Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 20, 2026 · Last Updated: April 20, 2026

The short version: MachReader doesn't collect any personal data or phone home to its developer; no analytics, no crash reports, no tracking. All feed, article, and read-state data flows directly between your device and the self-hosted FreshRSS server you configure. Article images, Reader-Mode page fetches, and favicons load from the original websites. Optional iCloud sync is described below.

Overview

MachReader ("the App") is a native macOS, iOS, and iPadOS application that serves as a client for FreshRSS, a self-hosted RSS feed aggregator that you or a third party operate. This privacy policy describes how the App handles information.

Information We Collect

MachReader does not collect any personal information. The App does not:

Collect your name, email address, or any other identifying information
Transmit any data to the App developer or third parties (aside from the FreshRSS server and feed websites you explicitly configure, see below)
Use analytics, crash reporting services, or tracking tools
Access your contacts, photos, location, or any other system data
Create user accounts managed by the developer, or require registration with the developer
Collect or process any payment or financial information

Network Data

MachReader communicates with the following network endpoints:

Your FreshRSS server. You configure its URL, username, and API password in the App. All feed subscriptions, article content, category assignments, and read/starred/pinned state flow directly between your Device and the FreshRSS instance you chose, never through any server operated by the App developer. All communication is HTTPS-only; self-signed certificates are accepted for self-hosted servers.
Feed websites. When you view an article, images embedded in the article's HTML load directly from the article's source website. When Reader Mode is used, MachReader fetches the article page from its source website to extract clean content with Mozilla's Readability.js. When adding a feed by website URL, a page is fetched for feed auto-discovery. When thumbnails are shown in the article list, the first image in the article's HTML is downloaded from its host. No authentication or user data is sent in these requests.
Favicon lookups. MachReader tries the feed's own icon, then /favicon.ico at the feed's domain, and finally Google's favicon service (google.com/s2/favicons) as a last resort. Only the domain name is sent: no user data, cookies, or tracking identifiers.

No telemetry, usage data, crash reports, or diagnostics are transmitted to the App developer at any time.

On-Device AI Features

Article analysis (sentiment detection, named-entity extraction, and topic classification) runs entirely on your Device using Apple's NaturalLanguage framework, which works on all supported Macs (including Intel) and iOS devices. AI-powered article summarization uses Apple's on-device Foundation Models framework, available on compatible Apple devices running macOS 26 / iOS 26 or later with Apple Intelligence enabled. All processing happens locally on your Device. No article text, feed content, or other User Data is transmitted to Apple, to MachReader's developer, or to any third-party AI service. On devices without Apple Intelligence support or with it disabled, AI summarization is hidden; no cloud AI service is ever used as a fallback.

Data Storage

The App maintains a local database on your Device for offline use: a SQLite file stored in the App Group shared container (group.app.machreader.machreader) so the main app and widget extension can read the same cache. It contains your feed subscriptions, article cache, read/starred/pinned status, analysis results, AI summaries, smart filters, muted keywords, article rules, and app preferences. This database never leaves your Device.

FreshRSS credentials (server URL, username, and API password) are stored in your device's Keychain. When iCloud Keychain is enabled in iOS/macOS, credentials sync across your Apple devices via Apple's end-to-end encrypted iCloud Keychain, in accordance with Apple's Privacy Policy.

If you enable iCloud Settings Sync (off by default; a new onboarding step lets you opt in), the following are synced across your Apple devices via Apple's iCloud Key-Value Store:

App preferences: display options, refresh interval, article retention, badge toggles, keyboard shortcuts, and feed sort order.
Smart filters, muted keywords, article rules, and hidden trending topics: merged or reconciled across devices with epoch-based conflict protection.
Pinned article URLs: using article URLs as stable identifiers.
Per-feed preferences: reader-mode default, notifications, and hide-from-smart-feeds toggles.

iCloud Settings Sync can be disabled at any time in Settings → System. Article content, thumbnails, favicons, and AI summaries are never uploaded to iCloud; they remain local to each device.

Third-Party Services

MachReader does not integrate with any advertising networks, analytics platforms, crash reporters, or third-party cloud services, except for Apple's iCloud, which is used solely for optional preference and Keychain sync as described above, and solely when you opt in. The only third-party libraries bundled in the app are open source: GRDB (SQLite database), FeedKit (feed parsing), and Mozilla's Readability.js (Reader Mode); none of which make any network calls to their authors or collect data.

Children's Privacy

MachReader does not knowingly collect any information from anyone, including children under the age of 13.

Changes to This Policy

If this privacy policy changes in a future version of the App, the updated policy will be published at this URL and the "Last Updated" date above will be revised. Continued use of the App after any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions, issues, and feature requests are tracked publicly at the project's GitHub repository.