Book Picker privacy policy

Book Picker is a book organization and reading selection app published by Yves Durand. It requires no Book Picker account and includes no advertising or audience analytics. Download and a 7-day trial are free. One in-app purchase can permanently unlock the features, without a subscription or automatic charge.

Local storage by default

Books, imported fields, favorites, reading status, pages, notes, loans, tags, lists, custom covers and history are kept in app storage on your device. The publisher operates no server receiving your library. Without iCloud opt-in, library data stays local except for watch transfers and exports you choose; the search and purchase connections described below are separate processing activities.

Optional iCloud sync

If enabled in the app, sync uses your Apple account and a private CloudKit database hosted by Apple. A copy of the synchronized library data, which may include personal notes and loan details, is sent to Apple to share across your iPhone, iPad and Mac devices using the relevant account. The service is subject to iCloud availability and rules. No Book Picker account is created. Sync is not an independent backup and may be deferred or report a conflict.

Turning sync off stops its use by the app without promising deletion of copies already stored at Apple. Manage local data, iCloud data, system backups and exported files separately. Apple settings control iCloud storage options.

Trial, purchase and restore through Apple

You activate the free 7-day trial by choosing it and completing Apple’s confirmation for a zero-price trial product. It does not renew automatically or start the paid purchase. Permanent access is one universal purchase for Mac and iPhone. The App Store shows the local price before confirmation (reference price in France: €4.99). There is no subscription or automatic charge.

Apple processes transactions through StoreKit and the Apple account used for the App Store. The app uses verified transaction information needed to recognize trial or permanent access, including the product, entitlement state and the trial’s original purchase date. The publisher does not receive your payment details. Restore Purchases asks Apple to check access associated with that account and may show a system authentication request. After the trial, books remain saved, viewable and exportable in read-only mode.

Online searches and covers

When you request an ISBN lookup, the ISBN is sent to Open Library for edition details. Remote covers are loaded from the host in the book details; automatic remote cover display can be disabled in Settings. Image search opens Google Images with the available title, author and ISBN. Loading an image URL you enter contacts its host.

These services receive information needed for the request and technical connection information, including your IP address. They apply their own privacy policies. Book Picker does not send them your whole library for those searches. Manual entry remains possible without an online lookup.

Camera, photos and clipboard

ISBN scanning uses the camera on compatible devices after your action and system permission. Scanner images are not sent to Open Library; only a recognized ISBN may be used for the requested lookup. Manual entry remains available if camera access is declined. You choose images using system pickers, a file, Continuity Camera on Mac when available, or an explicit paste action. Imported covers are resized and re-encoded; original EXIF and location metadata is not retained in the normalized image.

Apple Watch

The Apple Watch companion receives library data from the paired iPhone through WatchConnectivity. Favorite and reading status edits on the watch can be transferred to iPhone. The system may defer transfers. This is separate from optional iCloud sync.

Review requests

Local usage counters and dates space native review requests. They are not sent to the publisher and do not measure your satisfaction. Apple decides whether its review dialog appears. The manual App Store link and support contact remain separate; no positive review is required and no reward is offered.

Exports, retention and deletion

A JSON export may contain the entire library, including personal notes and loan details, covers, history, lists and some preferences. You choose where to save or share it. Any third-party service used for that copy applies its own rules. Device backups depend on your system settings.

Trial expiry does not erase the library. Trash and removed tags are recoverable, not permanent deletion. Use system storage tools to manage local data, and manage iCloud copies and exports separately. BookBuddy is a separate app: Book Picker reads selected files without accessing your BookBuddy account. Book texts are not supplied.

Privacy questions

Contact Yves Durand at support@recordpicker.app. Your email address and information you choose to send are used to handle your request. Please avoid sending the whole library if a description is sufficient.

Daily pick and news

News context is optional and off by default. If enabled, Book Picker queries GDELT and Nobel Prize using public requests shared by readers of the same language. These services receive standard network information, including your IP address. No title from your library, local author, tag, note or loan detail is sent. Matching and caching stay on your device. Disabling this feature stops its new requests. Opening a source link contacts that website, which applies its own rules.

The suggestion includes a reason and its source. GDELT dates are labelled as indexing dates, not publication dates. International observances use the UN and UNESCO calendar. Without a sufficiently precise connection or an available source, the regular daily pick remains available. The connection is a Book Picker suggestion and does not imply endorsement by the cited newsroom.

Reading reminders

Reading notifications are optional and scheduled on this device after you enable them and grant system permission. Choose the weekdays and time in Tools, where you can also disable them. Notifications can be snoozed for 15 or 30 minutes. Exporting to Apple Reminders is a separate action: Book Picker then requests system access and adds only the selected reminder, without reading or deleting your other reminders. Exported reminders are managed by Apple Reminders and the accounts configured on your device, including any Apple synchronization. None of this information is sent to a Book Picker server.