StrandXR

Privacy policy

Last updated 7 November 2026

In short

This policy covers the StrandXR app for Apple Vision Pro, the StrandXR software for Windows, and this website. “StrandXR”, “we” and “us” mean the people who make StrandXR.

The Vision Pro app

To stream a game, the app sends your PC what the game needs to draw your view and respond to you. It goes straight from your headset to the PC you connect to, over your local network, and nowhere else.

What Why it goes to your PC
Your head Its position and orientation, many times a second, so the game draws the view from where your head is.
Your handsHand tracking permission The positions and movements of your hand and finger joints, so games can show your hands, detect pinches and grabs, and put a gamepad or Joy-Con you hold in VR in your hand. While you use a PlayStation VR2 Sense controller, the joints of the hand holding it go only if you turn on “Fingers from hand tracking” in the app’s settings. With “Hands and controllers” in the app’s settings at Hands off, they go only with a controller, gamepad or Joy-Con you hold, as above, and at All off not at all. With “Stay on the gamepad” on, a gamepad or Joy-Con you’ve picked up counts as held until it disconnects, you leave VR, or another gamepad or a Sense controller takes over.
Your controllersAccessory tracking permission The positions and movements of PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers, their buttons, sticks, triggers and touches, whether you’re holding them, and their battery levels and whether they’re charging, so games can use them. Your PC sends rumble back. A connected gamepad’s or Joy-Con pair’s buttons, sticks and triggers go to your PC only if you turn on “Gamepads and Joy-Con” in the app’s settings. Then they go in place of a Sense controller that isn’t in use (in VR, while you hold it or “Stay on the gamepad” keeps it), with the gamepad’s or Joy-Con pair’s battery level and whether it’s charging when that side’s Sense controller isn’t connected, and your PC sends rumble back to it. With “Hands and controllers” at Controllers off or All off, none of this goes but a Sense controller’s battery level and whether it’s charging.
Your voiceMicrophone permission Only if your PC has a virtual microphone set up, you allow access and the app’s microphone is on (it is unless you turn it off, in the app’s settings or with the Mic button among the stream’s controls): your voice, live while you stream, so games and voice chat on the PC hear you. The app doesn’t record or keep it.
Your keyboard Which keys you hold on a keyboard connected to Vision Pro, live while you stream, so your PC presses them in whichever window has focus there: in VR, except while you edit passthrough areas or type an area’s name, and outside VR only if you turn on “In the window” under “Keyboard” (in the app’s settings, or with the keyboard button over the picture). The app doesn’t record or keep them.
Eye distance How far apart visionOS draws your two eyes’ views, so the PC renders the same separation.
Headset details Battery level and whether it’s charging; a generic device name (visionOS doesn’t give apps the name you chose for your headset); when you leave or return to the stream, or recenter; your stream settings, including changes you make while streaming; and connection statistics such as frame timings.

The local network permission lets the app find PCs running StrandXR on your network and connect to the one you choose. Streaming needs only this permission: head tracking needs none, and the others are optional. You can change any of them in Settings on Vision Pro, under Privacy & Security.

The connection isn’t encrypted: StrandXR is meant for a network you trust, such as your home.

On the headset

The app keeps your settings, the PCs you’ve streamed from with when you last played on each (up to eight, so it can list them; you can forget any of them), and which PC you last streamed from and when (to resume after a relaunch). Deleting the app deletes them.

If you use passthrough areas, the app saves each area’s name, shape, size and opacity with your settings, and where you put it as an anchor that visionOS keeps for the app. If you let it use your surroundings (Surroundings, in Privacy & Security), which only passthrough areas do, it also detects flat surfaces around you (desks, floors and walls) to line the areas up as you place them, and recognises which room you are in, so each area shows only in its own room; it keeps nothing about the room after the session. Neither the surfaces, the rooms nor the areas go to your PC.

Nothing else

The app connects to nothing but your PC. It contains no analytics, advertising or tracking code. The only code from third parties in it is PyroWave’s open-source video decoder, which handles video from your PC and nothing else.

The PC software

StrandXR’s SteamVR driver, VR runtime, companion app and installer keep what they store on your PC:

So that your headset can find it, StrandXR announces itself on your local network as “StrandXR on” followed by your PC’s name, with the version of the protocol it uses to talk to the app, so the app can tell you before connecting when one side needs an update. You download the PC software from this website (see “This website” below). If your PC doesn’t have a recent enough Microsoft Visual C++ runtime, the Setup downloads it from Microsoft and installs it, under Microsoft’s privacy statement.

Clicking “Check for updates” in the StrandXR window requests the latest release version from strandxr.com. If you choose “Update”, it downloads the new Setup from the same site, checks that it is StrandXR’s signed Setup and runs it. Your settings and logs stay on your PC; neither request sends them or your headset details. Updates are checked and installed only when you ask. Cloudflare handles these requests as described below. When a download’s signature is checked, Windows may contact the issuer of its certificate to confirm the certificate is still valid. Apart from these requests and the Setup’s Microsoft download, the PC software makes no internet connections.

When something goes wrong, you can make a problem report: Collect logs in the StrandXR window. It saves a zip on your Desktop with StrandXR’s logs and settings, the log of the last in-app update, SteamVR’s log, and details of your PC: its Windows version, and graphics cards and their drivers.

It also describes your PC’s network, to help find why a headset can’t connect or a stream stutters. That covers its network adapters and addresses, routes, network names and whether Windows treats them as private or public, and the Wi-Fi link (network name, band, signal and speed). It names any VPN software found and says whether it is running and, for some, whether it lets local traffic through, with the VPN’s own addresses and, if it sends your traffic out through another device, that device’s address and identifier, but no list of your other devices and nothing about your account. It also lists firewall settings and rules, the names of security software, and the programs using StrandXR’s ports. It leaves out hardware (MAC) addresses, and it doesn’t look up your public IP address.

The logs name each headset that connected and its address on your local network. The zip is sent nowhere: you decide whether to send it to us, and can look through it first. We see it only if you send it, and use it only to fix your problem.

Nothing else leaves your PC. When you uninstall StrandXR, you can choose to delete its settings and logs from %LOCALAPPDATA%\StrandXR. SteamVR keeps its own log, and the Setup’s logs and any stream diagnostics stay in your temporary folder.

Crash reports and feedback

Apple shares crash reports and usage information with app developers: always for apps installed through TestFlight, and otherwise only if you’ve chosen to share with app developers in Settings. Through TestFlight, they include your device’s model and an identifier for it, and Apple also shares any feedback and screenshots you send and, if you were invited by email, your name and email address. If you joined through a public link, Apple doesn’t show us your name or email address. We use all of this only to fix and improve StrandXR, and we don’t share it. Apple explains what TestFlight collects in TestFlight & Privacy.

This website

This site sets no cookies of its own and uses no analytics, trackers, third-party scripts or web fonts. It’s hosted by Cloudflare, which handles the technical details of each visit, download and update check, such as your IP address, to deliver and protect the site, under Cloudflare’s privacy policy.

Contacting us

Questions about privacy, or anything else: support@strandxr.com. When you write, we use your address and message to reply, and keep them only as long as we need to. To have anything you’ve sent us deleted, problem reports included, write to the same address.

Changes

When StrandXR starts handling data differently, we’ll update this page and the date at the top.