Overview
Thoughts does not require an account. Obox does not receive your notes. The apps have no ads, no tracking, and no third-party analytics.
This policy covers:
- Thoughts for Mac, sold through Gumroad.
- Thoughts for iPhone (including iPad), distributed through the Apple App Store.
- The website at thoughtsformac.com.
Thoughts is made by Obox in Cape Town. Questions about this policy go to info@obox.co.za.
Your notes
Text, images, voice recordings, and video notes are stored on your device.
When iCloud is available, Thoughts syncs them with CloudKit in your private database, container iCloud.com.thoughts. A private CloudKit database is tied to your Apple ID. Obox does not run a server that stores your notes, and we cannot read them.
The same private database syncs your settings, including the AI provider you picked and the API keys you entered, so your Mac and iPhone can match. Those keys are not sent to Obox.
Sharing a note uses the system share sheet. The content goes to the app you choose, such as Messages, Mail, or Apple Notes. That happens only when you share.
AI features
Summaries, rewrites, transcription, and image text extraction do not run on the device. Thoughts has no on-device model for those actions.
They run only if you add your own API key in Settings and then use an action (or turn on auto-transcribe and save a voice or video note). Thoughts sends just the content that action needs, from your device, to the provider you selected:
- OpenAI (api.openai.com) — text actions such as summarize, shorten, lengthen, fix spelling, translate, and change case; Whisper transcription of voice and video notes; text extraction from images. OpenAI privacy policy.
- Google Gemini (generativelanguage.googleapis.com) — the same text actions, transcription, and image text extraction. Google privacy policy.
- Anthropic Claude (api.anthropic.com) — text actions and image text extraction. Claude is not used for transcription. Anthropic privacy policy.
The request uses your API key. Obox does not receive the note or the key. The provider’s privacy policy covers what they do with the request. If you never add a key, no note content is sent to these companies.
Two things stay on the Mac. Background blur while recording a video note is processed on your Mac and is not uploaded for that effect. Spelling suggestions in the Mac editor use macOS spell checking on your Mac.
Link previews
On the Mac app, when a note contains a link, Thoughts may request that page from your Mac to show a title and preview. The request goes to the site you linked, not to Obox.
Permissions
- Microphone — voice notes, and the audio track of video notes.
- Camera — video notes on Mac, and photo and video notes on iPhone.
- Photo library (iPhone) — attach an image or video you pick, and save exported media when you ask.
Thoughts uses these only for those features.
The apps
The Mac and iPhone apps do not include advertising, tracking, third-party analytics, or crash reporting. There is no Thoughts account, and the apps do not ask for your name or email.
Purchases are handled by the store. The Mac app is sold by Gumroad. The iPhone app is sold by Apple. Obox does not receive your card number. Gumroad’s and Apple’s privacy policies cover the purchase.
This website
thoughtsformac.com is the marketing and help site. It is separate from the apps, and the apps do not load it.
The site uses Google Analytics (measurement ID G-CE1SPHKK5K) to see which pages are visited. Google may receive your IP address and the pages you view, and it may set a cookie. You can block that with your browser.
The site also loads typefaces from Google Fonts. Some pages load a Gumroad script so the download button can open checkout. Those requests go to Google and Gumroad.
The site does not ask you to create an account.
Children
Thoughts is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, email info@obox.co.za and we will delete it.
Deleting data
- One note. Delete it in the app. With iCloud sync on, that deletion syncs to your other devices.
- Every note. On iPhone, use Settings → Library → Delete all notes. On Mac, use Settings → Data → Delete all. With iCloud sync on, the deletion applies on your other devices as well.
- An API key. Clear it in Settings. Settings sync through your private iCloud, so the change follows your devices. Revoke the key in the OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic dashboard if you want that provider to reject it.
- The app. Deleting Thoughts removes the copy on that device. Notes already in iCloud remain until you delete them in the app, or remove the app’s iCloud data under Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage.
You can also export your notes from Settings before you delete them.
Contact
Email info@obox.co.za. Help for the Mac app is on the help page, and other ways to reach us are on the support page.
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page and the effective date will be updated.