RaceStarter Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 13, 2026
Last updated: November 1, 2026

This policy covers three products: RaceStarter for iPhone, the RaceStarter Apple Watch app, and the RaceStarter web version on this site. They work differently, so each has its own section below.

Some features described here, such as Synced Start rooms, reaction and lap timing, voice start, Siri shortcuts, the Apple Watch app and the RaceStarter Pro purchase, are not in every version of the App. If the version you use doesn’t have a feature, the part of this policy about that feature doesn’t apply to you.

Who we are

RaceStarter is a start-signal and training tool for FPV drone racing, developed by LongXL (“we”, “us”). You can reach us using the details under Contact us.

At a glance

RaceStarter for iPhone

Permissions

The App can ask for three permissions: Microphone, Speech Recognition and Local Network, each used only for the features described below. It does not ask for access to your location, camera, contacts, photos, Bluetooth or Health data, and it does not ask to track you. You can change permissions at any time in the iOS Settings app.

Microphone

The App uses the microphone only while one of these features is running:

• Reaction timing (off by default). Listens for your motors spooling up after GO to measure your reaction time, or before GO to flag a false start. While it is on, its Settings section also offers a mic check that only shows a live sound level. When it is off, no reaction listening happens, including in Synced Start rounds.

• Lap timing. Listens only after you start the lap timer, to hear your drone pass the gate. Optional calibration listens to background noise and a pass to set a detection level.

• Hands-free voice start (off by default). Listens for your start keyword. In One-Shot and Simulation modes it listens only after you tap I’M READY or START SIM (Simulation first speaks a prompt) and stops if it hears no keyword within 60 or 30 seconds. In Continuous mode it listens whenever the App’s main screen is open in the foreground, with no other screen on top, and no start is running. It pauses during a start, while the Synced Start screen is open and when the App goes to the background.

• Mic Test in Settings. Runs only when you start it, showing a live sound level and, when on-device recognition is available, a live on-screen transcript.

Audio is analyzed live in memory and then discarded. The App never saves microphone audio to a file and never sends it anywhere. Only these results can be kept:

• a reaction time in milliseconds and a false-start flag, saved in your personal history if history is on, and saved in the room result log and sent to the room’s host when you take part in a Synced Start round;

• the lap detection level from calibration (a single number), which you can clear in the lap timer.

Lap times are kept in memory only. Recognized speech and transcripts are never saved.

Speech recognition

Hands-free voice start and the Mic Test use Apple’s Speech framework. Every recognition request the App makes requires on-device recognition, so your speech is not sent to Apple’s servers (or to us) to be recognized. There is no server fallback: if on-device recognition isn’t available for your device or language, voice start doesn’t start listening, and the Mic Test shows only the sound level. Transcripts are held in memory only.

If you type a custom start keyword, it is saved as a setting on your iPhone.

Spoken announcements

Start call-outs, such as “Pilots, arm your quads” before a countdown, play from audio clips bundled with the App in the call-out language and voice pack you choose in Settings. When no clip is available, and for the announcement of your reaction time (result announcements are on by default and can be turned off), the App uses Apple’s speech synthesizer on your iPhone. Everything plays aloud on your iPhone; the App does not send the spoken text anywhere.

Synced Start rooms (local network)

Synced Start lets several phones run the same countdown and GO together. Any phone can create a room and become its host; other phones join with a 12-character room code. Rooms are optional. Phones find and join rooms only over the local network (including peer-to-peer Wi‑Fi). The App uses no internet server for them, and we never receive room data.

The App starts local network activity only when you create a room, search for rooms or join one, and iOS may ask for Local Network permission at that point. When the App moves to the background, it closes the room’s connections. When it returns to the foreground, a host’s room is announced again and a joining phone tries to reconnect.

What nearby devices can see. So that others can find it, a host’s room is announced on the local network with Apple’s Bonjour (peer-to-peer Wi‑Fi is also enabled). The announced name is the first 24 characters of the host’s room name plus a short random room ID. Devices on the same network that browse for nearby services (for example, another phone looking for RaceStarter rooms), and possibly nearby devices over peer-to-peer Wi‑Fi, can see this name without the room code. iOS publishes the announcement together with the details other devices need to connect, such as the phone’s local network address and host name. Joining phones are not announced.

What is shared inside a room. After a phone connects with the correct code:

• A joining phone sends the host: your room name and participant ID, your readiness, clock-synchronization measurements, updates on each round (such as prepared, scheduled or cancelled), and your round result: its status, reaction time in milliseconds, false-start flag and the time it was recorded.

• The host sends joining phones: the host’s room name; clock-synchronization replies; the round plan, which lists the participant IDs and room names of everyone in the round plus the countdown, random delay, start sound, start procedure and timing; and messages that start, cancel or confirm a round.

Room messages never contain microphone audio, speech transcripts, your device name or your personal history. As with any local network connection, the host and joining phones can see each other’s local network addresses. A joining phone does not save the round plan or other participants’ names.

Room name. You must enter a name before creating or joining a room (up to 40 characters; a nickname is fine). The App saves it on your iPhone for next time and shares it as described above. The field is marked as a nickname field, so the iOS keyboard may suggest a name; the App itself does not read your contacts or your device name. Use a name you are comfortable showing to others.

Participant ID. The App creates a random identifier on your iPhone and keeps it across rooms and app launches. It is not Apple’s advertising identifier or vendor identifier. It is sent to the host of every room you join and, whenever you take part in a round, to the other phones in that round as part of the round plan. It also appears in personal-history entries and exports for room rounds. Because it doesn’t change, different hosts could recognize results from the same phone. The App currently has no option to reset it; deleting the App removes it.

Room code. The host’s App generates the code and keeps it in memory only; it is not saved or logged. Anyone on the local network who has the code can join while the room is open, so share it only with people you want in the room.

Room result log. So that results are not lost if a connection drops, the App keeps a log of room activity on your iPhone. It is saved whether or not personal history is on:

• On a host’s iPhone: every participant’s results with their room names (the most recent 8,000), the round plans it sent including participants’ names (the most recent 1,000), cancellation records with names, and, for each room ended after it had rounds, a record with its end time and participants’ names. Cancellation and ended-room records currently have no limit.

• On a joining iPhone: your own results waiting to be delivered and results the host has confirmed (up to 1,000 of each).

Leaving or ending a room closes its connections but does not delete this log, and past results and ended rooms can appear on the room screen. The App currently has no option to delete the log; deleting the App removes it. What other people’s phones received stays on their devices under their control, and we cannot access or delete it.

Personal training history

Personal history is off by default. You can turn it on in Race History, or with the button on the Random Start screen. While it is on, each start is saved in a file on your iPhone with: the date and time, start mode, countdown length or random-delay setting and the actual delay, the start sound (including a name you gave a custom sound), reaction time and false-start flag (when reaction timing is on), and how the reaction was measured. Entries for Synced Start rounds also include the room and round IDs, your participant ID and room name, and the planned GO time. Entries carried over from earlier versions keep their original data.

You can delete single entries, or clear all history after a confirmation. Clearing empties the history file. If Race History reports a storage problem, deletions reach the file only after “Retry saving” succeeds. These copies stay until you delete the App:

• backup files the App creates while upgrading or recovering history;

• if you used an earlier version, its older history file and the history kept in its settings.

Exports and share cards

In Race History you can export your history as a JSON or CSV file and choose where it goes. Exports can include participant IDs, room names and planned GO times for room rounds, and the original data of entries carried over from earlier versions. Once exported, the file is handled by wherever you save or send it.

In Reaction Trends you can create a share card image showing your best, average and median reaction times, false-start rate, number of runs and the date, with the text “Check out my reaction training on RaceStarter!” (in Chinese when the App is set to Chinese). It contains no name or ID and is sent only to the destination you pick in the iOS share sheet, whose own privacy practices then apply.

Imported custom sounds

You can import audio files (up to 20 sounds, each file up to 20 MB) to use as start signals. You pick each file yourself. The App keeps at most the first 3 seconds, converted to a mono audio file in the App’s own storage, together with the name you give it (pre-filled with the file’s name) and the date you added it. You can delete custom sounds in the App.

If an earlier version stored your sounds in the App’s Documents folder, those original files are kept after upgrading, and deleting a sound does not remove them; they are removed when you delete the App.

Settings saved on your iPhone

The App saves its settings in iOS’s standard settings storage: language, whether you have seen the introduction, start procedure, countdown and random-delay choices, session goal and when it was last completed, sound style, your custom sound list and selected sound, GO haptics, voice-announcement settings, call-out language and voice pack, voice-start settings and custom keywords, reaction and lap-timing sensitivity settings, the lap calibration level, whether history is on, your room name and your participant ID.

Siri, Shortcuts and the Action button

On iOS 17 and later, the App provides two shortcuts, Start Race and Cancel Race, which you can run with Siri, the Shortcuts app, or other ways iOS runs shortcuts, such as the Action button. They open RaceStarter and start or cancel a race. They take no input, and the App receives no voice data from them. When you talk to Siri, Apple processes that request under Apple’s own privacy policy.

RaceStarter Pro (in-app purchase)

RaceStarter Pro is an optional one-time purchase that unlocks hosting Synced Start rooms and starting a race from the Apple Watch. Everything else in the App stays free. Apple’s App Store handles the purchase, restore and any refund; the App uses Apple’s StoreKit framework and no third-party payment, analytics or tracking code.

The App never sees or stores your payment details, billing address or Apple Account password. It only asks the App Store whether your Apple Account owns RaceStarter Pro each time it runs, and it keeps no copy of that answer. Buying or restoring Pro is the only time the App connects to the internet, and it sends nothing else: not your history, reaction times, room results or microphone audio. Apple’s privacy policy applies to the purchase itself.

If you used an earlier version

• If an earlier version you used synced history through iCloud: the current version does not use iCloud and has no iCloud access, so it cannot read or remove anything saved there.

• If an earlier version saved data on your iPhone that the current version no longer uses, such as a pilot list with names you entered, the current version does not read it and does not delete it. It is removed when you delete the App.

RaceStarter Apple Watch app

The Watch app shows the race status from your iPhone and lets you start or cancel from your wrist. It comes bundled with the iPhone app. It has no microphone, speech or network features of its own and does not save any data.

Using Apple’s WatchConnectivity, your iPhone sends the Watch race status only: the text to display (such as the countdown number, WAITING, GO, JUMP, CANCELLED or Room active), whether a race is active, its phase, whether start or cancel is available, and technical message IDs and timestamps. It does not send names, reaction results or history. Status messages expire after 30 seconds, and iOS may keep the latest status so it can deliver it to the Watch.

The Watch sends your iPhone only start, cancel and refresh requests. It plays the GO haptic itself. The Watch app’s language follows your language settings and is not saved.

RaceStarter web version

The web version on this site offers countdown starts, random starts and manual lap timing in your browser. Synced Start rooms, acoustic reaction detection, Apple Watch and Siri are available only in the iPhone app. Web records are separate from the iPhone app and are not synced to it.

What your browser stores

When a start finishes or you record a lap, the page saves a record in your browser’s local storage (key racestarter.web.history.v1). Each record contains a random record ID, the date and time, the mode (countdown, random or lap), the countdown length, random wait or lap time in seconds, a label describing how the record was made, and the lap number for laps. Volume, mode and duration choices are not saved.

Records stay in that browser until you remove them: use “清空本机记录” (Clear records on this device) in Training records and confirm, or clear this site’s data in your browser. There is no limit on how many records are kept (the page shows the latest 30). If saved records can’t be read, the page leaves them in place instead of overwriting them. Records are never uploaded.

Sound, screen and permissions

Start sounds are generated in your browser. The web version does not ask for microphone, camera or location access. While a start is running, it asks the browser to keep the screen awake (if supported) and releases this when the start ends.

Export

Export shows your records as JSON text on the page. You then choose whether to download it as a file or copy it to your clipboard.

Browser AI agents

If your browser lets built-in AI agents use tools on web pages (WebMCP), the page offers two tools: one reads the current training state (mode, whether a start is running, phase, status message, configured duration and the number of saved records, but not the records themselves), and one cancels a running start. They are used only by an agent you run in your browser, and how that agent handles information depends on your browser and agent.

Cookies, analytics and hosting

The site loads only its own files. Its code sets no cookies, includes no analytics, advertising or tracking scripts and no third-party fonts, and never uploads your records. The site is hosted by Vercel. As with any website, when your browser requests a page, Vercel receives the technical information needed to deliver it, such as your IP address, browser details and the address requested, and may keep server logs under its own policies.

Accounts, ads, analytics and tracking

RaceStarter has no accounts or sign-in. The iPhone and Watch apps include no third-party code libraries and no analytics, crash-reporting or advertising code, and they do not track you. The web version’s code has no analytics, advertising or tracking either. If you have turned on Share With App Developers in iOS’s Analytics settings, Apple may give us crash reports and aggregated usage statistics under Apple’s privacy policy; RaceStarter itself does not send them. Because the apps do not send your data to us, we have no app data to sell or share.

Third parties and Apple services

• Apple. The iPhone and Watch apps use Apple frameworks built into iOS and watchOS: Speech (on-device only), speech synthesis, the Network framework and Bonjour for rooms, StoreKit and the App Store for the optional RaceStarter Pro purchase, WatchConnectivity, App Intents for Siri and Shortcuts, and the system share sheet and file picker. When you use an Apple service such as Siri, Apple’s privacy policy applies.

• People in your Synced Start room. Their phones receive what is described under Synced Start rooms and keep it under their control.

• Where you send exports or share cards. The app or service you choose handles them.

• Vercel. Hosts the web version, as described under Cookies, analytics and hosting.

The apps and the site’s code use no other third-party services.

Children

RaceStarter does not send personal information to us from anyone, including children. Synced Start does let a user share a name they choose with other phones in a room, and a host’s room name is visible to nearby devices. A parent or guardian should supervise children who use rooms and help them choose a nickname rather than a real name.

Keeping and deleting data

• iPhone settings, room name and participant ID: until you change them or delete the App. You can clear the lap calibration level in the lap timer.

• Personal history: until you delete entries or clear history. Backup files and earlier-version copies stay until you delete the App.

• Room result log: until you delete the App, within the limits described above.

• Custom sounds: until you delete them in the App. Earlier-version copies stay until you delete the App.

• RaceStarter Pro purchase: the record of your purchase is kept by Apple with your Apple Account; the App keeps no copy and asks the App Store when it runs.

• Apple Watch app: saves nothing itself; iOS may hold the latest status message for delivery to the Watch.

• Data on other people’s phones: kept by them; we cannot delete it.

• Exports and share cards: wherever you saved or sent them.

• Device backups: if you back up your iPhone with iCloud Backup or a computer, the backup can include RaceStarter’s data and is kept according to your backup settings.

• Web records: until you clear them or clear this site’s data in your browser.

• Web hosting logs: kept by Vercel under its own policies.

Deleting RaceStarter from your iPhone removes the data the App stored on that iPhone. It does not remove exported files, copies in existing device backups, data on other people’s phones, or anything an earlier version may have saved in iCloud. Because we do not receive your data, we cannot view, export or delete it for you; please use the options above.

Security

Synced Start connections are encrypted with TLS 1.2 using a key derived from the room code, and the App does not fall back to unencrypted or unauthenticated connections. Because the key comes from the room code, anyone who has the code and can capture the room’s local network traffic could read its messages. A room accepts a limited number of connections and messages. Data saved by the iPhone app stays in the App’s own storage on your device (and in any backups of that device), and web records stay in your browser.

No system is perfectly secure. Protect your devices with a passcode, share room codes only with people you trust, and remember that anyone using the same browser profile can see web records.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when RaceStarter changes. We will post the new version on this page and update the dates at the top.

Contact us

If you have questions about this policy or RaceStarter, contact us:

Email: splongxl@gmail.com
Website: LongXL.SHOP

If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you include in your message.

© 2026 LongXL