TextBuddy privacy policy

Last updated: August 2026

TextBuddy is a plain-text editor and text-transform utility for macOS. It runs entirely on your Mac. TextBuddy does not collect, transmit, or store any personal information about you on any server we operate — there is no account, no sign-in, and no analytics.

Your text

TextBuddy only ever touches the text you give it: files you drop on the window, open through the file picker, type, or paste in. Every transform — case changes, line sorting and deduping, whitespace and punctuation fixes, find & replace, and filler-text generation — runs locally on your Mac, and the filler text is generated on-device with no outside service. It writes a result only where you tell it to, overwriting a file in place or saving a new one at the location you choose. The menu-bar scratch pad keeps its contents on your Mac. Your text is never uploaded, copied off your Mac, or sent anywhere.

What TextBuddy sends over the network

Two things, both initiated by you or by a plain update check — nothing else:

Software updates. The direct-download version (from bendansby.com/apps/textbuddy) checks for updates by fetching a public appcast.xml file from this domain. No identifiers are sent — just a plain HTTPS GET. The store version uses Apple’s own update mechanism instead and makes no such request.
License activation. When you enter a license key in the direct-download version, the app validates it against the license server that issued it (Lemon Squeezy) and stores the result on your Mac. This happens only when you activate or when a periodic re-check is due; it sends the key you typed, not your text or any personal profile. The store version is purchased through Apple and performs no license check of its own.

Beyond those, the app makes no network calls. There is no analytics endpoint, no crash reporter, no “phone home.”

Third parties

TextBuddy embeds no third-party analytics frameworks, advertising libraries, or trackers. The direct-download build includes the open-source Sparkle updater (for the update check above) and the license check described above; the store build includes neither.

Permissions TextBuddy asks for

Only access to the specific files and folders you open, drop, or save to — granted by your own action each time. TextBuddy does not request Accessibility, Full Disk Access, Photos, Contacts, Location, the microphone, the camera, or any other privacy-protected resource.

Children

TextBuddy is a productivity utility, not directed at children. It does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age.

Changes

If this policy ever changes, the “Last updated” date above will change with it. This page is the canonical source.

Contact

Questions? ben.dansby@gmail.com.