Privacy
CodeCatch has no account and no server. It never sends your codes, messages or mail anywhere.
What it reads
You choose each source, and you can switch any of them off. Mail is opened read-only: nothing is marked as read, moved or deleted.
What it keeps
Codes and links are never written to disk. They are read again from Messages and mail when the app starts, for 1, 7 or 30 days back, as you choose.
What it connects to
There is no usage tracking, no crash reports and no advertising. CodeCatch goes online only for the five things listed here. Update checks contact codecatch.app and send a random install ID, the app version, the macOS version and the Mac model. The server uses your IP address to note your country, city and internet provider, but never stores the address itself. This counts how many Macs run CodeCatch and which version they have. It never includes your codes, messages, mail or what you do in the app. Turn off Update Automatically in Settings → General to stop the daily check. Service logos load through Google's favicon service, or DuckDuckGo's when Google has no clear logo. These see your IP address and the service’s domain. CodeCatch does not contact service websites for logos. Logos are on by default and can be turned off in Privacy.
What it never does
The fine print
Full Disk Access is what macOS requires before any app can read Messages and Mail. CodeCatch reads only those two.
Accessibility is needed only if you turn on Automatically Type Codes.
CodeCatch windows are hidden from screen sharing and recordings. Codes stay hidden until you unlock with Touch ID or your Mac password.
A copied code is cleared after 90 seconds if the clipboard has not changed. Universal Clipboard is disabled for these copies. Clipboard managers are asked not to save them, but other apps can still read the clipboard.
If you sign in with Google or Microsoft, CodeCatch gets read-only access to your Gmail or Outlook mail. From your Mac, it reads new mail in your inbox to find verification codes and sign-in links. It never sends, deletes, moves or labels mail. Mail is processed in memory and never sent to CodeCatch or anyone else. The sign-in token stays in your Keychain. Removing the account in Settings → Sources also ends CodeCatch’s access at Google. For Microsoft, end it in your Microsoft account under Privacy → Apps and services. You can end Google’s in your Google Account too.
CodeCatch’s use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
If an email looks like a verification email but no code was found, CodeCatch keeps it so you can copy the code by hand: at most 20 emails, for 30 minutes, in memory only.
In Settings → Sources, remove each mail account and choose Remove Saved Import for Bitwarden. Then quit CodeCatch and move it to the Trash.
Settings and any cached logos remain.
codecatch.app sets no cookies and shows no ads. It counts visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics: the pages viewed, the site you came from, and your browser, device and country. It does not use cookies or follow you to other sites.
Downloads, and visits from links with campaign tags, are also counted on codecatch.app: the page, the tags, the site you came from, your operating system, and the country, city and internet provider from your IP address. The address itself is not stored.
CodeCatch is open source. Everything on this page can be checked in the code.