Privacy Policy

This policy covers the Phosphor app for macOS, made by Arnav Kulshreshtha, an individual developer based in India ("we," "us").

What Phosphor collects

The Phosphor app does not use analytics and does not send usage data anywhere. Everything the app does with your screen happens locally on your Mac and stays there, other than files you ask it to save. Its only network requests are the ones listed below. Phosphor does keep a diagnostic log on your Mac (see "Diagnostic log" below), which only leaves your Mac if you choose to send it to us.

Network connections

Phosphor works offline; a Gumroad Pro license needs an online check at least once every 7 days. It only makes outbound network requests in these specific scenarios:

1. Activating and confirming Phosphor Pro: If you purchase a Pro license, the app securely contacts our payment provider (Gumroad) to validate your key when you activate it, at launch, and about once a day while a Gumroad license key is stored on your Mac and you are online. Free users make no license requests. License keys that Phosphor issues directly are checked on your Mac without contacting a server. Only your license key, our product identifier and, when you activate, a request to count the activation are sent; nothing about your screen or your usage. As with any internet connection, Gumroad can also see your IP address; Gumroad's own privacy policy covers how it handles that. If you are offline, Pro keeps working for up to 7 days since the last successful check.
2. Update checks: Phosphor asks usephosphor.app once a day whether a newer version exists. Like any web request, this reveals your IP address and the app version to our host. It sends nothing about your screen, your usage, or your license. You can turn it off in Settings, and Phosphor always asks before installing an update.

Links in the app, such as our website and the Pro purchase page, open in your web browser.

Purchases

Pro is sold through Gumroad, which processes your payment. We never see your card or payment details. Gumroad shares with us what's needed to provide your license: your email address, the name and country you entered at checkout, and the details of your purchase. We use this to deliver and support your license, handle refunds, and meet legal and tax obligations, and we never sell it.

Permissions, and exactly why we need them

macOS requires explicit permission for display utilities to function. Here is exactly what Phosphor uses them for:

• Screen & System Audio Recording (Screen Recording): Allows Phosphor to access the screen information it needs for its display features. Flashbang Protection also reads how bright your screen is, in memory only, to decide how much to dim. Nothing it reads is saved or sent. Nothing is recorded, stored, or transmitted, other than files you ask it to save, such as screenshots you take yourself, which are saved only where you choose. Phosphor does not access your audio.
• Device Control & Data Access (Accessibility): Allows Phosphor to work with macOS and your displays using the system access required for its features. This access is processed locally and is never used to collect or share your personal data.
• Input Monitoring: Allows Phosphor to respond to the system input it needs for its features. What you type is never recorded. Phosphor's local diagnostic log notes only when one of Phosphor's own shortcuts is used. App names, including which app a Dock click or Cmd-Tab switched to, are logged only if you turn on Detailed logging. Nothing is transmitted. Studio's Keystroke Display uses it to show the shortcuts or keys you press on your screen. What it shows is never stored, logged or sent. If you choose the keyboard style, it shows everything you type, including passwords typed outside password fields, so it asks you to confirm once first. It also shows mouse clicks and scrolling, but never where your pointer is. It goes blank in password fields and while you type in Invisible Notes.

Phosphor never requests Camera, Microphone, Contacts, or Location access.

Files

Files Phosphor writes: settings and a daily automatic backup of them (the last 7 are kept), the local diagnostic log, Invisible Notes (only if you use it), performance and crash reports delivered by macOS, and the update cache, plus any files you export. It never scans, moves, or alters your personal files.

Diagnostic log

To help fix problems, Phosphor keeps an activity log on your Mac in ~/Library/Logs/Phosphor. It records what Phosphor itself does: when it launches and quits, which of its features you turn on or off, what each feature decided and why (for example, "dimmed for a Dock click"), errors, crashes and freezes, permission changes, and display and power changes. It never records what you type, what is on your screen, or your license key (only its last 4 characters). The log notes when you turn Studio Mode and its tools on or off, and which shortcuts you set for them. It never records what Keystroke Display shows, what you write in Invisible Notes, or what you draw.

By default the log does not contain the names of the apps you use. If you turn on "Detailed logging", it also records app names, including which app a Dock click or Cmd-Tab switched to. The log stays on your Mac unless you export it and send it to us.

Phosphor records nothing while it is not running. When you quit it, the log, Display Health and all of its features stop until you open it again.

The log is capped at 15 MB; the oldest entries are deleted automatically. macOS's own crash reports for Phosphor, and the performance and crash reports macOS provides to apps, are kept on your Mac.

Nothing in the log is ever sent automatically. If you choose "Export Diagnostics" in General → Report a Problem, Phosphor creates a zip file on your Desktop containing the log, crash reports (including those created by macOS, which contain an anonymous identifier macOS assigns to your Mac), your Mac model, macOS version and time zone, your displays, permissions and Phosphor settings. We shorten file paths in the log; review the file before sending it. You decide whether to email it to us, and you can leave out app names. You can delete the log at any time with "Clear Logs" in the same section.

Data storage

Your app preferences are saved locally using standard macOS UserDefaults, along with Display Health's history (daily screen time and feature counts for the last 14 days, and the last 24 hours of brightness readings), and the ~/Library/Application Support/Phosphor folder (Phosphor's automatic daily backups of your settings). If you upgrade to Pro, your license key is stored securely in the local macOS Keychain.

Studio's settings are stored the same way, as numbers and choices, never content. Notes are stored in one file on your Mac, never sent anywhere, and not included in Phosphor's settings backups or exports. Like other files, they are included in Time Machine and full-disk backups. Drawings, laser trails and the keys Keystroke Display shows are never saved.

Emailing us

If you contact us, we receive your email address and whatever you send, including any diagnostics file you attach. We use it only to answer you and fix the problem, keep it only as long as that takes, and delete it sooner if you ask.

Deleting your data

Everything Phosphor stores stays on your Mac until you remove it. To remove all of it, quit Phosphor, delete the app, then delete ~/Library/Preferences/com.phosphor.app.plist (your saved settings and update state), the ~/Library/Logs/Phosphor folder, the ~/Library/Caches/com.phosphor.app folder (the update cache) and the ~/Library/Application Support/Phosphor folder (Backups and Notes), and, if you had Pro, the "com.phosphor.app.license" item in Keychain Access. To delete only your notes, press "Clear notes" in the Invisible Notes card, or delete the Notes folder inside the Phosphor folder.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example, under the GDPR in the EU and UK, or India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act), you may have the right to access, correct, or delete personal data we hold about you. Since Phosphor keeps its data on your Mac, the only personal data we can hold is your purchase details from Gumroad and any emails you send us. To make a request, email us at the address below.

Children's privacy

Phosphor is a general-purpose display utility. Because the app does not collect user information, it inherently does not collect information from children.

This website

We keep an anonymous count of how many times the download link is clicked; no personal information is stored with it. This website uses Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts visits without cookies and without identifying you. The Phosphor app itself has no analytics.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the date at the top of this page will reflect it. Any meaningful changes regarding data or permissions will also be explicitly highlighted in the app's release notes, and Phosphor will show you the updated policy the next time it opens.

Contact

Questions about any of this? Contact Us