Open Shelf — Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2026-10-10
The short version. Open Shelf has no accounts, no ads, no
analytics and no tracking, and we run no servers. Your books and reading
progress stay on your device. The app talks to other services only when you
ask it to: searching a library, opening a web page, or using the optional
assistant with your own key.
What is stored on your device
- Your books, their covers and your reading progress and settings.
- Any API keys you add (for example an Anthropic key), kept in the device's secure storage.
This never reaches us. Deleting a book or the app removes it.
What is sent, and to whom
- Library search. What you search for, and the title and author
of books in your library when the app looks up covers and details, go to
the catalogs you search, such as Project Gutenberg (via gutendex.com),
Standard Ebooks, Wikisource, the Internet Archive and Open Library, and
Google Books if you add a Google key.
- The web. The built-in browser and web search contact the
sites and search engines you use, like any browser.
- The optional assistant. If you add your own Anthropic API key,
the titles, authors and reading progress of your books and your messages
are sent to Anthropic to answer you, under your account with them. Voice
input is transcribed on your device unless you turn on cloud recognition in
Settings.
Each of these services handles requests under its own privacy policy. Open
Shelf contains no advertising, analytics or crash-reporting SDKs.
Permissions
- Files (Android). With your permission, Open Shelf scans your phone
and SD card for book files and opens them where they are. They are never
uploaded.
- Microphone and speech recognition. Used only while you talk to
the assistant.
Children
Open Shelf is not directed at children and collects no personal information from
anyone.
Changes
If this policy ever changes, the new version will be posted on this page with
a new date.
Contact
Questions: support@watchland.app