gather

Privacy Policy

Last updated October 29, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how CodeNest LLC ("CodeNest," "we," "us," or "our") handles information when you use gather, our RSS reader application.

Information stored on your device

gather stores your feed subscriptions, downloaded articles, reading history, stars, likes, dismissals, reading queue, views, muted words and alert keywords, preferences, generated summaries or simplified headlines, and prepared audio in a database on your device, along with any downloaded AI models and automatic backups. CodeNest does not receive this data. Deleting gather removes this locally stored data, subject to your device's backup and deletion behavior.

If you turn on optional sync, gather keeps your subscriptions, stars, queue, views, preferences, and reading history in your own iCloud account on iOS or Google Drive account on Android (Google Drive sync asks you to sign in with Google and uses a private app folder). CodeNest cannot access that data, and Apple's or Google's privacy policies apply to it. On Android, your device's own backup may also include gather's automatic backup files.

Feeds, articles, and on-device AI

To retrieve feeds and articles, gather connects directly to the websites you choose. Those website operators may receive standard network information such as your IP address, request time, and device or browser information, and their own privacy policies apply.

gather's AI summaries and simplified headlines are generated on your device, using Apple Intelligence on supported iPhones or a model you download. Models are downloaded from Hugging Face, which receives standard network information for the download. Article text is not sent to CodeNest or to a third-party AI service for this processing.

Optional translation uses Google's on-device translation (ML Kit). A language pack is downloaded from Google once, and article text is then translated on your device. Google's SDK may send Google its own usage and diagnostic information.

Finding sources and local news

When you search for sources by name or topic, gather sends your search text to Feedly's public feed search to find matching feeds. If you ask for news near you, gather asks for approximate location permission and uses your device's built-in geocoder (Apple or Google) to turn it into a city name, then sends that city name to Feedly's search. You can type a city instead of sharing location. Hacker News sources are delivered through hnrss.org, and any site route you set up sends the article address to the service you chose.

Usage counts and analytics

gather sends a small set of usage counts to PostHog (us.i.posthog.com) so we can understand how many people use the app and where it can be improved. These counts cover: a new installation's first open; each time the app opens and goes to the background, with the time spent in the foreground in whole seconds and how far down the Home feed you scrolled (as a number of articles, not which ones); progress through the setup screens, including how many local sources you added; that an article was opened (not which article); whether an ad slot was reached, blocked, or failed to load, with a short technical reason; and taps on or purchases of Remove ads. Each count includes the operating system (iOS or Android) and the time it happened. None includes article titles, text, or links, feed addresses, search terms, or your location. Counts are stored on the device until delivery succeeds; at most 100 undelivered counts are kept.

Install ID. Outside the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, these counts carry a random install ID created on your device, so we can count active users and see whether people return. It is not your name, email, advertising identifier, or hardware identifier, is not backed up or synced, and a reinstall creates a new one. You can turn this off in Settings under Count app usage; the counts then use a new one-time identifier each time, and the stored install ID is deleted. In the EEA, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, and wherever gather cannot yet tell your region, the install ID is used only if you turn on Share anonymous analytics; otherwise every count uses a one-time identifier.

Optional analytics. Other product analytics are off unless you turn them on during setup or in Settings. If you opt in, gather sends limited feature usage events to PostHog. These do not include article text, search terms, or feed addresses. PostHog receives standard network information, including your IP address, to deliver events; IP-based location enrichment, person profiles, and session recording are disabled.

Google Analytics for Firebase. When the install ID is allowed under the rules above, gather also uses Google Analytics for Firebase to measure whether people who installed gather from our ads go on to use it. It records events such as first open, finishing setup, and opening a third article, along with device, app, and approximate-location information that Google derives from the connection. gather does not let Firebase collect your advertising identifier (IDFA or Android advertising ID) and does not allow this data to be used for ad personalization. Outside the EEA, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, these events may be shared with our Google Ads account to measure our own ad campaigns; in those regions they are used for analytics only. Turning off Count app usage, or not opting in where consent is required, turns Firebase collection off. Google's use of this data is described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.

App updates

gather checks Expo's update service for over-the-air app updates, which receives standard network information such as your IP address and app version.

Advertising

gather uses Google AdMob and the Google Mobile Ads SDK to display in-feed ads. Google and its advertising partners may automatically collect or receive IP addresses (which can be used to estimate general location), device and app identifiers, advertising data, ad and app interactions, diagnostics, and performance information. They use this information to deliver and measure ads, provide analytics, and detect fraud and abuse.

Depending on your region, consent choices, and device settings, ads may be personalized, non-personalized, or limited. gather uses Google's consent tools where required. You can review or change available choices in gather under Settings → Ad privacy choices, and you can also use your device's advertising privacy controls.

For more information, see How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and Google's Privacy Policy.

Information you send us

gather does not require an account. If you contact us, we receive the contact information and message you choose to provide and use it to respond, provide support, protect the service, and comply with law. We retain support communications only as long as reasonably necessary for those purposes.

Sharing and sale

CodeNest does not directly sell your personal information. We disclose information to Google and its advertising partners, and to the service providers described above, including Google for Firebase analytics and measuring our own Google Ads campaigns, and we may disclose information when required by law or in connection with a merger, financing, acquisition, or sale of assets. Certain advertising disclosures may be considered a "sale," "sharing," or use for targeted advertising under some privacy laws. Where applicable, you can exercise the available choice through gather's Ad privacy choices screen.

Data retention and security

Locally stored reader data remains on your device until you delete it or uninstall gather. Google retains advertising information according to its own policies. We use reasonable safeguards for information we process, but no method of transmission or storage is completely secure.

Children

gather is not directed to children under 13, and CodeNest does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us so we can address it.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal information we hold about you, and to object to or restrict certain processing. You may also have the right to opt out of certain advertising uses. Because gather's reader data is stored locally, you can manage or delete most of it directly through the app or by uninstalling it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as gather changes or as legal requirements evolve. The date above shows when it was last revised.

Contact us

For privacy questions or requests, email support@codenestllc.org or write to: