Privacy policy
Folio is a note-taking and reading app for Android. It is built to work offline. This policy explains what the app does with your information. The short version: your notes and books never leave your device. Folio collects anonymous usage statistics to improve the app, never sells data, and you can turn the statistics off.
What stays on your device
Notebooks, drawings, typed text, images, attachments, voice notes, books (PDF and EPUB) and their highlights and notes are stored in the app's private storage on your device. They are not uploaded to us or to any third party. Folio has no account and no sign-in.
Usage statistics (Google Analytics)
Folio uses Google Analytics for Firebase to learn which screens and features are used, so we can improve the app. It collects:
- Screens opened (library, notebook, reader) and features used (for example creating a notebook, exporting, running text recognition), with simple labels such as "pdf" or "canvas".
- Technical data Google Analytics collects automatically: an app instance ID, device model, Android version, app version, language, approximate country (from the IP address, which Google does not store), session length and first-open time.
It never collects the content of your notes or books, titles, file names, search text, recordings or images. Folio does not use the advertising ID, does not show ads and does not use the data for advertising or personalization.
Your choice: turn it off any time in Preferences › Privacy › Share anonymous usage statistics. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Folio asks first and sends nothing unless you allow it. Google processes this data as described in Google's privacy policy and how Google uses data from apps. Analytics data is kept for 14 months.
Crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics)
When Folio crashes or hits a serious error, it sends a crash report through Firebase Crashlytics: the error and the code location, app version, device model, Android version, free memory and disk space, and the same anonymous app instance ID. Crash reports never include your notes, books, titles or file names. The same switch in Preferences › Privacy turns crash reports off, and in the EEA, UK and Switzerland they are sent only after you allow it. Crash reports are kept for 90 days.
Apart from these statistics, crash reports and the update check below, Folio works fully offline. It has no advertising and no account. Text recognition (OCR) runs on the device.
Permissions
- Microphone (optional): used only when you record a voice note. The recording is saved inside the notebook on your device. You can deny this permission and use the rest of the app.
Files you choose
When you open a book, import a backup, export a PDF or PNG, share a page, or pick a folder for smart backups, Folio reads or writes only the files and folders you select through Android's system file picker. Backups go only to the folder you choose. Anything you share with another app is then handled by that app's own policy.
App updates
Folio asks Google Play whether a newer version is available so it can offer an update. This check goes through the Google Play Store app on your device and does not send any of your content. See Google's privacy policy.
This website
This website uses Cloudflare Web Analytics to count visits. It sets no cookies and doesn't track you across sites. See Cloudflare's privacy policy.
Android backup
Android's automatic cloud backup is turned off for Folio, so your notes are not copied to Google Drive by the system.
Deleting your data
Delete notebooks and books in the app (they go to Trash and are removed after the period you choose), or clear everything by uninstalling Folio or using Settings › Apps › Folio › Storage › Clear storage. To stop usage statistics, turn them off in Preferences. To ask for statistics already collected to be deleted, contact us with the date you installed Folio; they are anonymous and not linked to your name.
Children
Folio does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children under 13.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be published on this page with a new date.
Contact
Questions: open an issue at github.com/allient/folio/issues.