Privacy

Last updated November 9, 2026

Deskalong lets you see and control your own computer from your own iPhone or iPad. In short: no account, no analytics, no advertising, no tracking, and no AI. The apps contain no third-party analytics or advertising code. The only thing we keep about anyone is what Deskalong Pro's relay needs, described under Purchases.

No account

There's nothing to sign up for. We never ask for your name, email address or Apple Account, and we don't have them.

What travels between your devices

While you're connected, your computer's screen and sound go to your phone, and your touches, typing, scrolling, clipboard items, voice (if you turn the microphone on) and any files you choose to send go between them. All of it is encrypted end to end (TLS 1.3) between your devices. It isn't stored anywhere along the way, and we can't see it. Items your computer's password manager marks private are never shared automatically; Paste to Mac sends whatever is on your phone's clipboard, and only when you tap it.

What stays on your devices

Pairing keys. Pairing creates keys your phone and your computer use to recognise each other. They're kept in each device's Keychain and never synced.
Your computers and settings. Their names, addresses and your preferences stay on your phone.
Screen thumbnails. A small picture of each computer's screen from your last session is kept on your phone, for the list of your computers. It never leaves the phone.
Your phone's network key, while you have Pro. So our relay can recognise your phone, the app keeps one network key in this device's Keychain. It never syncs, and only its public half is ever sent. It changes every 30 days, and whenever Pro ends or the Apple Account changes. Without Pro, the app uses a new random key each time.
Diagnostics. The app keeps a short log of connections on your phone, and Deskalong Host keeps one on your computer, to help with problems. On your devices these logs can include device names, network addresses, app names and click positions. They never contain your screen, typing, clipboard or file names.

Problem reports

A problem report leaves your device only when you send it yourself, from Mail or the share sheet. It contains app and system versions, memory use, permission settings, crash and hang summaries from Apple, and the recent connection log. Before you see it, device names are replaced with labels like "Mac A" and network addresses with their kind ("LAN", "public"). You read the whole report before sending it, and we use it only to answer you.

The relay, and finding your computer

Deskalong connects your phone and computer directly whenever it can. The relay is used to introduce them, and, with Pro, to carry the session when a network blocks a direct connection. We run the relay ourselves.

What it sees. Encrypted traffic it can't read, and how much of it passes. Like any server on the internet, it sees the IP addresses of the two devices while it's forwarding their data. It doesn't keep them: the relay software we run writes no IP addresses to its logs.
If our relay is down. Only then, the apps fall back to public relays run by number 0 (n0.computer), the makers of the open-source networking library Deskalong uses, until ours is back. Those relays see the same things ours does: encrypted traffic and IP addresses.
Finding your computer. So your phone and your computer can find each other wherever they are, each publishes a connection address to a discovery service run by number 0. That address is the device's public network key plus the relay it uses, and says nothing about you.

Purchases

Deskalong Pro, the free trial and the optional tips are sold through the App Store. Apple handles the payment; we never see your payment details, your name or your Apple Account.

To let Pro devices use our relay and apply the fair-use rule in the Pro and relay terms, the app sends our purchase check the App Store's signed record of your Pro purchase, your phone's public network key, and the public network keys of the computers it's paired with. We confirm the purchase with Apple. We then keep:

a one-way code (an HMAC) derived from the purchase ID, never the purchase ID itself;
the public network keys of the phones and computers using that purchase, and which computers each phone listed for the relay;
when each of them was last seen, and when its relay access expires;
how many bytes the relay forwarded each month, for the purchase and for each device;
the ID numbers of the notices Apple's servers send us about purchases, such as a refund, so the same notice isn't applied twice.

None of these is your name, email or Apple Account, and none contains your screen, input or files. We use them only to run the relay, never for tracking or advertising, and we don't sell or share them.

How long we keep them. A device or purchase that hasn't checked in with the purchase check for 90 days is deleted automatically. Monthly byte totals are kept for 3 months, and Apple's notice IDs for 30 days. When a purchase is refunded, the purchase check drops its device keys at once and remembers the code and dates only, for a year after the last time an app tried to register with that purchase, so it can't be used again. The relay keeps that purchase's list of device keys for up to 40 days.

Deleting your record sooner. Email support@deskalong.com with the order ID from your App Store receipt (the email Apple sent when you bought Pro, or your purchase history). We'll find the matching record and delete it, with everything the relay keeps for it, within 30 days. Your Pro purchase stays yours; the app simply registers again the next time it needs the relay. If Apple later tells us that purchase was refunded, we keep the refund note described above.

Permissions

Camera, on your phone: only to scan your computer's pairing code. Nothing is recorded.
Microphone, on your phone: only while you turn it on in a session, or while you hold the key you chose for hold-to-talk, to send your voice to your computer. Nothing is recorded or kept.
Local Network, on your phone: to find your computers at home and connect to them directly.
Screen Recording and Accessibility, on the Mac: so your phone can see the screen and your taps and typing reach it. The screen is captured only while a paired phone is connected. Local Network, on the Mac: so your phone can connect to it directly at home. The optional Deskalong Microphone driver lets the Mac's apps hear your phone, and asks for your password once to install.

Updates

Deskalong Host checks our website for new versions. That request includes the app's version and nothing else about you. The iPhone and iPad app updates through the App Store.

Who handles data for us

Apple (purchases and refunds), DigitalOcean (hosts our relay and purchase check), number 0 (discovery, and relays only while ours is down, as above), and Cloudflare (hosts this website).

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask to see what we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, or ask for a copy. The only personal data we hold is the purchase record described under Purchases. To find it we need the order ID from your App Store receipt, so email that to support@deskalong.com. We'll answer, and delete it if that's what you asked for, within 30 days.

In the EU, the EEA or the UK. You also have the right to restrict or object to how we use your data, to have it moved, and to complain to your local data protection authority. We use this data to run the relay you bought (our contract with you) and to stop abuse of it (our legitimate interest). The services listed above that handle it are based outside the EU, including in the United States.
In California. You have the right to know what we hold, to have it deleted or corrected, and not to be treated differently for asking. We don't sell or share personal information.

Children

Deskalong isn't directed at children, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone, children included.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date above. If a change affects what we keep, we'll also say so in an app update.

Contact

Deskalong is made by Adam Hammad, an independent developer. Questions, or a request to delete your record: support@deskalong.com.