Powertrain Lab processes motion and generates sound on your iPhone. There is no app account, advertising or analytics SDK, and the app does not upload your driving inputs to a developer server.
Your sessions stay local. Optional local drive diagnostics are off by default and export only when you choose. Apple handles optional subscription purchases.
Motion and optional location
Motion sensors provide acceleration, rotation and orientation for the simulated engine and gearbox. Motion is required for a live driving session. Sound previews work without starting sensors.
Location speed is on by default and can be turned off before calibration. At first use, the app requests While Using the App permission. When enabled and allowed, Apple's location services provide observations that can include coordinates. The consumer Release app discards coordinates, altitude and heading and uses only speed, accuracy and timestamps to help its estimate. These inputs are processed locally and are not uploaded by the app.
Location is optional. Turn it off before a session or change permission in iPhone Settings. Without usable location, estimates can drift or become unavailable. Stop session ends motion and location updates. Active audible sessions can request background location; setup does not continue as a silent background recording. If an audible session pauses in the background, motion recovery may continue for up to one minute, a disconnected output for up to one minute when location speed is on, or a phone interruption for up to 15 minutes. The session then stops if recovery cannot complete. Stop session cancels recovery immediately.
Development builds may additionally process device orientation relative to north and travel direction to test alignment. When engineering recording is enabled, these direction values and quality estimates stay in the local log alongside motion and speed. They contain no coordinates or altitude and are shared only through an export you choose. Optional parked direction setup can also add an operator-supplied mounted direction and its declared uncertainty to that local engineering log. Completion does not measure its accuracy, and the reference is not reused as a trusted calibration in a later session. These experimental direction features are not enabled in the consumer Release app.
Sound choices and saved setups
The app saves sound-perspective and character choices, custom gear ratios, transmission mode, engine volume, haptics, optional-location and audio preferences locally. It also stores two counters that pace suggestions and the reason and time a session last stopped by itself. Named setups include a name you enter, a local identifier and the selected sound, character, gearbox, mode and volume. Active and archived setups remain on your iPhone when Pro ends. There is no developer-hosted storage or synchronization.
Each session requires a fresh parked baseline. Separately, the app saves what it learned about the phone mount: tilt, the car’s forward direction and correction values, with no location, time or route in that mount record. This speeds up alignment when the same mount is used the same way; the app checks it again while driving. Internal timing supports simulation and stale-input checks; it is not sent to a server. Device backup settings can affect whether local preferences and setups are backed up and restored.
Daily driving allowance and time checks
The app stores the Original 488 allowance balance, last verified UTC day and accounting state in a local, device-only Keychain item. It is not synchronized to other devices. Keychain state may survive reinstalling on the same device; reinstalling does not guarantee another allowance.
To verify the current UTC day, the app makes an HTTPS HEAD request to its GitHub Pages support page. This uses an ephemeral session without stored cookies or credentials, and sends no request body, query identifier, motion, location, purchase records or unique app identifier. The app reads the response’s time information rather than trusting changes to the device’s date.
The host receives ordinary connection information, including your IP address and standard networking headers. GitHub’s privacy and logging practices apply; Powertrain Lab does not promise or control host-log retention. Existing remaining time works offline. After reopening the app, a connection is needed to establish a later allowance day. Apex V10 and verified Pro do not depend on this time check.
Apple Watch companion
The companion exchanges simulated RPM, gear, session availability and manual-shift requests with your paired iPhone through Apple's WatchConnectivity service. Short-lived request identifiers prevent duplicate or stale shifts. These messages do not include location, motion recordings or purchase records, and are not sent to a developer server. The watch displays the iPhone simulation; it does not measure or control the vehicle.
Music and audio
The consumer app mixes its generated sound with other audio using iOS audio services. Optional Lower other audio asks iOS to lower other apps while the engine plays. It does not read music files, library details or account information, and provides no app-to-app playback control.
Exporting setups
Export all setups creates a JSON file with your active and archived setup names and settings. It does not include motion, location, calibration or purchase data. Export remains available without Pro. Choose the destination yourself using iOS; that destination's privacy practices apply. The app does not automatically send the file to support or a server.
Subscriptions and Apple
Apple handles purchase, billing and subscription management through your Apple Account. Powertrain Lab receives StoreKit product information and signed transaction information, including product and transaction identifiers and subscription status, to check Pro access on your device. The app does not receive payment-card details or send purchase records to a developer server.
Restore purchases asks Apple to synchronize your purchases. It can require Apple Account authentication. App Store, location, permission and backup services operate under Apple's policies and your device settings. Turning off renewal preserves access for its remaining valid period.
Optional local drive diagnostics
The optional developer menu can record raw motion, inferred speed, calibration, drivetrain state and device/build diagnostics in local engineering logs. While stopped, tap the vehicle name five times to open it and enable recording before calibration. Recording is off on a fresh install. Your explicit choice is remembered across app launches and can be changed while the session is stopped. Stop session finishes a log; the menu can export saved logs through the iOS share sheet. Exiting the menu does not change an active recording. Logs contain no coordinates or microphone audio, are excluded from device backup and never upload automatically. Each log is limited to 2 GB; storage errors or the size limit end recording, and incomplete files remain marked incomplete. An export destination has its own privacy practices.
Removing data
Deleting the app removes local settings, saved setups and other app files from the device. Device-only Keychain allowance data may remain on the same device; survival is not guaranteed. It does not delete a file you exported elsewhere, change your device backups, cancel a subscription or delete Apple's transaction records. Manage or cancel your subscription using Manage subscription in the Pro screen or Apple's subscription settings.
Previously recorded engineering logs may remain in app storage after an update and can appear in the developer menu for export. No log is shared automatically. Removing the app deletes its local logs; copies you exported remain at their chosen destination.
When you contact support
If you choose to email support, your email provider delivers your address, message and any attachments you include. That correspondence is used to respond and investigate the issue. Do not send passwords, payment-card details, precise routes or unrelated sensitive information. The app never automatically attaches driving data.
Support correspondence is retained only as needed to handle the request and applicable recordkeeping obligations. You can ask about or request deletion of correspondence at mwsupplylimited@gmail.com.
This website
These support and privacy pages are hosted by GitHub Pages. We add no analytics scripts, tracking pixels, cookies, remote fonts or external assets to these pages. Visiting them still sends connection information to GitHub. GitHub states that it logs and stores visitors' IP addresses for security, including visits without signing in. This website processing is separate from the app's local motion and sound processing.
See GitHub Pages data collection and the GitHub Privacy Statement for its handling of connection and usage information. Email and any destination you choose for an exported file are separate services with their own practices.
Last updated October 14, 2026. Changes to app data handling will be reflected here.