Forked — Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 14, 2026

Forked connects to your self-hosted Mealie recipe server. For privacy questions or requests, contact privacy@knownframe.com.

Information used by the app

Forked uses your server address and credentials to connect to your recipe library. Credentials are stored in the device's Keychain. If you sign in with a Mealie username and password, Forked sends them only to your own server, once, to create an API token for Forked; the password is not stored. Recipes, saved plans, Plan History, shopping lists, and preferences are stored locally to provide browsing, planning, shopping, and offline access.

If your server is behind a sign-in proxy, such as Cloudflare Access or Pangolin, you can add request headers under Connection Options. Their values are stored in the device's Keychain, on this device only, and are sent only to your own server's address. They are not synced through iCloud, shared with a Household, written to app logs, or included in bug reports.

When you edit, add, or delete a recipe, replace its photo, set a favorite or rating, or mark a planned meal cooked, Forked sends that change only to your own configured recipe server. Changes made while offline, and photos waiting to upload, stay on your device until they are sent; a discarded edit is kept on your device for 30 days so you can restore it. Photos you choose are picked with the iOS photo picker, which gives Forked only the photo you select; Forked does not request access to your photo library.

On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, Forked can use Apple's on-device model to sort Shopping items it doesn't recognize into store sections. This runs on your iPhone, and the item names are not sent anywhere.

Chef Profiles contain the names, emoji, dietary preferences, allergies, and ingredient preferences you enter. Profiles and supported settings can sync privately through your Apple iCloud account when enabled. Your server address and connection settings (port and certificate option) sync the same way, so Forked can offer to reconnect on your other devices; your API token and password are never included, and neither are any request headers. Dietary information is optional and is used for your recipe preferences; it is not shared with other Household members.

Forked does not use advertising identifiers, collect location data, or use advertising or cross-app tracking SDKs. It does not require a separate Forked account.

Households

If you create or join a Household, Apple iCloud stores the Household's name, member names and emoji, membership identifiers and roles, and the Plan and Shopping content you choose to sync. Shared content includes meal selections, servings and completion, shopping items and quantities, and who last edited items. Membership, library-compatibility, and synchronization information helps control access and keep devices consistent.

Other Household members can see this shared information. Your server credentials and address, dietary preferences, recipe cache, and Plan History are not included in the Household share. Forked does not operate a server that receives Household data.

The organizer chooses which features to share. Joining a shared feature requires accepting replacement of your corresponding local Plan or Shopping list. Stopping sync retains the latest local data; subsequent local edits are private. Removing access does not remotely erase copies already on another device. Access changes take effect as devices connect and synchronize.

Crash diagnostics

Releases before 2026.8.0 used Firebase Crashlytics for crash diagnostics. Forked 2026.8.0 and later do not include it.

Reports include crash traces, app and device details, and app-installation identifiers. Forked does not add recipe content, server credentials, or your profile identity to these reports. Updating does not delete reports already received. Firebase states that crash reports and associated identifiers are retained for 90 days before removal from live and backup systems begins. See Firebase's privacy information.

Apple may provide crash diagnostics according to your system diagnostic-sharing choices. See Apple’s diagnostic-sharing information.

Bug reports you send

Settings → About → Report a Bug opens an email to support@knownframe.com containing your description, the app version, the iOS version, and your device model. Nothing is sent unless you send that email, and you can review it first.

The Attach diagnostics option, which is on by default and can be turned off, adds a zip file containing:

• recent app activity logs, including sync and error events and the internal identifiers of recipes and Households involved;
• app settings, such as sync interval, theme, and connection type (for example, local network or HTTPS);
• counts from your local recipe library, such as the number of recipes and tags.

API tokens and server addresses are redacted from this bundle before it leaves your device. We use bug reports only to investigate and respond to your report. Contact privacy@knownframe.com to request deletion of a report you sent.

Services and sharing

• Your recipe server receives requests to access your library.
• Apple provides iCloud, diagnostic services, and processes Pro and tip purchases. Forked does not receive your payment-card details. See Apple's privacy policy.
• Google Firebase processes crash diagnostics from older versions as described above.
• Bug reports you send go to Knownframe by email through the mail service you use.
• Sharing you request sends exported shopping-list text to the destination you select through the iOS share sheet.

Apple and Google may process information outside your country. Their privacy information describes processing locations and applicable international transfer arrangements. You can contact us for information about the safeguards applicable to your data.

Retention and deletion

Local app data remains until you remove it, reset Forked, or uninstall the app, subject to ordinary cache cleanup. Settings → Disconnect & Reset clears local library data, credentials, and Household replicas. Removing the app does not delete your recipe server or privately synced iCloud profiles and settings, which remain subject to Apple's iCloud retention practices.

A member can Leave Household to end access and clear its local Household replica. The organizer can Dissolve Household to delete the shared iCloud zone. These actions retain ordinary local Plan and Shopping data and do not erase copies another member already holds. Shared Household data remains in iCloud until removed through the Household's controls or the zone is deleted. Forked also keeps its iCloud storage small on its own: about once a day, the organizer's app removes a Household that was left behind by a reset, a server change, or reinstalling Forked, if nobody else ever joined it and nothing has referred to it for three days. It also removes the records of deleted Plan and Shopping items, and after 60 days the record of the deletion itself. For requests concerning diagnostics already received by Google, contact us at privacy@knownframe.com.

Your choices and rights

Where applicable data-protection law requires a lawful basis, processing needed to provide the core app features is based on performing the service you request.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, or portability of your personal data, object to processing, and complain to your local data-protection authority. Contact privacy@knownframe.com to exercise these rights.

Policy updates

Updates will be posted on this page with the effective date.