Shuin Privacy Policy

Effective date: November 1, 2026

Shuin is a reading diary and manga and novel reader for iPhone, made by The Opus LLC ("we", "us"). It is built so that your reading stays on your iPhone. We don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and we don't track you across apps or websites.

This policy explains what Shuin keeps on your iPhone, what leaves it, when, and why.

The short version

• Your reading history stays on your iPhone (and in your own iCloud, if you turn on iCloud sync). We don't have a copy.
• No account is needed. Signing in with Apple is optional, and what Apple shares stays on your iPhone.
• No ads, no tracking, no analytics. Shuin doesn't use the advertising identifier and never asks to track you.
• Some features use the internet, and only when you use them: covers and catalog data, Shiori's voice (off by default), chat with a cloud model you set up with your own key, downloads of on-device models, suggestions you send to the catalog, and the servers you connect yourself. Each is described below.

What stays on your iPhone

Stored only on your device (and in your iPhone backups, if you have them on — those are between you and Apple):

• Your reading history: chapters read, when, reading time, progress and positions.
• Your library: series you follow, statuses, ratings, collections and notes.
• History's insights, recap cards and monthly stories, which Shuin works out on the device.
• Chat conversations with Shiori.
• Files and backups you import, and what Shuin reads from them (including screenshots, which are read on the device).
• Cached covers and pages, Shiori's recorded lines once made for you, and downloaded on-device models.
• Your Sign in with Apple details (Apple's private user ID, and the name and email address Apple shares if you allow it), passwords and API keys for servers and services you connect — kept in the iPhone's Keychain.
• Crash and freeze reports that iOS gives Shuin (see "Crash and freeze reports").

Search in Discover runs on a catalog bundled inside the app, and "Describe" runs on the device, so your searches stay on your iPhone. Dictation uses speech recognition on the iPhone; the audio is not recorded, kept or sent. Chat uses Apple's on-device model (or a model you downloaded to the iPhone) unless you choose a cloud model.

What leaves your iPhone, and when

Covers, catalog data and app content

To show covers and catalog information, Shuin downloads them from our content server (Cloudflare R2, at covers.williampieh.com) and from public sources such as MangaUpdates. The same server provides catalog updates, the editor's note, a list of titles removed at a rights holder's request, and (on Wi-Fi) the on-device search pack. These are ordinary downloads: the server sees your IP address and which file was asked for, as any website does. Shuin sends no reading history, library and no identifier with these requests.

On-device models (optional)

If you download a model for Shiori to run on your iPhone, it comes from Hugging Face (huggingface.co). Hugging Face sees an ordinary download request. Nothing about you is sent.

iCloud sync (optional)

If you turn on sync across your devices, Shuin stores the changes to your library and history in your own private iCloud database (Apple's CloudKit). It's protected by your Apple Account; we can't see it. Apple's privacy policy applies.

Your own servers

If you connect a server you run (such as Komga, Kavita or Suwayomi) or the Shuin Agent, Shuin talks to it directly to read, download and sync. That data goes between your iPhone and your server; we're not involved.

Shiori's voice (optional, off by default)

Shiori, Shuin's narrator, can speak her lines in a studio voice. It's off until you turn it on (Settings → Shuin → Shiori's voice). When it's on:

• Shuin sends the lines Shiori will say — for example a series title, a number of chapters, a month — to our voice service (a Cloudflare Worker), which asks ElevenLabs to voice them.
• The request carries a random install identifier (to count free voicings and stop misuse) and, where available, a check from Apple's App Attest that the request comes from the real Shuin app. Neither identifies you.
• The audio comes back and is kept on your iPhone, so replays never go online again. Our voice service keeps rendered audio so identical lines aren't voiced twice, and counts voicings per install.
• ElevenLabs processes the text under its own terms and privacy policy.

Chat with a cloud model, and web search (optional)

If you choose a cloud model — with your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter or another provider — your messages and the context Shuin adds to answer them (for example details from your library relevant to your question) go directly from your iPhone to that provider, under its terms. We don't see or store them. If you turn on web search with your own key (Brave, Tavily, Exa or Kagi), your search goes directly to that provider. When chat looks something up, it may ask Wikipedia and AniList about a series or person by name.

Suggestions to the catalog (optional)

If you tap "Add it to Shuin's catalog" or "Something's wrong?", Shuin sends that suggestion — facts about a book (title, author, year, a public link) and your note — to our contributions service. It carries no install identifier, no IP address is stored with it, and nothing links it to you; anti-abuse counters are deleted within two days.

Sharing

When you share a recap card or a story, Shuin makes the image on your iPhone and hands it to the iOS share sheet; where it goes is up to you.

Crash and freeze reports

iOS gives apps reports about their own crashes and freezes (Apple's MetricKit). Shuin keeps them on your iPhone, with only what's needed to fix a bug — the app and iOS version, the iPhone model, and where in Shuin's code it happened — and nothing about you or your library. They leave your iPhone only if you choose "Send diagnostics" (Profile → Storage), which shows you a file you can read and send yourself. Separately, if you've chosen in iOS Settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may share crash reports with us through App Store Connect.

What we don't do

• No advertising, and no selling or renting of your data.
• No tracking across apps or websites; no advertising identifier; no third-party analytics, advertising or crash SDKs.
• No account on our servers, and no profile of you.

In-app purchases

Shuin 1.0 has no purchases. If paid features come later, this policy will be updated first to say what a purchase shares.

Children

Shuin is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them.

Keeping and deleting your data

• On your iPhone: deleting Shuin deletes what it stored on the device (Keychain items such as the random install identifier may remain until you erase the device). Profile → Storage lets you clear covers and cached pages.
• In your iCloud: turn sync off and remove Shuin's data in iOS Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Storage.
• On our services: what we hold is tied to a random install identifier or to nothing at all. To have the records for your install deleted (voice counters), contact us.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU/UK or the CCPA in California), you may have rights to access, correct, delete or move your personal information and to object to how it's used. Because almost everything stays on your iPhone, most of it is already in your hands. For anything we hold, contact us below. We do not sell or share personal information as those laws define it.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update it here and change the date at the top. If a change matters — for example, a new kind of data leaving your iPhone — we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect.

Contact

The Opus LLC — william@theopus.dev