Privacy
Effective September 1, 2026
The short version
Magnetite has no advertising, analytics SDK, telemetry, crash reporter, or user account. It does not sell personal data. Audio used by the visualizer stays on your Mac.
Audio and playback
With your macOS permission, Magnetite reads system audio to animate the ferrofluid surface. It processes that signal in memory on your Mac. Magnetite does not upload or save the audio.
Apple Music control uses macOS Apple Events. If you connect Spotify, Magnetite communicates directly with Spotify's authorization and Web API services for playback state, controls, and saved-song status. Spotify's own terms and privacy policy govern what Spotify receives.
Magnetite may also download the current track's artwork from the URL the selected music player supplies. The artwork is used to color the interface; it is not sent to the developer.
What stays on your Mac
Preferences are stored in macOS UserDefaults. A connected Spotify refresh token is stored in Magnetite's Application Support folder with owner-only file permissions. Disconnecting Spotify deletes that credential. Magnetite does not send either item to the developer.
Website and downloads
magnetite.app adds no cookies, tracking pixels, or analytics scripts. The site and downloads are served by GitHub Pages and GitHub Releases, so GitHub may process request information under its own privacy statement. The developer may view the aggregate traffic, referral, star, and download counts GitHub provides; Magnetite receives no visitor profiles or in-app events.
Contact
Privacy questions can be sent to
scrystyt@gmail.com. Magnetite has no
server-side account to delete. Disconnecting Spotify removes its local
credential; remaining local data lives in
~/Library/Application Support/Magnetite and the
com.laks.magnetite macOS preferences domain.