Privacy
Last updated
Shelf is for reading the books you already own. It has no account and doesn’t track you. Here is all it does with your information.
Your library stays with you
The books, manga and comics you import stay on this device, or, with Keep books on all devices on in Settings, go into the Shelf folder in your own iCloud Drive, which only you and your devices can reach. Shelf never uploads them anywhere else. With Sync on, the list of them goes to your iCloud: see below.
Your settings, and what you’re reading and where, are kept on this device too.
Sync, through your own iCloud
With Sync on in Settings, Shelf keeps your reading positions, bookmarks, highlights, the titles you’ve marked as read, and a list of the books on each device (title, author, file name, size and place in the Shelf folder, and a small cover image, never the books themselves) in your own iCloud account, so they follow you to your other devices. Each reading position and each list also notes the kind of device it came from, so Shelf can say where you left off and where a book is.
This goes to your iCloud account, which Apple runs under its own privacy policy. The developer of Shelf can’t see it. Turn Sync off in Settings to stop.
Calibre, if you connect it
If you connect Shelf to Calibre, Shelf talks only to the Calibre server you chose, found on your Wi-Fi or at the address you typed, to list your Calibre books and download the ones you pick. It never changes your Calibre library.
The server’s name, address and username are kept on this device, and its password in this device’s Keychain, never synced. Forget the server in Settings to remove them.
Feedback you choose to send
When you send feedback, Shelf sends your message and the tags you chose, with the app’s version and build, your device model, your iOS version and the screen you were on. It goes through Web3Forms to the developer’s email inbox, where Web3Forms and the email provider handle it under their own policies.
It never includes your name, email address, books, files or any identifier.
Email updates, if you join
If you join email updates, Shelf sends the address you type to Buttondown, the service that runs Shelf’s mailing list. Buttondown emails you a link to confirm, then sends news when a new version of Shelf is ready. Your address is used for nothing else, and never sold or shared.
To stop the emails, use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of any Shelf email. Shelf also remembers the address on this device, to show it in Settings.
What Shelf doesn’t do
No account, no ads, no analytics and no tracking across apps or websites. Shelf doesn’t sell or share your information.
Changes and questions
If this policy changes, the new version will be here in Shelf. To ask about it, send feedback from the More menu on Home.
You can also write to [email protected].