Privacy Policy

Effective October 15, 2026

Spine is a reader for comics, manga, and books you already have, on iPhone and iPad. This policy explains what stays on your devices, what can sync through your own iCloud, and the few lookups that leave the device. It covers the Spine app and the Spine website.

Spine does not sell personal information, show ads, or require an account to read. The Terms explain that you own the files you open, and that Spine does not distribute books, comics, or manga.

What Spine is

Spine opens files you choose. It can link a folder and read those files in place, or keep a private copy of a file you import. It remembers your place, organizes series and collections, and can look up title and cover information. It is not a store and it does not host a catalog of titles.

Information that stays on your device

Spine keeps a library on the device so you can read without an account. That library can include:

• Files you import into the app (EPUB, PDF, CBZ, CBR, and ZIP), stored in the app’s private space on that device.
• Bookmarks that let Spine reopen a folder you linked. Those bookmarks stay on that device. Spine reads the files where they already are and does not upload them.
• Titles, authors, series, tags, summaries, covers, collections, bookmarks, reading progress, history, and reading preferences.
• Cached covers and temporary files used to draw the library. Clearing the cache does not delete imported books.

Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets read a copy of what you are reading — title, author, progress, and a cover thumbnail — from storage shared with the Spine app on the same device. Widgets do not send that information to us.

If you choose a photo as a cover, Spine receives only the image you pick. If you save a page to Photos, Spine asks for permission to add that image and does not read the rest of your photo library.

We do not receive your books

Spine does not upload the contents of your comics, manga, or books to a Spine server. We do not operate an account system for your library, and we do not distribute those files to anyone else. A backup you export is a file you save yourself. It holds library metadata — titles, collections, settings, and linked-folder names — and not your book or comic files, and not permission to open a folder.

iCloud

iCloud sync is optional. If you turn it on and you are signed into iCloud, Spine can sync shelves, reading progress, library metadata, and the names of linked folders through Apple CloudKit, in your private iCloud database.

Book and comic files are not part of that sync. A linked folder has to be chosen again on each device. Apple’s privacy policy covers iCloud. You can turn metadata sync off in Settings, and you can delete Spine’s iCloud data from your Apple ID settings.

Title lookups

When you search for a title, or when Fetch metadata on import is on for a new file, Spine sends the search text — usually a title or author taken from the file name — to Open Library (Internet Archive) or AniList. Spine uses the title, authors, tags, summary, and cover image that come back, and stores them in your library on the device.

That lookup does not need a Spine account, and it does not send the book or comic file. Open Library and AniList have their own privacy policies. If you turn the import lookup off, Spine does not search until you ask it to.

The website and support

The Spine website is a public description of the app. Opening it does not create a Spine account. If you email contact@mttrbrand.com, we use that message and your email address to reply. We do not use it to advertise.

What we do not do

• We do not require an account to read.
• We do not show ads, and we do not use advertising or tracking identifiers.
• We do not sell personal information.
• We do not distribute comics, manga, books, or other copyrighted works, and we do not include illegally licensed material in the app.
• We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Spine is a general-audience reader.

How long information stays

Library information stays on your device until you delete a title, clear the cache, use Delete All Content & Settings, or delete the app. Folder links can be removed without deleting the original files. iCloud copies remain in your iCloud until you remove them. Support emails are kept long enough to handle the request and any follow-up.

Because Spine does not keep your library on our servers, the way to export or erase it is on the device: Export Backup, Delete All Content & Settings, or deleting the app. If you have a privacy question about information we do hold — for example a support email — write to contact@mttrbrand.com.

Security

Your library is protected by the lock and encryption of your device, and by your Apple ID if you turn on iCloud sync. No method of storage is perfect. You are responsible for the devices, folders, and backups you choose.

Changes

Updates to this policy are posted on this page with a new effective date. Continued use of Spine after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy: contact@mttrbrand.com