, if you use that feature. When you teach the app a gesture, it keeps a compact numerical description of the examples you recorded — how the phone moved and turned over about a second — so that it can recognise the movement later. It is not a recording of anything else, and it never leaves the phone.
You can delete a taught gesture at any time with Delete on the app's main screen. Uninstalling the app removes everything it stored.
Motion sensors and the flashlight
While gesture control is switched on, the app reads the phone's motion sensors (accelerometer and, where the phone has one, gyroscope) to notice your gesture. These readings are examined in the phone's memory as they arrive and then discarded. They are not recorded, stored or sent anywhere, except for the examples you deliberately record while teaching a gesture, as described above.
While Ignore in a pocket or bag is on, as it is unless you switch it off, the app also reads the proximity sensor, which only reports whether something is covering the top of the screen. That is used at the moment it is read and is never stored.
The app switches the flashlight using Android's flashlight control. It does not open the camera, cannot take photos or video, and does not request camera permission.
Sounds you choose
If you choose a sound file of your own for the flashlight switching on or off, you pick it in Android's own file picker, and the app is allowed to read that one file and nothing else; it needs no permission to your storage. It keeps only a reference to the file, among its settings, and reads the file only to play it, on the phone. Choosing the built-in tone again lets go of the file.
While either sound is switched on, the app's main screen checks whether the phone is on silent or vibrate, or its system volume is at zero, so that it can tell you the sound will not be heard. That is used at the moment it is read and is never stored.
Permissions
The app asks you for one permission — to show notifications, on Android 13 and later. Everything else below is granted automatically when the app is installed, as Android does for permissions of this kind. None of them gives the app access to your personal information.
| Permission | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| Notifications | Shows the notification that tells you gesture control is on, with buttons to switch the flashlight or stop. Android requires this notification for any app that reads the motion sensors in the background. |
| Foreground service | Lets gesture control keep running after you leave the app, including on the lock screen. It runs only while you have gesture control switched on. |
| Keep the device awake | Used only if you turn on Work with the screen off, to keep listening for your gesture while the screen is dark. |
| Run at startup | Turns gesture control back on after the phone restarts or the app is updated, if you had it on. |
| Vibration | A short buzz to confirm a gesture worked, if you leave Vibrate on. |
Checking for updates
When you open the app, it asks the Google Play Store app on your phone whether a newer version of Shake Flashlight is available, and if there is one, offers to take you to it. The question goes to the Play Store app on your phone, not over the internet from Shake Flashlight, and carries nothing about you. The Play Store answers it as part of keeping your apps up to date, under Google's privacy policy. If you choose "Skip this version", the app remembers that version's number on your phone so as not to ask again.
Android device backup
If you have Android's own backup turned on for your phone, Android may include the app's settings and any gesture you taught it in your device backup, stored in your Google account, as it does for most apps. That backup is under your control, in your phone's settings, and is handled by Google under Google's privacy policy. We have no access to it.
Data sharing
We do not share any data with anyone, because the app does not collect any and has no means of sending it.
Children's privacy
Shake Flashlight does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children. It collects no personal data at all.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, this page is updated and the "Last updated" date above changes with it.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy, contact us at support@sherwood-tech.co.uk.