Last updated: November 3, 2026

Privacy Policy

The Reading Room is a feed reader for Mac, iPhone and iPad made by David Daniels. This policy explains what the app does with information. The short version: the app does not collect, sell or share any personal information. Everything you put in it stays on your devices, and in your own iCloud Drive if you turn on sync.

What the app stores

The app keeps the following on your device, in its own private storage:

• the feeds and folders you follow
• the stories it downloads from those feeds, and copies of articles you open in the reader
• which stories you have read or saved, and when you read them
• your highlights and notes
• your settings, such as muted words, hidden news sources, which feeds are people, and the town you chose for the weather

None of this is sent to David Daniels or to anyone else. There is no account and no sign-in to the app. Deleting the app deletes this information.

Sync between your devices

Sync is off until you turn it on. When you do, you choose a folder in your own iCloud Drive, and the app keeps a small file there for each of your devices with your feeds, folders, read and saved stories, highlights, notes and settings. That folder belongs to your Apple Account and is handled by Apple under its own privacy policy. David Daniels has no access to it. Turn sync off at any time and delete the folder if you like.

Who the app talks to

To do its job, the app connects directly to:

• the websites you follow, to download their feeds, the articles you open, and their pictures
• Google News, only if you follow a search phrase (for example, typing “birdwatching” instead of a web address), to fetch the results for that phrase
• pages you choose to open in the app’s web window
• the websites of blogs you might like, when you use Discover: the app reads the public blogroll pages and feeds of the sites you follow, and the feeds of the blogs they recommend
• Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com), only if you add the weather to Today: the town you type, and then its map coordinates, are sent to get the forecast. Your exact location is never used
• Apple’s public podcast directory, only when you paste an Apple Podcasts link, to find that show’s feed
• YouTube, only when you play a video, through YouTube’s privacy-enhanced player (youtube-nocookie.com). YouTube’s own privacy policy applies to playback
• the writer’s page and feed, when you press Write back, to find the ways they invite replies. Nothing is sent to the writer unless you choose to write to them in your own mail app or on their site

Like any web browser, these connections reveal your device’s IP address and basic technical details to the site you’re contacting. Each site’s own privacy policy applies to what it does with that.

Mastodon and Bluesky

Connecting a Mastodon or Bluesky account is optional. If you do, you sign in to your own server: on Bluesky with an App Password you create (never your main password), on Mastodon by approving the app on your server’s own page. What it takes to stay signed in is kept in your device’s Keychain, not in the app’s files or your sync folder, and it is sent only to your own Bluesky or Mastodon server. The app then posts only what you write and choose to post, and shows your posts, the replies to them and your mentions. Mute, block and report use those networks’ own tools, and reports go to their moderators. Disconnect at any time to remove the sign-in from the device; you can also revoke the app from your Bluesky or Mastodon settings.

Sharing

When you share a story to X or LinkedIn, the app opens that service’s own sharing page. If you sign in there, the sign-in is between you and that service and is governed by its privacy policy. Copy link and Email use your device’s clipboard and Mail app, and on iPhone and iPad the share sheet sends the story to the app you pick; The Reading Room does not see or keep what you send.

Listening

Listen reads articles aloud using your device’s own built-in voices. The text stays on your device.

Analytics, advertising and tracking

The app has no analytics, no advertising, no tracking, and no third-party software that collects data.

Beta versions on TestFlight

This applies only if you try a beta version through TestFlight, Apple’s service for testing apps. TestFlight automatically collects crash logs and usage information and shares them with David Daniels as the developer, including install and session counts, crash logs, and your device’s model, identifier, software version and language. If you joined through a public link, your name and email address are not shared. Anything you send as beta feedback, such as comments and screenshots, is shared too, along with technical details about your device. This information is used only to find and fix problems in the app. Apple’s TestFlight & Privacy page explains what Apple collects and keeps.

Children

The app is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from anyone.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.

Contact

Questions about this policy or the app: use the contact details at daviddaniels.com.