Privacy
* The biggest issue is a contradiction about saved locations. The App Store and Google Play description says your saved spots “stay on your device” and that your secret locations are yours alone. But the privacy policy says it can collect GPS coordinates, saved spots, favorites and lines, and explicitly says it uses account data to sync records. That means at least some exact location information apparently can leave the device. I would want them to explain this before storing a truly secret prospecting/collecting location.
* Google Play currently says “Data isn’t encrypted.” That’s the one that jumps off the page for me. Google Play simultaneously says the app may collect personal information and photos/videos. For an app handling precise locations, email addresses, photos and private field records, I would want a very clear answer from RockHoundR about whether all data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Their own policy merely says they use “safeguards,” without specifically promising encryption.
* Apple’s privacy disclosure doesn’t completely line up either. Apple currently shows only coarse location, not linked to you, while RockHoundR’s own policy says it may process GPS location and exact coordinates for your saved spots and other records. That could simply mean the App Store privacy label hasn’t caught up with recent features, but I would want it reconciled.
* Your locations and photos can go to third parties. Coordinates/search areas can be sent to Mapbox, Macrostrat, OpenStreetMap/Overpass, weather providers and similar services. Photos and associated information can also be sent to unnamed image-analysis/ML providers. That’s not unusual, but for secret rockhounding locations, I’d especially want to know whether the exact saved coordinates themselves ever reach those providers, or only coordinates for map/weather requests.
* Retention is very open-ended. They say they retain information for as long as “reasonably needed” and may retain backups/logs and keep de-identified or aggregated information for lawful purposes. There’s no concrete “deleted within 30/90 days” promise.
There are some good privacy provisions, too. They expressly say they don’t sell personal information; community photographs are re-encoded and GPS EXIF metadata is removed; and the server is supposed to return an exact find location only to you unless you deliberately choose to share it exactly. Those are thoughtful protections.
But there’s something else I noticed that’s outside the privacy policy and more concerning legally. Their Terms say disputes are governed by the laws of Thailand, generally subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of Thai courts, with binding individual arbitration through the Thailand Arbitration Center and a class-action waiver. They also attempt to cap their total liability at the greater of what you paid during the preceding 12 months or $100. For a U.S. consumer, those are significant provisions, although whether all of them would be enforceable against a particular U.S. user is a separate legal question.
What I’d do before putting valuable locations into it
I’d send RockHoundR four very specific questions:
1. Are my private saved spots and their exact GPS coordinates stored only on my device, or are they uploaded to RockHoundR’s servers?
2. Are all exact coordinates, photos and account data encrypted in transit and at rest? Why does Google Play currently state “Data isn’t encrypted”?
3. Which third-party providers receive my exact private coordinates, and do any of those providers retain or use those coordinates for their own purposes?
4. If I delete a private spot or delete my account, when are the exact coordinates permanently removed from production systems and backups?
The first two would determine whether I’d be comfortable putting genuinely secret locations into the app. The privacy policy itself isn’t outrageous, but the discrepancy between “your saved spots stay on your device” and a policy describing server syncing is something I would definitely want cleared up.
If you want, I can also go through their complete Terms of Service line by line. I already spotted 3–4 provisions there that concern me more than the privacy policy.
Response from developer
Thanks for the careful review. We never track or upload your GPS position; permission is used on-device to center the map. Only pins you deliberately save sync, private to your account and visible only to you. All traffic is TLS; the Play encryption label was our form error, now fixed. Happy to answer anything else - support@rockhoundr.com
Not great
Response from developer
Thanks for the feedback. What you saw are historic spots: old mine and locality records we include for research and reference, not verified active collecting sites. Names in those old records often differ from what locals call a place today. We recently added a "Historic" tag on these spots to make the difference clearer, so it may be worth another look. And if you send us the mine with the wrong name, we'll gladly correct it.
Horrible
Response from developer
We fixed this in the latest update. Please update the app and try again. If it still froze up, email us at support@rockhoundr.com and we'll help you out. Thanks!
Still doesn’t work
Response from developer
Sorry for the trouble. We tracked down the issue and it’s fixed in the latest version. Please update and give it another try. If it still freezes, email us at support@rockhoundr.com and we’ll help you out. Thanks!
Very useful and cool app
Useful even in places I know well
Scam App
Response from developer
The app is not a scam. It includes thousands of real, hand-verified rockhounding locations across the US, and they're visible on the map from first launch. A blank map means the map data failed to load on your device, which usually comes down to a network issue the first time the app opens. Force-close the app and reopen it on wifi, or delete and reinstall, and the locations will appear. If it still shows nothing after that, email us at support@rockhoundr.com with your iPhone model and iOS version and we'll get it working.
Piper
Response from developer
Sorry about that, freezing is not normal and we want to fix it. Could you email support@rockhoundr.com with your iPhone model, iOS version, and what you were doing when it froze (opening the map, tapping a spot, etc.)? In the meantime, updating to the latest version and restarting the app resolves this for most people.
Way better than competition
Doesn't even work anymore
Response from developer
Sorry you hit this. We released an update recently that fixes a startup issue some iPhone users were seeing, so please update to the latest version from the App Store, or delete and reinstall if the problem continues. If it still will not open after that, email support@rockhoundr.com and we will get you sorted.