Privacy policy

Fil is built to keep your thoughts yours. It is a local-first app: your thoughts (voice recordings, transcripts, text, images, links, and titles) live on your device, not on our servers. Mason Garcera d/b/a Smidgecraft (the maker of Fil) does not run a server that collects your content, and Fil has no account to sign into.

There is one optional exception: Fil Extra smart search, a paid feature that sends the text of your thoughts to an AI provider, which finds and reflects the ones relevant to a question you ask. It only runs when you choose to use it. Details are in “Smart search with Fil Extra” below.

Rundown

• Smidgecraft doesn't collect, sell, or share your personal data.
• Your thoughts are created, stored, and searched by keyword entirely on your device.
• There are two voluntary moments when data leaves your device. First is smart search; if you subscribe to Fil Extra, text is sent to Smidgecraft's AI provider (Anthropic), which reads and reflects the ones relevant to your question. That text is not used to train AI models and is deleted within 30 days. Second is the feedback form, which sends what you type into it and nothing else to Formspree.
• No ads, no analytics SDKs, no third-party trackers, no login.

What Fil stores and where

Everything you create in Fil is stored locally on your device using Apple's on-device storage. A small amount is shared between Fil and its own Home Screen widget and Share extension through a private App Group container on your device. None of it is transmitted to Smidgecraft. The exceptions are Fil Extra smart search and the feedback form, both described below.

Smart search with Fil Extra (Cloud AI)

Creating thoughts, storing them, and searching them by keyword all happen entirely on your device and never leave it. However, Fil Extra adds an optional feature called smart search: when you ask Fil a question in your own words (for example, “what am I forgetting?”), the text of your thoughts is sent securely to our AI provider, Anthropic, which picks the ones relevant to your request and returns a short reflection.

• This happens only when you, as a Fil Extra subscriber, run a smart search. If you never do, no thought text is ever sent.
• The text is used only to answer your request. Under Anthropic's commercial terms, it is not used to train any AI models, and Anthropic deletes it within 30 days.
• No name or account is attached. Fil has no account.
• Free keyword search never uses the cloud and never leaves your device.

Feedback you send

Fil has a feedback sheet you can open from Settings. When you send it, the message you typed is posted to Formspree, a form-to-email service, which emails it to us. Fil attaches the app version and device model so Smidgecraft can reproduce any bugs you describe.

• This happens only when you write a message and tap send.
• Your email address is optional, and is used only to reply to you.
• None of your personal content is attached.

Subscriptions

Fil Extra is an auto-renewing subscription sold through Apple's App Store. To verify that smart search is available to you, Fil confirms your subscription status with Apple. Manage or cancel anytime in iOS Settings › Apple Account › Subscriptions.

Permissions Fil asks for and why

• Microphone: to record voice notes. Recording only happens when you start it.
• Speech Recognition: to turn recordings into text. Fil requests on-device transcription whenever your device supports it, so your audio stays on the device. On devices that don't support on-device speech recognition, iOS may send the audio to Apple's speech recognition service to produce the transcript. That is handled by Apple under Apple's Privacy Policy, and Fil does not receive or store that audio anywhere else.
• Camera: Only if you choose to add a photo to a thought.

You can change these any time in iOS Settings › Fil.

On-device intelligence

Fil uses Apple's on-device Foundation Models to suggest a short title for a note. This runs on your device. Your note content is not sent to Smidgecraft or to a cloud service for this.

Link previews

If you save or share a link into Fil, the app fetches that page's icon and title to show a preview (via Apple's LinkPresentation). That request goes to the website you linked and the preview is stored on your device.

• Analytics, advertising, or tracking across apps or websites.
• IDFA (identifier for advertisers) or third-party SDKs.
• Profile of you.

Children

Fil is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.

Your control

Your data lives on your device, so you're in control: delete a thought in the app, or delete Fil to remove its data from your device. If you back up your device to iCloud or a computer, your Fil data is included under Apple's terms.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date above.

Contact

Questions? Email mason@smidgecraft.com .