SHEAFLY
Privacy policy
How Sheafly handles your papers
- Sheafly has no server of its own. We never receive your documents, their text or how you file them.
- Text recognition, PDF signing, password protection and merging all run on your device.
- Your files go only to the cloud drive you connect: Google Drive, iCloud Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox.
- The free version shows Google AdMob ads. Ads never get your documents or their text.
- No analytics, no tracking of what your documents say, and no AI training on your content.
Who we are
Sheafly is a document scanner app for iPhone and Android. In this policy, "Sheafly", "we" and "us" mean the developer of the app. You can reach us at dev.metsys@gmail.com.
Your documents
When you scan a page or import an image, Sheafly keeps the page image, the text it reads from it, and the details you file it under (title, person, folder, type) on your device. If you connect a cloud drive, Sheafly uploads those same files, plus a small index file that lets another of your devices rebuild the library, directly from your device to your drive.
None of it passes through a server run by us, and we have no way to see it. You can stop syncing, export everything as a zip, or disconnect and erase the local copy from the app's Storage & privacy screen at any time. Files already in your drive stay there under your control.
Text recognition
Sheafly reads text using the engine built into your phone: Apple's Vision framework on iPhone, and Google's ML Kit on-device text recognition on Android. Both run on the device. Page images are not sent anywhere to be read.
PDF tools
Signing, password-protecting and merging PDFs all happen on your device:
- PDFs you open. Sheafly reads only the PDF files you pick. They are not uploaded anywhere. If you choose "Save to library", the result is filed like a scan and stored and synced the same way as your other documents.
- Your signature. The signature you draw is written into the PDF you make. If you choose "Keep on this device", it is saved on your device for the next PDF. It is never uploaded, not even to your drive.
- PDF passwords. The password you set is used to encrypt that one file and is not stored by Sheafly.
Sharing and exporting
When you share or export, Sheafly hands the PDF or images only to the app or destination you pick, and uploads them nowhere else. Pages are re-drawn as new images, so no camera, location (GPS) or phone details travel with them. "Save to Photos" adds pages to your photo library only when you ask it to.
Camera and photos
Sheafly uses the camera only while you are scanning, and reads from your photo library only the images you pick, or that you open or share into Sheafly from another app. If you turn on "Keep the original photos", the unedited camera photo is stored alongside the cleaned page, in the same places.
Your cloud drive
To save to a drive, you sign in with that provider (Google, Apple, Microsoft or Dropbox) on their own sign-in screen. Sheafly never sees your password. The provider gives the app an access token, which is stored in your device's secure storage (the iOS Keychain or Android's encrypted storage) and used only to read and write Sheafly's own files.
| Provider | What Sheafly may access |
|---|---|
| Google Drive | Only files Sheafly created or that you opened with it (Google's drive.file scope). Sheafly cannot see anything else in your Drive. |
| iCloud Drive | Sheafly's own iCloud container. |
| OneDrive | Sheafly's app folder. |
| Dropbox | Sheafly's app folder. |
Your use of each drive is governed by that provider's own privacy policy. Sheafly's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We do not use it for advertising, do not sell it, do not let humans read it, and do not use it to train AI models.
Advertising (free version)
The free version of Sheafly shows ads from Google AdMob: a banner at the end of the library and people lists, and occasionally a full-screen ad after you save a document. Sheafly Pro removes all ads.
To show and measure ads, Google may collect information such as your device's advertising identifier, IP address, device type, and ad interactions. It never receives your documents, their text, their titles or the names of people you file for. Sheafly does not pass any of that to the ad SDK.
- Consent. Where the law requires it (for example in the UK and EEA), Sheafly asks for your consent through Google's consent form before personalised ads are shown. You can change your choice any time from "Ad privacy choices" on the Storage & privacy screen.
- iPhone tracking permission. On iOS, Sheafly asks Apple's App Tracking Transparency permission. If you decline, ads are not personalised with your advertising identifier.
- Android. You can reset or delete your advertising ID in your device's Google settings.
See how Google uses information from apps that use its services.
Purchases
Sheafly Pro is sold through the App Store on iPhone and Google Play on Android. Apple or Google processes the payment; we receive no payment details and no account information. The app checks your purchase with the store on your device to unlock Pro features.
The free version allows a few uses of some tools (for example 3 signed PDFs). Those counts are kept only on your device.
App lock
If you turn on "Require unlock to open", Sheafly asks your operating system to verify you with Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint or your passcode. Sheafly only learns whether it succeeded; biometric data never leaves the system.
What we do not do
- We do not run analytics or crash reporting that collects your content.
- We do not sell personal information.
- We do not use your documents to train AI or machine-learning models.
- We do not require an account with us.
- We do not collect your location. Sheafly does not ask for location access.
Children
Sheafly is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Your rights
Because we do not hold your documents or an account for you, you control your data directly: delete documents in the app, delete Sheafly's folder in your drive, and uninstall the app to remove everything stored on the device. Revoke Sheafly's access to your drive from your Google, Apple, Microsoft or Dropbox account settings. For ad data held by Google, use your ad privacy choices in the app or Google's My Ad Center. If you have a question or request about your personal information, email us and we will respond within 30 days.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and the effective date above. Material changes will also be noted in the app's release notes.
We read every message.