Effective date: July 12, 2026
Previously is a TV show tracker built around a simple idea: what you watch is yours. There’s no account to create, no profile to fill out, and no server of ours in between. This page explains exactly what stays on your device, what syncs to your own iCloud, and the small amount of data that leaves your device to make the app work.
No accounts, no sign-up
Previously has no login, no username, no password, and no user database on our end. You can’t create a Previously account because one doesn’t exist. We have no way to identify you, and nothing you do in the app is tied to your name or email unless you choose to email us directly (see Contact, below).
What the app stores, and where
When you track a show, mark an episode watched, or change a setting, Previously stores that data using Apple’s SwiftData framework:
- Your data: the shows you track, your watch history (which episodes you’ve seen and when), and your app settings. This is the only data that’s really “yours”; everything else is re-fetchable.
- Show data: cached posters, titles, seasons, episodes, air dates, and overviews for shows you track. This is public catalog data, not personal data, and is stored purely so the app works offline.
Your data lives on your device. If you have iCloud enabled for Previously, it also syncs through your own private iCloud account via Apple’s CloudKit (the same private-database mechanism Apple provides to every app, scoped to your Apple Account). We don’t run a server, we don’t have a copy of your database, and we cannot see your tracked shows or watch history. Apple’s iCloud terms govern data once it’s in iCloud; Previously never has its own access to it.
The cached show catalog (posters, episode lists, etc.) is intentionally not synced. It’s just a local cache that gets rebuilt from the metadata providers below on each device, since it’s not personal and doesn’t need to travel with you.
What leaves your device, and to whom
Three things leave your device, each for a specific, limited purpose:
1. Show search and metadata lookups: TheTVDB and TVmaze
When you search for a show or refresh a tracked show’s data, Previously sends the search text or show identifier to TheTVDB (primary source) or TVmaze (used when no TheTVDB key is configured) to fetch titles, episode lists, air dates, and artwork. These are read-only catalog lookups. Your watch history (which episodes you’ve actually watched) is never included in these requests and never leaves your device except to your own iCloud. Each provider’s own privacy practices apply to the request they receive; see TheTVDB and TVmaze for details.
2. Anonymous product analytics: PostHog (EU)
Previously uses PostHog, hosted on PostHog’s EU instance, to understand which features get used: things like “a search was performed” or “a show was tracked.” This is on by default (an opt-out model), and you can turn it off at any time in Settings → About → “Share anonymous usage statistics.”
What we send is deliberately narrow: event names and simple counts/enum values only (e.g., how many search results came back, which screen a purchase started from). We never send show names, episode titles, watch dates, or any other content from your library. We don’t use PostHog’s autocapture, session replay, or surveys, and we never call identify(). No profile is created that could be linked back to you. The app also declares no tracking and no cross-app/website tracking identifiers (no IDFA) in its Apple privacy manifest.
3. Purchases: Apple and RevenueCat
Previously offers a free 30-day trial and a one-time lifetime unlock, processed entirely through Apple’s App Store. We use RevenueCat to validate your purchase/trial status with Apple on our behalf. RevenueCat sees an anonymous, app-specific identifier and your purchase history for this app. It never sees your name, email, or any tracking data from elsewhere. Apple’s own privacy policy governs payment details; we never see or store your payment information.
That’s the complete list. Nothing else leaves your device.
No ads, no selling data, no trackers
Previously has no advertising, no ad SDKs, and no third-party advertising trackers of any kind. We do not sell, rent, or share your data with data brokers or advertisers. There’s nothing to sell, since we don’t have your data to begin with. There is no social feed, no public profile, and no way for other people to see what you’re watching.
Deleting your data
- Untrack a show to delete its local watch data (with a confirmation step) at any time, from My Shows or Show Detail.
- Export your data (Settings → Data → “Export data…”) if you want a personal backup in JSON format before making changes.
- Delete the app to remove everything stored on that device. If you use iCloud sync, your synced data lives in your own private iCloud database; you can remove it from there via Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage on your device, the same way as any other iCloud-backed app.
- To stop analytics retroactively, turn off “Share anonymous usage statistics” in Settings: future events stop immediately. Because the data PostHog holds is anonymous and not linked to your identity, we have no way to identify and delete a specific person’s historical events; if you have concerns, contact us and we’ll do what we reasonably can.
Children’s privacy
Previously is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect any personal information from children. Since there are no accounts and no personal information is collected in the first place, there is no age-gating in the app.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we’ll update the effective date above and, where appropriate, note the change in the app’s “What’s New.” We won’t broaden what leaves your device without saying so here first.
Contact
Questions about privacy or anything else: support@getpreviously.com (also reachable from Settings → About → Contact in the app).