Local by design.

Pocket Daily does not operate an account system, analytics service, advertising network, or cloud relay. We do not collect data from the app.

Your library and reading

Books you add, their covers, your reading positions and your text settings are stored only on your device. The built-in reader does not run scripts from books and loads nothing from the network; links in a book open in your browser only after you confirm.

Optional reading tools

Recap So Far selects original passages before the start of your current page. Supported devices and languages can use Apple's on-device Foundation Models to select passage identifiers; other devices use local text ranking. Book text, prompts, recaps and page-turn images are not sent to the developer or a cloud model. Temporary results stay in memory and are not included in diagnostics or iCloud. Paper Curl releases its temporary page images after each turn.

Read Aloud sends short passages to Apple's system speech synthesizer only after you choose to listen. Pocket Daily does not send them to a developer server or request microphone access. Playback buffers and the audio position stay in memory; spoken words are highlighted locally and the visible page follows playback. Page changes use the same saved/synced reading-position rules as manual reading.

Keeping your place across devices

When you are signed in to iCloud, Pocket Daily stores a fingerprint of each book you open, your position, this device's name and a random installation identifier in your own iCloud key-value storage, so your other Apple devices can offer to continue. The developer receives nothing; you can turn it off in Settings → Continue Reading. A connected X3/X4 reader whose firmware supports it exchanges the same record over the local connection only.

Information Pocket Daily handles

The app handles device discovery signals, compatible reader status, reader preferences, user-selected books, study packs, fonts, firmware files, and reader crash diagnostics only to perform actions the user requests. This information stays on the user's Apple device, local network, compatible reader, SD card, or another location explicitly selected by the user.

Reader Wi-Fi setup

When you choose Save and Connect, the Wi-Fi name and password you select go only to your identified, paired reader over authenticated, encrypted Bluetooth. On Mac, Use Current Wi-Fi can fill the saved password using Apple’s CoreWLAN API and system keychain authorization for the current network only. Pocket Daily does not retrieve passwords in the background, change this Apple device’s network, persist these credentials in the app, sync them to iCloud, include them in diagnostics, or send them to the developer. The reader saves the network after a successful connection. Its existing SD-card credential store uses device-specific obfuscation, not encryption at rest; remove saved networks on the reader before sharing its SD card. A failed connection leaves previous saved networks intact.

Bluetooth, local network, and Wi-Fi permission

Bluetooth is used to discover and pair with a nearby compatible reader, and to exchange reading places with that paired reader over its encrypted connection when it closes a book, wakes or goes to sleep, also while the app is in the background. Only the book fingerprint, position, progress and device name are exchanged; file names and book contents are not. Each registered, paired reader has a locally stored Bluetooth identifier and reader ID; pairing passkeys are not stored. Background delivery is controlled by the operating system, and Settings → Continue Reading can disable it. The local network and a temporary reader Wi-Fi network are used for direct transfer. After a reader has connected over the same Wi-Fi, the app checks its last address and can search the current local network if that address has changed. A rediscovered reader must match the saved reader identity. Automatic reconnection can be turned off in Settings and never changes this device's Wi-Fi network. While a reader is connected, the app reads the names and sizes of the books in the folders it sends to, and the reader's recent books with their fingerprints and progress, to show which Library books are on the reader; a book on the reader is copied into the Library only when the user chooses Add to Library. Use Current Wi-Fi requests location permission only to fill in the current network name (Precise Location authorization on iOS/iPadOS). macOS also uses this permission to discover the reader’s temporary network. No coordinate readings or location updates are made. Manual entry remains available if permission is denied.

If the user names a city for weather, Pocket Daily looks up that city with Apple's geocoder and requests its forecast from Apple WeatherKit; only the city's coordinates are sent, and the forecast is stored on the device and sent to the user's reader. If the user turns on calendar events, today's event titles and times are read on the device with the system's permission and sent only to the user's reader over the local connection. Event contents are not stored by the app. The choice of all or selected calendars is stored locally; a source change is sent to the reader only when the user applies it.

Outside demo mode, Pocket Daily checks GitHub for the latest official firmware version and publication date once per app launch and again when a reader connects, at most once every ten minutes. The user can retry a failed check. Downloads are user requested: confirmed Update downloads and sends to the connected reader, while Download Update for Later only prepares a local copy and requires confirmation before a later Send Update. Installation also requires confirmation on the reader. Requests contain no reader identity or file contents; GitHub receives the device's network address and its privacy statement governs its servers. The downloaded file is deleted after it is sent or the update is cancelled; interrupted transfers remain available for retry or cleanup.

Reader fonts and file previews

Outside demo mode, Reading Preferences may download CrossPoint's free font catalog from the crosspoint-fonts repository on GitHub when it needs coverage information for font suggestions. Opening More Fonts also loads the catalog; the catalog is reused while cached in memory. Font files are downloaded only when the user chooses to install a family. GitHub receives the device's network address and the requested catalog or font URL, but no reader identity, book titles, authors, languages or book contents. Font suggestions compare book titles, authors and declared languages with font coverage locally on the Apple device.

Downloaded font files are checked and prepared locally before transfer to the reader. The download's temporary folder is removed when the operation finishes or is cancelled; prepared copies from interrupted transfers remain available for retry or cleanup. Choosing a font changes the connected reader's setting; the reader uses it the next time a book opens.

Opening Preview for an EPUB, TXT or Markdown file on the reader requests a temporary local copy over the reader connection. The app displays the EPUB's title and cover, or the opening text of a text file. Closing the preview removes its temporary copy. Preview alone does not add a book to the Library or upload its contents to GitHub, iCloud or a developer server. Choosing Add to Library keeps a separate Library copy. Deleting a file from the reader requires confirmation and leaves any Library copy intact.

Free initial release

The initial release has no in-app purchases, subscriptions or developer-tip prompts. Pocket Daily does not request product information or start StoreKit transaction observation at launch. Future monetization has not been decided.

Files and diagnostics

Files are never uploaded to a Pocket Daily server. Prepared files stay in the app until sent successfully or removed from the prepared list. Reader IDs and pending firmware versions are stored locally for retries and installation checks. Local book-transfer task records retain selected book references, the destination reader and per-file results so interrupted tasks can be reopened and uncertain results checked without resending. Reader crash reports may be archived locally for diagnosis and leave the device only when the user explicitly exports them. Removing the app deletes data held in its app container; files already copied to a reader, SD card, or user-selected folder remain under the user's control.

Articles and subscriptions

Sharing, pasting or dropping links, text, images, PDFs and saved email files first keeps the original in the app’s local shared container. Reading copies are prepared locally; image and scanned-PDF text recognition uses Apple’s on-device Vision. Saved email files need no mailbox login. Unknown or unreadable files retain their originals for viewing and retry.

Selected HTTPS pages and up to eight article illustrations are requested directly from their publisher/image hosts, which see your network address and requested URLs. No browser cookies or reader information are sent; scripts do not run. Illustrations are embedded locally and the reading engine never downloads them. Login-protected pages may need shared selected text. Following a publication discovers its advertised RSS or Atom feed and fetches up to 20 entries on follow, manual refresh or activation, at most once per five minutes. This feed flow has no mail account connection, server relay or scheduled delivery. Unfollowing keeps collected reading.

When iCloud is available, non-Gmail article originals, prepared text/images, subscriptions, personal collections and read/saved flags synchronize through your own private iCloud Documents container. Apple operates iCloud; the developer receives none of this data. System iCloud settings control availability. Deletion propagates to connected devices and removes content-bearing snapshots/unshared assets as sync completes; identity hashes prevent stale devices restoring deleted items. Apple’s normal recovery/version retention may apply. Independently created EPUBs and reader copies remain until separately deleted. Grouping is local; shipping builds do not send content to external AI. Development AI experiments are disabled by default and are not part of the App Store product.

Optional Gmail newsletters

Gmail Newsletters is included in the internal TestFlight build 1.0.0 (4). Google authorization currently remains restricted to configured test users while production verification is pending; public availability is not yet approved. Connect Gmail opens the system authentication browser. Google grants mailbox-wide readonly permission, rather than publication-specific access. The app checks sender and mailing-list headers on-device and downloads bodies only for publications you choose, excluding Spam and Trash. It never sends, deletes, labels or marks mail as read. Google receives direct API requests and your network address.

Credentials stay in this device’s Keychain without iCloud synchronization. Choices, checkpoints and prepared text stay in the app’s private local container, outside the shared Articles/iCloud container. Recipient/transport headers, raw MIME, remote images and attachment files are not retained. No mail content goes to the developer, external AI, analytics or iCloud. Connect separately on each Apple device. Explicit local EPUB creation and reader transfer remain available; Continue Reading exchanges only book fingerprints and positions under the existing settings.

Private Gmail folders and app-created Gmail Library EPUBs are excluded from automatic device backup; explicitly exported files remain under your control. Checks run while active and, on iOS, when the system permits background refresh. Disconnect removes local credentials/settings and attempts Google token revocation; if offline, revoke in Google Account → Connections when online. Downloaded reading stays until deleted; independent EPUBs must be removed separately. Deleting the app does not itself revoke Google access. Google API data is used only for this reading function, never AI training. Use and transfer adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including Limited Use requirements.

Third parties and children

Pocket Daily contains no third-party analytics or advertising SDK. The app does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children, because it does not collect information through a developer-operated service.

Changes and contact

Material changes will be published here and reflected in the App Store privacy answers. Questions can be filed through Pocket Daily Support.