Privacy Policy

Optional is a Mac app made by Boyucheng Zhang (“I”, “me”). This policy explains what the app and this website do with your information. The short version: what Optional sees on your Mac stays on your Mac.

What stays on your Mac

Clipboard history, the list of your windows, recent files, browser tabs, calendar events, Bluetooth and audio devices, and your settings are stored only on your Mac, in your user Library folder. They are never uploaded. You can clear clipboard history at any time in Settings › Clipboard, and uninstalling Optional removes it.

Optional skips anything that password managers and other apps mark as concealed, and anything copied from apps you exclude.

What Optional sends, and when

• License activation. When you activate, Optional sends your license key, a random identifier for this Mac (a one-way hash, not your serial number) and your Mac’s name, so a license can be limited to 2 Macs. About once a week it checks whether the license was refunded. If that check fails, Optional keeps working.
• Updates. Optional checks for new versions once a day by downloading a small file from this website. The request includes the app version and macOS version, like any web request.
• Crash reports, only if you turn them on. Off by default. When on, Optional sends its own crash logs, which contain no clipboard or file contents.

Purchases

Payments are handled by Paddle.com, who act as the merchant of record. Paddle receives your payment details and email; I receive your email, country and order number so I can send and recover your license. See Paddle’s privacy policy.

This website

This site does not use cookies for tracking and has no advertising or analytics scripts. The checkout window is provided by Paddle.

Permissions

Accessibility lets Optional notice the trigger key, paste and switch windows. It is never used to record what you type. Screen Recording (window thumbnails), Calendars, Bluetooth and Automation are optional and requested only when you use a wheel that needs them.

Your rights

You can ask what data I hold about you (in practice: your email and order), or ask me to delete it, by writing to [email protected].