Privacy Policy.

1. Who we are

Cosmic Cleaner (the “app”) is produced by the Cosmic Cleaner team (“we”, “us”). You can reach us at [email protected].

2. What data the app processes

To do its job — finding files and media that are safe to remove — the app reads metadata from your device. All of this processing happens locally. None of your files, photos or their metadata are transmitted off your device.

On macOS — Mac App Store edition

• File system metadata (names, sizes, dates) inside the folders you explicitly grant access to with the system folder picker: your Developer folder (Xcode DerivedData, Device Support, Archives, Simulators and their caches), and a projects folder of your choice (node_modules, Python virtual environments). The app keeps a system “bookmark” so you don’t have to grant it again after a restart; removing the app removes it.
• Photo and video metadata via Apple’s PhotoKit framework, if you allow Photos access, to show screenshots, large videos, large photos, selfies, Live Photos and old media.
• Disk, memory and CPU usage statistics reported by the system, shown in the window and the optional menu bar item, and used for the optional low-disk alerts and automatic cleanup.
• Local notifications, if you turn them on, for low disk space, high memory pressure and automatic cleanup. They are scheduled on your Mac; nothing is sent through a server.

On macOS — Cosmic Cleaner Pro (direct download)

Pro is a separate, non-sandboxed build distributed outside the App Store. In addition to everything above it can:

• Scan more cache locations (CocoaPods, Gradle, Maven, Android Studio, JetBrains, Docker, user caches and logs, iOS backups).
• Read running process information exposed by macOS for the Memory Core panel, which lists top processes and can trigger a RAM purge.
• Read your local iCloud Drive folder to find large, old or duplicate files, and evict downloaded copies (the file stays in iCloud) or move files to the Trash.
• Optionally connect to your Google account to find large Gmail messages and Google Drive files. You sign in with Google directly; the app asks for Gmail and Drive access plus your email address, keeps the access token in the macOS Keychain on your Mac, and talks only to Google’s own APIs (gmail.googleapis.com, www.googleapis.com). Messages and files you choose move to Gmail or Drive trash; files you pick from Drive trash itself are deleted permanently. Nothing from your Google account is sent to us. You can disconnect at any time in the app or at myaccount.google.com/permissions. Use of data received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including its Limited Use requirements.
• Optionally sync with Cosmic Cleaner on your iPhone over your local network (Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, peer to peer) to copy photos and videos from your iPhone to a folder on your Mac. The data goes directly between your own devices and never through a server.

On iOS

• Photo and video metadata via Apple’s PhotoKit framework, used to detect screenshots, large videos, large photos, selfies, Live Photos, old media, similar photos, and duplicate bursts.
• On-device image features computed with Apple’s Vision framework for similar-photo grouping and optical character recognition on screenshots. These features never leave your device.
• Video Shrink: for videos you select and confirm, the app reads the video on your device, re-encodes it into a smaller HEVC copy with Apple’s AVFoundation framework, saves the copy to your Photo Library with the original’s date, location, favourite state and albums, and deletes the original. Nothing is uploaded; videos stored only in iCloud are skipped.
• Storage statistics reported by the system to show space saved.

Update check (macOS and iOS)

When it starts, the app downloads one public file, https://cosmiccleaner.app/app-version.json, to find out whether a newer version is available, and if so shows an update notice. The request contains no parameters, identifiers, or data about you, your device, or your files. As with any web request, our website host and its network provider (Cloudflare) see the IP address the request comes from in their standard access logs; we do not use these logs to identify anyone, and we do not combine them with any other data.

3. What we do not do

• We do not operate user accounts. There is nothing to sign up for.
• We do not use any analytics, crash-reporting, advertising, or tracking SDKs.
• We do not upload, back up, or sync your files, photos, videos, or any other content to any server. (Pro’s optional device sync goes directly between your own Mac and iPhone.)
• We do not sell or share personal data with third parties.
• We do not use your data to train machine-learning models.

4. Permissions the app asks for

The app only requests permissions that it visibly uses. You can revoke any of them from macOS or iOS System Settings at any time.

• Folder access (macOS App Store edition) — you pick your Developer folder and a projects folder in the system folder picker. The app sees nothing outside the folders you pick.
• Photo Library access (macOS and iOS) — to read photo metadata and to delete items you choose; on iOS also to save the smaller copies of videos you shrink.
• Notifications (macOS, optional) — for the alerts and automatic-cleanup prompts you turn on.
• Full Disk Access (Pro only) — to scan cache locations outside your Library.
• Administrator password (Pro only) — used only on demand for the Memory Core RAM purge, via a scoped sudoers rule that you install knowingly.
• Google sign-in and Local Network (Pro only, optional) — for the Google cleaner and device sync described above.

5. Deletion is your action

Cosmic Cleaner never deletes anything silently. Items found during a scan are shown to you in a preview, and removal only happens after you explicitly confirm — or, on macOS, when automatic cleanup that you turned on yourself runs. Photos you delete, on iOS and macOS, go through the system Photos framework, which means they first move to the Recently Deleted album, where you can restore them for 30 days. The same applies to originals replaced by Video Shrink on iOS, and iOS asks you to confirm the change before anything is saved or deleted.

On macOS, in the main window, items that are not rebuildable caches — simulators, device support files, archives, node_modules, virtual environments — move to the Trash, so you can put them back until you empty it. Caches their tools rebuild on their own (such as Xcode DerivedData) are removed permanently; the confirmation dialog tells you which is which before anything happens. The menu bar’s one-click clean and automatic cleanup only ever move rebuildable caches to the Trash. The app never empties the Trash: you decide when to empty it in Finder.

6. This website

The site you are reading is a static page. It does not set tracking cookies, does not include analytics, and does not embed third-party social widgets. The only network requests the page makes are for the Google Fonts stylesheet and font files, which are subject to Google’s own privacy terms. If you would prefer a fully self-hosted font setup, let us know.

7. Distribution platforms

When you download Cosmic Cleaner from the Mac App Store or the App Store, Apple collects purchase, installation, and crash data under its own privacy policy. We receive only the aggregated, anonymised reports Apple provides to all developers. We have no access to your Apple ID or payment details.

8. Children

Cosmic Cleaner is a general-purpose utility and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

9. Your rights

Because we do not store personal data about you, there is nothing for us to export, correct, or delete on our side. You remain in full control of the files and media on your own device. If you believe you have a privacy-related concern we have not addressed, contact us and we will respond promptly.

10. Changes to this policy

If we update this policy we will change the effective date at the top of the page and, where the change is material, announce it on the homepage. Older versions are preserved in this site’s Git history.

11. Contact

Questions, corrections, or legal notices: [email protected].