Privacy

Last updated 9 September 2026

The short version: Excerpta keeps your library on your device. There's no account, no sign-in, and nothing about your reading is sent to us. What follows is the longer version, so you can see exactly who the app talks to and why.

What Excerpta Keeps

Your books, quotes, notes, photos, progress, moods, reading sessions, characters, shelves, series, goals, and settings. All of it is stored on your iPhone or iPad, in the app's own storage. If you delete the app, it goes with it (unless you've turned on iCloud sync, below, or exported a backup).

iCloud Sync

Sync is off until you turn it on in Settings → iCloud. When it's on, your library is copied to your own iCloud account so it shows up on your other devices. It travels through Apple's servers, under Apple's privacy terms, and we can't see it. Turn it off and your devices stop sharing; the data already on each one stays put.

Who the App Talks To

Excerpta looks things up so you don't have to type them. Each lookup sends only what's needed for that lookup.

• ISBNDB, when you search for a book, scan a barcode, or open a shared book link. It receives the title, author, or ISBN you searched for.
• Apple (the iTunes and Apple Books catalogues), for audiobook and ebook details and for the "Trending" list.
• Wikipedia, for an author's or a character's photo and a short summary. It receives the name.
• Hardcover, only if you connect your Hardcover account in Settings → Hardcover. Then your books, progress, and lists are exchanged with Hardcover under your token, and you can disconnect at any time.
• KOReader, only if you enter your own sync server in Settings → KOReader. Progress is exchanged with the server you chose.
• RevenueCat, which handles the Excerpta Unbound subscription. It receives an anonymous app identifier and your purchase state from the App Store. It does not receive your library.

None of these are told what else is in your library.

Camera, Photos, and Location

The camera is used to photograph a page so the app can read the text on it. Reading happens on the device. The photos you attach to a book stay in the app.

Location is off unless you turn it on in Settings → Location. When it's on, Excerpta remembers where you were when you saved a quote or a session, so Stats can show your reading nooks. The location is stored with the entry, on the device, and never sent anywhere.

Import and Export

When you import from Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Goodreads, StoryGraph, or an Excerpta backup, the file is read on the device. Nothing in it is uploaded.

Analytics

The app has none. No trackers, no crash reporters beyond what Apple offers every developer through the App Store, which you control in your iPhone's Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.

This website uses Google Analytics, so we can see which pages people read and where they came from. It sets cookies. It doesn't know who you are, and it never sees anything from the app. An ad blocker or a browser that blocks trackers stops it, and nothing on this site needs it to work.

Shared Book Links

When you share a book, the link points to this site and carries the book's ISBN. Anyone who opens it sees the book's title, author, and cover, looked up from ISBNDB. Nothing about you is in the link.

The Notify List

If you leave your email on this site, it goes to Loops, the service that will send the launch message, and it is stored there. This site keeps no copy of it. You get one email, on the day Excerpta reaches the App Store, and every message carries an unsubscribe link. The app has nothing to do with it: Excerpta has no account and never sees your address.

Children

Excerpta isn't directed at children under 13 and doesn't knowingly collect anything from them. The app collects nothing from anyone, which makes this easy, and the notify list above is the one place on this site that takes an address at all.

Changes

If this page changes, the date at the top changes with it. Anything material also goes in the app's release notes.

Contact

Questions go to hello@excerpta.ink. Excerpta is made by Trevware.