Last updated: June 2026
Summary
TetherShot is a local-first, open-source desktop app. It does not collect, transmit, sell, or share any personal data. There is no account, no analytics, no telemetry, and no backend service operated by us.
What TetherShot handles
- Screenshots — captured frames are written directly to the local folder you choose and, if you enable it, copied to your system clipboard. They are never uploaded anywhere by TetherShot.
- Device names — your iPhone's name and identifier are read locally to list and target devices. They stay on your machine.
- Preferences — your destination folder and toggles (clipboard, per-device folders, hotkey, launch-at-login, auto-update) are stored locally in macOS
UserDefaults. - Diagnostic log — a local file at
~/Library/Logs/TetherShot.logrecords capture steps to help you debug. It never leaves your Mac; delete it any time.
Permissions
- Camera — required only because macOS exposes a USB-connected iPhone's mirrored screen through the AVFoundation (camera) pipeline. TetherShot does not access your Mac's camera or take photos.
- Screen recording — not used by TetherShot.
Network activity
TetherShot makes network connections only in these clearly-bounded cases, and never to any service operated by us:
- Wi-Fi capture — to your iPhone, over your local network, via the developer-services tunnel. The image data stays between your Mac and your phone.
- Update checks — if you enable “Auto-check for Updates,” the app requests the latest release metadata from the public GitHub repository. Installing an update downloads the signed, notarized DMG from GitHub and verifies its digest and Developer ID signature. These are standard requests and send no personal data. You can turn automatic checks off.
Third-party tools
Wi-Fi capture relies on pymobiledevice3, an open-source tool you install yourself. The optional CLI/source workflow uses npm; normal app updates use GitHub Releases. Those projects have their own policies; TetherShot does not transmit your screenshots to them.
Children & jurisdiction
TetherShot is a developer utility with no data collection, so it carries no special data-handling obligations. Because nothing is collected or transmitted to us, there is no personal data for us to access, retain, export, or delete.
Changes
If this policy ever changes, the updated version will appear here and in the project repository. Material changes will be noted in the release notes.
Contact
Questions? Open an issue at github.com/aopv/TetherShot.