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Privacy Policy

Your clipboard is the most sensitive thing you own. This policy explains, in plain language, exactly how Magpie treats it — and why there's so little to explain.

Last updated 1 September 2026 · Applies to Magpie for Mac, iPhone & iPad

In one line: Magpie collects no data. Your clipboard history is encrypted on your devices, and if you turn on iCloud sync it travels only through your own iCloud — never to us. There are no Geesoft servers, no accounts, and no analytics — so there is nothing for us to share, sell, or lose.

The short version

Magpie is a clipboard-history manager made by Geesoft. It comes as a Mac app with an included companion app for iPhone and iPad. It quietly remembers what you copy so you can find it again later. Everything it remembers lives on your devices — and, if you choose, in your own iCloud — and nowhere else.

  • We do not collect, transmit, or store your personal data on any Geesoft server — we operate none.
  • We do not use analytics, advertising, tracking SDKs, or third-party services.
  • There are no Magpie accounts and no sign-in — Magpie never asks who you are.
  • Your clipboard history is encrypted at rest on every device.
  • iCloud sync is optional and off by default. When you turn it on, your history syncs through your own iCloud account so your devices share one history — it still never reaches us (see iCloud sync).

Our App Store privacy disclosure is "Data Not Collected," and that is the literal truth of how the apps are built. Syncing to your own iCloud is handled by Apple on your behalf; it is not data we collect, because we have no server in the path and receive nothing.

What information we collect

None. Geesoft operates no backend, so there is no place for your information to come to us. We do not receive your clipboard contents, your usage, your IP address, a device identifier, or anything else. We cannot read your history: it lives encrypted on your devices, and if you enable iCloud sync it moves only between your devices through your iCloud — a path we are not part of and cannot see into.

What Magpie stores, and where

To do its job, Magpie keeps a history of what you copy — text, code, links, images, colours, emails, phone numbers, and file references. On each device this history is stored locally, inside the app's sandbox container. On the Mac, for example, that is the Application Support directory:

  • Location: ~/Library/Containers/eu.geesoft.magpie/…/Application Support/Magpie (inside the app's sandbox container; the iPhone and iPad apps use their own equivalent containers).
  • Form: a local database, with clip contents sealed using authenticated encryption (see Encryption).
  • Ownership: it is yours. You can clear individual clips, clear everything, or set how many items Magpie keeps — all from within the app.

If you turn on iCloud sync, a copy of this history is also kept in your own private iCloud so your devices stay in step — see iCloud sync below. On iPhone and iPad, deleting the app also deletes its container and the history inside it. On the Mac, deleting the app does not automatically remove its container — to erase the local history, clear it from inside Magpie before you uninstall, or delete the container folder above afterwards.

iCloud sync (optional)

Magpie can keep your history in step across your Mac, iPhone and iPad. This is opt-in and off by default — Magpie syncs nothing until you turn it on in Settings.

  • It uses your own iCloud. When enabled, your clipboard history syncs through a private database in your iCloud account, using Apple's iCloud (CloudKit). It is the same iCloud that already backs up your other Apple apps.
  • It never reaches Geesoft. Sync flows only between your own devices, by way of your iCloud. We run no server in this path, and we receive, see, and store nothing.
  • It stays encrypted. Clip contents are sealed with AES-256-GCM before they sync, and the key that unlocks them is shared only between your own devices through your iCloud Keychain (see Encryption). The key is never sent to us.
  • It is private to you. This is your history syncing between your devices. It is never shared with other people, and there are no team or multi-user features.
  • Recognised text stays local. Text that Magpie reads from images on your device (OCR / Text Recognition) is computed on-device and is never synced — it stays on the device that produced it.
  • You're in control. Turn sync off at any time. Magpie also offers a "Remove iCloud copy" action so you can clear what it has placed in your iCloud.

Your relationship with iCloud is governed by Apple's terms and privacy policy. Because Geesoft is not in the path, we have no access to anything that syncs.

Network connections

Magpie connects to the network in only two ways, both of which you control:

  • iCloud sync, described above. When you switch it on, Magpie talks to Apple's iCloud to keep your own devices in step. Nothing in this traffic goes to Geesoft.
  • "Look up titles for copied links" (Settings → Privacy), which is off until you turn it on. When enabled, and only then, Magpie fetches the <title> of a link you copy so the clip shows a readable name instead of a raw URL. The request goes directly to that link's own website over HTTPS — the same connection your browser would make opening the page. Nothing is sent to Geesoft.

Leave both off and Magpie makes no network connections at all. In every case, Geesoft operates no server in the path and receives nothing.

What Magpie deliberately ignores

Some things should never be remembered, so Magpie skips them automatically:

  • Passwords and concealed items. Content marked confidential by password managers and other apps (the org.nspasteboard.ConcealedType flag) is ignored and never recorded.
  • Your ignore list. You can name any app that Magpie should never read the clipboard from. Copies made while that app is frontmost are skipped.

Encryption

Clip contents are protected with AES-256-GCM authenticated encryption (via Apple's CryptoKit). The encryption key is generated on your device and held in your Keychain. If you use more than one device with iCloud sync, the key is shared between your own devices through your iCloud Keychain so they can read the same history — it is never sent to Geesoft. Because the key only ever lives on your devices, your history is unreadable to anyone but you, running Magpie as yourself.

The App Store sandbox & permissions

Magpie is fully sandboxed and distributed exclusively through Apple's App Store — the Mac app on the Mac App Store, the included companion on the iOS App Store. Each app requests only the minimum capabilities it needs:

  • User-selected files. So you can point the Mac's optional screenshot-capture feature at a folder you choose. Magpie watches that folder for new screenshot files — it does not record your screen, and uses no Screen Recording permission.
  • iCloud (CloudKit & Keychain). Used only when you turn on iCloud sync, to keep your history and its encryption key in step across your own devices.
  • Silent push notifications. Present only so iCloud sync works: Apple uses them to tell your devices a change has arrived. Magpie never shows you a notification and sends none of its own.
  • App Group & shared Keychain. Let the iPhone and iPad app share its history and encryption key with its Share-Sheet extension, and keep the Mac app’s key in its own private Keychain group — nothing outside Magpie can read them. If you share to Magpie before your sync key has reached the device, the item is kept unencrypted (protected only by iOS data protection) inside Magpie’s private app container for up to 7 days, then added to your encrypted history or discarded.
  • Outgoing network (client). Used by iCloud sync and by the opt-in link-title lookup described above — never to reach a Geesoft server, because there isn't one.

On the Mac, Magpie uses Apple's Carbon hotkey API for its global shortcuts, which needs no Accessibility permission, and it never types into other apps — selecting a clip places it on your clipboard, and you paste it yourself with ⌘V. On iPhone and iPad, iOS does not allow apps to read the clipboard in the background, so saving a clip there is always a deliberate action you take — through the iOS Share Sheet or a tap in the app.

Children's privacy

Magpie is rated 4+ and is not directed at children, but it is safe for any age: it collects no data from anyone, of any age. It is not "Made for Kids", contains no ads, and offers no web content of its own — though it will, of course, open a link you copied when you ask it to.

Changes to this policy

If Magpie ever changes in a way that affects this policy, we will update this page and revise the date at the top. Because the apps' privacy posture is part of how they are built — on-device, your-own-iCloud-only, no Geesoft servers — material changes would require a new version of the apps, reviewed by Apple, and would be described here and in the apps' release notes.

Contact

Questions about your privacy, or anything in this policy? We're happy to answer.

© 2026 Geesoft. Magpie and the Magpie icon are trademarks of Geesoft. Apple, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, iCloud and the App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc.