What stays on your iPhone
Everything you log: trackers, entries, notes, body-atlas locations, photos, and everything read from Apple Health. There is no Longnote account and no Longnote server, so there is nowhere of ours for it to go. Backups are encrypted with a passcode only this iPhone holds, then saved to your own iCloud Drive or to Files, and never include Apple Health entries; exports are files you share yourself.
What can talk to Apple, and the switch for each
| Feature | What is sent | Switch |
|---|---|---|
| Backups | An encrypted backup file, to your own iCloud Drive; never Apple Health entries | Settings → Privacy & data → Backup → Back up to iCloud Drive |
| Weather | Rounded coordinates of a region you typed in — or, if you choose, read once from your location — and dates | Settings → Weather; clear the region |
| Workout maps and app icons | The map area of a Health workout’s route; the identifier of the app that recorded it | Settings → Privacy & data; on by default |
| Save symptoms to Health | Symptoms you log, written into Apple Health on your iPhone | Settings → Apple Health; off by default |
| Purchases | Handled by Apple | Only when you buy Pro |
None of the Apple features sends anything to us. Apart from the encrypted backup and the symptoms you choose to save to Health, none carries your entries or anything read from Health. With the network off, everything else in the app works.
Usage statistics
The app sends usage statistics to TelemetryDeck, a processor with servers in Germany: which screens, features and settings are used, counts in broad ranges, error codes, the app version and device type, and the product and price when you buy Pro. They carry an identifier for this installation that contains no name, email or Apple Account. They never include your entries, tracker names, notes, photos, body locations or anything from Apple Health. There is no switch in the app; you can object by email, and deleting the app stops them. The privacy policy lists exactly what is sent.
What never happens
No user accounts. No advertising or ad identifiers. No tracking across apps or sites, and no analytics on this website. The app’s usage statistics are the only analytics, described above. No selling, sharing or brokering of data; we do not have it.
Deleting
Settings → Privacy & data → Delete all data removes every profile and everything in it from the phone; Delete profile data removes only the profile you are in. Backups in iCloud Drive or Files are separate files; delete those in Files if you want them gone, and remove any symptoms you saved to Apple Health in the Health app. The full privacy policy is written in the same plain terms.
Questions about privacy
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Where is my data?
On your iPhone, in Longnote’s private storage. There is no Longnote server and no account, so your entries never leave the phone unless you export or back them up, and both of those go to places you control: an encrypted backup file in your own iCloud Drive or in Files, a CSV you share yourself. If you turn on Save symptoms to Health, the symptoms you log are also written to Apple Health on the same iPhone. We never receive your entries and could not read them if we wanted to. The app does send usage statistics (which screens and features are used, never what you record) to TelemetryDeck; the privacy policy names every connection the app can make.
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Which features talk to Apple, and how do I turn them off?
Feature What is sent Where the switch is Backups An encrypted backup file, to your own iCloud Drive; it never includes Apple Health entries Settings → Privacy & data → Backup → Back up to iCloud Drive Weather Rounded coordinates of a region you typed in — or, if you choose, read once from your location — and dates, to Apple Weather Settings → Weather; clear the region to stop Workout maps & app icons The map area of a Health workout’s route, to Apple Maps, for a small map; the identifier of the app that recorded it, to the App Store, for its icon Settings → Privacy & data → Workout maps & app icons; on by default Save symptoms to Health Symptoms you log, written into Apple Health on your iPhone Settings → Apple Health; off by default Purchases Handled entirely by Apple; we never see payment details Only if you buy Pro None of these sends anything to us. Apart from the encrypted backup, which Apple cannot read without the passcode on your iPhone, and the symptoms you choose to save to Health, none of them carries your entries, your notes or anything read from Apple Health. Everything else in the app works with the network off.
Separately from Apple, the app sends usage statistics to TelemetryDeck (servers in Germany): which screens and features are used, the app version and device type, under an installation identifier with no name attached. Never your entries, tracker names, notes, photos, body locations or anything from Apple Health. The privacy policy has the full list.
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How do I delete everything?
Settings → Privacy & data → Delete all data removes every profile on this iPhone, with every tracker, entry, note and photo, after a confirmation. To clear only the profile you are in, use Delete profile data just below it. Your backups are separate files in the Longnote folder of your iCloud Drive, or wherever you saved them in Files; delete those in the Files app if you want them gone as well. If you turned on Save symptoms to Health, the symptoms Longnote saved stay in the Health app until you remove them there (or choose Remove them from Health when you turn the switch off). Deleting the app itself also removes its storage. Because there is no server, there is nothing else anywhere to delete.
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Can several people keep records on one iPhone?
Yes. Profiles keep each person’s record in its own separate storage, for example yours and a child’s. Only the profile you are in is loaded, switching is a tap on the avatar, and deleting a profile deletes that profile’s data with it. Backups cover every profile on the device.
The first profile is free. Adding further profiles is part of Pro; profiles you already added stay fully usable if Pro lapses, because a health record never locks you out.
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Is Longnote medical advice?
Longnote is a self-tracking tool, not a medical device. It doesn’t diagnose or recommend treatment — patterns are associations in your own log. Talk to a clinician about anything that worries you.
Patterns describe your own entries: associations, not causes. They can be incomplete, coincidental or wrong, which is why the app says how sure it is, with a strength word and the number of days behind it. The summary is a record to bring to an appointment, not a verdict. Do not delay or change care because of something the app showed you. The terms of use say the same.