FoliumText Privacy Policy
FoliumText (“the app”) is developed by George Bafaloukas. This policy explains what happens to your data when you use FoliumText. The short version: nothing leaves your device, because the app collects nothing and sends nothing.
What FoliumText does
FoliumText opens, displays, and lets you edit Markdown (.md) files that you choose to open — from the Files app, Finder, or another app’s “Open With” menu. It runs entirely on your device.
What we collect
Nothing. Specifically:
- No personal information. There is no account, sign-in, or user profile.
- No analytics or usage tracking. The app contains no analytics SDK, crash reporter, or telemetry framework.
- No advertising. The app contains no ad SDKs and shows no ads.
- No tracking. The app does not track you across other companies’ apps or websites.
Network access
By default, FoliumText does not send or receive any data over the internet. It does not sync, check for updates, or contact any server of ours. The developer operates no servers for the app.
Optional: remote images. Some Markdown documents link to pictures hosted on websites (for example, status badges in a README). FoliumText does not load those pictures unless you turn on Load Remote Images in Reading Settings. When it is on, the app downloads each such image directly from the website that hosts it, the same way a web browser would. That website can see your device’s IP address and that the image was requested, as with any web request. The app sends no cookies and keeps no cache of these downloads on disk, and nothing is sent to the developer or to anyone else. You can turn the setting off at any time.
One technical note for transparency: to draw Mermaid diagrams, the app uses Apple’s WebKit component to display a copy of the Mermaid renderer that is bundled inside the app. On the Mac, Apple’s App Sandbox requires the “outgoing connections” permission for WebKit to work at all, so the Mac app holds that permission. The app does not use it: the diagram page is loaded from inside the app, is configured to block all network requests, and the app refuses to navigate anywhere other than its own bundled files.
File access
FoliumText reads and writes only the files and folders you explicitly choose, using Apple’s standard file pickers, document browser, and “Open With” mechanisms. The app runs inside Apple’s App Sandbox, which prevents it from accessing anything else on your device. Your files are never uploaded, synced to a server, or shared with the developer or any third party, because the app has no mechanism to do so.
Information stored on your device
The app saves your display preferences (theme, font, text size, whether remote images are on, and similar settings), your text snippets, and — if you choose a folder in the sidebar — a bookmark that lets it reopen that folder next time. This information stays on your device in the app’s own storage and is never transmitted. Deleting the app removes it.
Optional: Spotlight search
If you choose a folder in the sidebar, you can turn on Search These Files in Spotlight. Spotlight then stores each Markdown file’s name, a short preview of its first lines, and its location in the search index on your device. This is off by default, stays on your device, and is removed when you turn the setting off.
Quick Look and Shortcuts
FoliumText includes a Quick Look preview, which lets Finder and the Files app show a Markdown file without opening the app; Shortcuts actions that convert or count words in a file you give them; a home-screen widget that shows a Markdown tip from content bundled in the app (it reads none of your files); and a share-sheet action that saves text, a link, or a file you share as a Markdown file in a place you choose. All of them run entirely on your device and send nothing anywhere.
Third-party components
FoliumText bundles four open-source components that run entirely on your device and transmit nothing: swift-markdown (Markdown parsing), Highlightr (code syntax highlighting), Mermaid (diagram rendering), and KaTeX (math typesetting).
Children’s privacy
FoliumText does not collect data from anyone, including children.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this same address with a new “Last updated” date.
Contact
Questions about this policy: bafaloukasios@gmail.com