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Does Steady Ember work without internet?
Everything inside the app runs without a connection. Two things outside it do not.
Yes, fully. The release build does not even request the internet permission, so nothing in the app can make a network request. Habits, streaks, notes and history sit in a local SQLite database on your phone. Only downloading the app and receiving updates need a connection.
What runs entirely on your phone
The app is built to work in aeroplane mode, and that is a design constraint rather than a fallback. Practically, it means:
- Your habits live in an SQLite database in local device storage
- There is no account — nothing to sign into, no server holding a copy
- There are no analytics SDKs — no Firebase, no Mixpanel, no background reporting
- Reminders, streaks, freezes, statistics and heatmaps are all calculated on the device
- CSV and JSON export and AES-256-GCM encrypted backups are written to storage you control
The notes insight engine is local, not cloud AI
Daily notes are read by a deterministic tone and vocabulary engine that runs on the device. The same note produces the same reading every time, which is the point: it is a rule-based summary of what you wrote, not a model called over a network. Your notes are never sent anywhere to be interpreted, because there is nowhere to send them.
Health Connect stays on the device too
Sync reads steps, hydration and sleep from Health Connect, which is an on-device store on Android. That is a local read followed by a local write — the same kind of operation as opening any other database on your phone, with no network request involved at any step.
What does need the internet
| Action | Needs internet |
|---|---|
| Installing the app | Yes — Google Play |
| Receiving an update | Yes — Google Play |
| Logging habits, streaks, freezes | No |
| Notes and local insights | No |
| Health Connect sync | No |
| Export and encrypted backup | No |
The internet is needed to get the app onto the phone and to deliver updates afterwards. Once it is installed, nothing inside it depends on a connection — not the first check-in, not the thousandth.
If nothing is uploaded, how do backups work?
You create them. An export writes a CSV or JSON file to your device, and an encrypted backup writes an AES-256-GCM file protected by your key. Both are plain files you move wherever you like. There is no automatic off-device copy, which is the trade an offline app makes.
A habit tracker that never asks for a connection
Steady Ember is a private, offline habit tracker: local SQLite storage, no account, no analytics, and no internet permission in the release build.
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