Hey everyone,
after recently realising that the notifications sent to the app from HA actually make a roundtrip through firebase (even if I sit on my couch at home), I’m hesitant to venture into using the app more. I’d like to setup the notification sensor to make phone notifications visible on other displays in the apartment, but definitely not as long as I cannot rule out that the information is also being passed on somewhere else.
Is there a definite guide/documentation somewhere that lines out which parts of the app actually operate fully local, and which ones go via the “outside world”?
Thanks in advance! 
I believe notifications are the only thing that might ever go through a 3rd party (besides Nabu Casa, if you use this obviously). But that can also be managed via Settings – Companion App – (Server Name) – Persistent Connection; just set it to ‘Always’.
only notifications are sent to firebase as that results in a battery friendly way to get notifications because local push will drain battery, other than that the device tracker gets data from Google location services. Everything else is completely local unless it uses a Google API like the activity/sleep sensors.
and yes you should refer to official companion app documentation which calls such things out.
if you want to avoid using google services altogether then install the minimal version of the app found on github.
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The page about notifications does indeed mention the firebase topic, but I didn’t find a complete list of “exit points” or cloud interactions across features. Of course I can click through every feature page in the documentation, but I was hoping for a more centralised list. Searching for “privacy” or “architecture” might help (and lists e.g. the notification page), but then I need to be sure that I had used the right search terms 
In addition to this page every feature discusses which API is used. If you don’t want Google services you use the minimal version.