Air Quality is an environmental information app. It is not a medical device, not an official alerting service, and not a regulatory measuring instrument. The indices, concentrations, forecasts, pollen levels and advice it displays are provided for guidance only and in no way replace the advice of a healthcare professional or the instructions of public authorities.
1. Modelled values, not a measurement at your door
Apart from readings from official monitoring stations, the values shown come from numerical air quality models with a resolution in the order of eleven kilometres across Europe and forty-five kilometres in the rest of the world. They describe an area, not a precise point.
The air you actually breathe may differ significantly, in particular:
- beside a busy road or in a narrow street, where nitrogen dioxide and particles are higher;
- near a construction site, industrial activity, wood heating or a fire;
- indoors, where air quality depends on ventilation, cooking, smoking and the products used — the app measures outdoor air only;
- during a sudden event (fire, spraying, local episode) that models cannot anticipate.
2. Official sources prevail
Where an official measurement is published for your municipality, the app displays it in priority. It nevertheless remains an information tool: in the event of any discrepancy between the app and a communication from the public authorities, the publications of the competent authorities in your country prevail — in France, those of your prefecture, your regional health agency and the regional air quality monitoring body — in particular as regards binding measures taken during a pollution episode.
3. General advice, not personalised
The recommendations displayed (air the place, limit strenuous effort, go out in the morning, stay indoors) are general pieces of advice, based on the usual public health messages. They take no account of your state of health, your treatments or your medical history.
The sensitivity profile offered in the settings performs no medical assessment: it only adjusts the threshold at which you are alerted, and changes neither the readings nor their interpretation.
4. Vulnerable people
If you have asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, respiratory or heart failure, a severe allergy, if you are pregnant, elderly, or responsible for a young child, the course of action during a pollution episode should be defined with your doctor. Never change a treatment, and never interrupt medical follow-up, on the basis of the information displayed by the app.
If you experience unusual symptoms — breathing difficulty, chest tightness, persistent cough, palpitations, faintness — consult a healthcare professional, regardless of what the app shows.
5. Alerts are not a safety device
Alerts are computed on your device, through background tasks executed by the operating system. Their delivery may be delayed, restricted or prevented by the device itself: power-saving mode, lack of network, system restrictions, device switched off, permissions revoked.
No guarantee of delivery or timing can therefore be given. Do not rely on receiving a notification from the app for your safety or that of anyone else.
6. Pollen
Pollen levels are modelled estimates by family (alder, birch, grass, mugwort, olive, ragweed). They are neither a local pollen count nor an allergy diagnosis. An allergic person may react at levels described as low. Diagnosis and treatment of allergies are matters for an allergy specialist.
7. Weather and UV index
Weather information, including the UV index, is provided to explain variations in air quality. It replaces neither a dedicated weather service nor sun protection guidance, and must not be used for safety-critical decisions (navigation, aviation, mountain activities).
8. No emergency function
The app cannot be used to contact emergency services and must never be relied upon in an emergency. In the event of breathing difficulty, a severe asthma attack, chest pain or faintness, call your local emergency number immediately — in France, 15 (SAMU) or 112 (European emergency number); 114 is available by text message for deaf and hard-of-hearing people.
9. Scope of this disclaimer
This disclaimer forms an integral part of the terms of use and should be read together with them and with the legal notice, which sets out the origin and licences of the data displayed.
This English version is provided for convenience; in the event of any discrepancy, the French version shall prevail.
Questions: contact.airquality@devolim.fr.