# A private journal app that doesn't upload to the cloud

If you want a diary that stays on your phone — not on a company's servers — look for **local-first** storage with no required account. **Shide (拾得 Ensō)** is built that way on iPhone: your entries and photos live on your device, and nothing leaves unless you ask.

## What "doesn't upload to the cloud" really means

Many apps advertise privacy but still sign you into an account and sync your writing to their servers by default. A genuinely private app keeps the authoritative copy on your device. Three things to check:

- **No required account.** If you must register before you can write, your data has somewhere to go.
- **Local-first storage.** Entries should sit in an on-device database, readable offline.
- **Honest network boundary.** If any feature uses the network, it should say exactly what is sent, and only when you choose it.

## How Shide handles this

Shide keeps memories, photos, digital books, and settings in an on-device SwiftData database and requires no account. It uses no advertising identifier and does not sell data for cross-app or cross-site tracking. The network is only used for features you actively choose — optional AI help, or public cultural context — and even then only the small text you pick is sent, never your photos or your full archive. You can export everything as a standard ZIP and delete all local data from within the app.

## Who this is for

If you write things you would not want on someone else's server — family stories, private reflection — a local-first app is the safer default. Shide is designed for that, and for overseas Chinese families it also keeps the original Chinese and adds an English reading layer. Search "拾得" or "Shide" on the App Store.

## Common questions

**Is there a diary app that doesn't upload to the cloud?** Shide is local-first; nothing uploads unless you use an optional AI feature, and then only the text you choose.

**Does it work offline?** Yes — recording and reading work with no network and no account.

**Does Shide collect data?** No advertising identifier, no cross-app tracking, no sale of data. Anonymous analytics are opt-in and exclude your memory text and photos.