Garmin Camera Click Companion ("the app") is a simple utility that lets your paired Garmin smartwatch trigger your phone's camera shutter. We do not collect, store, or sell your personal data. Period.
The app listens for a shutter signal from your Garmin watch and clicks the capture button in your phone's camera app on your behalf. That's it.
None of your personal data.
The app does NOT access or collect:
Camera accessibility control — The app uses Android's Accessibility Service to locate and click the shutter button inside your open camera app. It reads only the on-screen button positions needed to perform the click. This information is never stored or transmitted.
Watch communication — When your Garmin watch sends a shutter command, the app receives it over your local Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connection and replies with a simple "Success" or "Failed" message. No personal data is part of this exchange.
Photo detection — For certain camera apps, the app briefly monitors whether a new photo file was created (so it can confirm the shutter worked). It detects only the existence of a new file — it never reads the photo, its metadata, or its location.
Preferences — Your in-app settings (e.g., preferred button-detection method) are saved locally on your device using Android's SharedPreferences. They are never transmitted anywhere.
Garmin shows this notice because the app includes the standard INTERNET
permission. This is nothing to worry about, and — importantly:
The INTERNET permission is declared for two background reasons unrelated to
the core feature:
Garmin ConnectIQ communication — The Garmin ConnectIQ SDK (the library that lets this app talk to your watch) requires network access to relay messages between the phone and your Garmin device through Garmin's services. The only data exchanged is the shutter trigger command from your watch and a "Success" or "Failed" reply from the app. No personal data of any kind is part of this exchange.
Crash reporting — If the app crashes, a small anonymous report is sent to Google Firebase Crashlytics. This report contains:
It does not contain your name, photos, location, or anything personal.
Basic analytics — Firebase Analytics receives anonymous signals about which app features are used (e.g., "shutter triggered successfully"). No personally identifiable information is included.
The app has no backend server of its own. Your personal data is never collected or uploaded anywhere.
If you prefer to opt out of Firebase analytics entirely, you can do so in your Android device settings under Privacy → Ads → Delete advertising ID or by using a network-level blocker.
| Service | Purpose | Data Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Garmin ConnectIQ SDK | Watch communication via Garmin's relay | Shutter trigger + "Success"/"Failed" reply — no PII |
| Google Firebase Crashlytics | Crash reporting | Device model, OS version, app version, crash trace — no PII |
| Google Firebase Analytics | Anonymous usage statistics | Anonymous event counts — no PII |
No other third-party services, SDKs, or APIs are used.
The app does not collect any data from anyone, including children under 13.
If we ever change what data the app collects (we don't plan to), we will update this document and the "Last updated" date above.
Questions? Reach out at csdev971@gmail.com.