Hostwright
Privacy Policy
No accounts, ads, analytics or tracking, and nothing about you or your work is sent to us.
This policy explains how Hostwright (“the app”), a Mac app: edit /etc/hosts as rows and profiles, and set environment variables and PATH for apps and shells, developed by Kevin Fitzgerald, handles information.
Information we collect
None. Hostwright does not collect, store, sell or share personal information on any server, and it does not include analytics, advertising, crash-reporting or tracking tools of any kind.
Information stored on your Mac
To work, the app keeps the following on your Mac only:
- Your hosts profiles (names, symbols and their lines) and your variable and PATH settings
- Backups Hostwright makes before every write: the hosts file, ~/.zprofile and the login agent (the newest 50 of each)
- The variables you apply: a marked block in ~/.zprofile and a login agent (~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.fitz1567.Hostwright.env.plist)
- Your license key, in your Mac's Keychain
Profiles, settings and backups are in ~/Library/Application Support/Hostwright on your Mac; Hostwright Helper keeps its own copy of the hosts file before each write in /Library/Application Support/Hostwright/Backups. The license key is in your Keychain. Restore Apple's Default, Turn Everything Off and Turn Off Helper take Hostwright's changes out of the system files.
Your Mac
Hostwright runs outside Apple's App Sandbox because it edits files a sandboxed app can't: /etc/hosts (through Hostwright Helper, a small helper that runs with administrator rights only after you turn it on and approve it in System Settings › Login Items), ~/.zprofile and a login agent in ~/Library/LaunchAgents. The helper accepts requests only from Hostwright signed with the same Developer ID, checks every line before it writes, keeps a backup, flushes the DNS cache, and does nothing else. Values you mark hidden (an API key) are shown as dots in the app but are still plain text in ~/.zprofile and the login agent, as the app says.
Network
Hostwright is sold directly through Gumroad, and its only network requests are the license check with Gumroad (your license key, when you enter it and about once a week), checks for app updates at fitztoppicks.com and the More Mac Apps list. None of them sends your hosts file, profiles or variables.
Updates and license checks
Hostwright, downloaded directly from Gumroad or fitztoppicks.com and signed with Apple’s Developer ID, checks for app updates with Sparkle, a standard open-source updater: it downloads a small update list (an appcast) from fitztoppicks.com, which sees only the app’s version and, like any website, your internet address, and it downloads an update only when one is available and you choose to install it (or have turned on automatic updates). When you enter a license key, Hostwright sends that key to Gumroad to verify it, and checks it again about once a week; that is all it sends to Gumroad. Neither sends anything about you, your files or how you use the app.
Purchases
Hostwright is sold directly through Gumroad, which handles payment and sends your receipt and license key; we never see your payment details. The app sends your license key to Gumroad to check it (when you enter it and about once a week); that is all it sends to Gumroad.
Children’s privacy
Because the app collects no personal information from anyone, it does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new effective date. If the app ever begins collecting data, this policy will be updated before that happens.
Contact
Questions about this policy or the app: help@fitztoppicks.com.