, by The Pippin team
What Pippin reads on your Mac, and what it never reads
Pippin reads the text in your open windows, not pictures. Here is what it reads, what it never reads, what it masks, and where your data is kept.
i keep the list.
Pippin reads the text in your open windows, about every 15 seconds, through macOS Accessibility. That’s how it writes and updates your to-do list without you typing anything. It doesn’t take screenshots or capture video or audio, it skips password fields and the apps you block, and it saves what it learns on your Mac. Here is the whole picture in plain words. The privacy page has the same facts in a shorter form.
What does Pippin read?
- The text in your open windows. The app in front and the other apps you have open. It reads about every 15 seconds, through macOS Accessibility.
- Window titles and app names.
That’s the list. It’s enough for Pippin to tell that you’re answering Emily in Slack or booking an appointment in Safari, and to write a row for it.
There is one optional extra. If you also allow Input Monitoring, Pippin learns that you typed, clicked or sent something, and where. It does not learn which keys you pressed. It helps Pippin tell when you sent or finished something.
Does Pippin record your screen?
No. Pippin takes no screenshots. It captures no video and no audio. It doesn’t read pictures, and it doesn’t use OCR to pull text out of them. It reads text and nothing else.
What does it never read?
- Password fields.
- Common password managers: 1Password, Bitwarden, KeePassXC, Dashlane, LastPass, Enpass, Proton Pass, Keychain Access and Passwords. Block any other one in Settings.
- The lock screen.
- Pippin’s own windows.
- Any app you block.
- Private browser windows it can recognize: Chrome Incognito, Edge InPrivate and Firefox Private Browsing.
While macOS secure keyboard entry is on, reading pauses.
One thing to know about Safari: Pippin can’t tell a Safari private window from a normal one. The same goes for a private window whose title is not in English. If you want those left alone, block the browser in Settings.
Can Pippin see your passwords?
It never reads password fields or the password managers listed above. Before Pippin saves anything it read, it also masks API keys, tokens, passwords, many one-time codes and bank account numbers. A screen with a card form or a recovery phrase is dropped entirely. Masking finds common patterns, so it can miss one.
Names, email addresses and message text are not masked. If a message from a coworker is on your screen, Pippin reads it and can save it. That’s what lets it write a useful row like “Emily asked which sheet is final,” so we want you to know it plainly.
Does Pippin log what you type?
Pippin does not log your keystrokes. It reads what’s on the screen. Text you typed that shows in a normal field is screen text like any other, so Pippin can read it there.
Where is your data saved, and for how long?
On your Mac, in ~/Library/Application Support/Pippin. There’s no Pippin account, and no Pippin server ever gets your screen text, so your list and history aren’t sitting in a cloud somewhere.
| What | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Screen text and the activity log | 3 days |
| Pippin’s written accounts of your work, and closed rows | 30, 60 or 90 days. You choose. |
| Chat, day and week summaries, and open rows | Until you clear them |
Which AI sees the text?
Pippin doesn’t come with its own AI. To understand what it read, it sends the text to the AI you picked during setup. You choose one of three routes:
- Your ChatGPT plan. The text goes through your own ChatGPT sign-in, using the Codex that comes with the ChatGPT Mac app.
- A Claude API key. The text goes to Anthropic. Pippin uses Claude Haiku, and Claude Max and Team plans include monthly API credits that cover it.
- An OpenRouter key. The text goes to OpenRouter, and then to OpenAI. You pay OpenRouter per use.
The app says it this way, naming the AI you picked: “Everything is saved on this Mac. When Pippin thinks, it sends short excerpts to Claude, made by Anthropic.” Storage is on your Mac, and the thinking happens with the AI you chose.
The app also sends usage counts and crash reports to PostHog in the EU, with a random install ID: counts and on/off states only, never screen text, window titles, app names, chat or row titles.
Can you pause Pippin or delete what it saved?
Yes. These are the names you’ll see in the app.
- Pause screen awareness. For 1 hour, Until tomorrow at 9:00 AM, or Until a date and time. Resume now turns it back on.
- Blocked apps. Pippin never reads text from a blocked app. Add any app yourself, or use Block All Suggested.
- Keep detailed accounts for. 30 days, 60 days or 90 days.
- Clear recent history. Last 10 minutes, Last hour or Last day.
- Save a backup to… A copy of your data, in a file you keep.
- Reset Pippin. This deletes the Pippin folder on this Mac. Backups and any key you added stay; the privacy page shows how to remove them.
Why we spell all of this out
“Private by design” is a shorter sentence than a list with a Safari note in it. But you should know exactly what you’re agreeing to, so you can decide with the facts in front of you. Pippin reads the text on your screen, keeps what it learns on your Mac, and uses the AI you picked to understand it.
If that works for you, here’s what you get in return: a to-do list you never have to type into. Keeping a to-do list up to date is the real work explains what Pippin takes off your plate. Short answers about passwords, your data and your boss are in the FAQs on the home page.