Framer shows your iPhone or iPad on your Mac. The picture and sound come straight from the device, over a USB cable or your local network, and never leave your Mac. Framer has no accounts, no analytics and no tracking. It sends two things over the internet: an hourly check for a newer version, and a diagnostics log of what the app did (devices connecting, windows opening, errors), which never contains your device names, your name, or anything shown on your devices. You can switch the log upload off, or delete what was sent, in Settings → Privacy.
What stays on your Mac
Everything Framer mirrors, including the screen, audio and anything shown on it, is decoded and displayed on your Mac and then discarded. Framer does not save or upload any of it unless you take a screenshot or make a recording.
Screenshots and recordings are made only when you ask, with the buttons on a mirror's handle, its menu or their keyboard shortcuts. They are saved as ordinary files in the folder you choose (your Documents folder unless you pick another). A recording includes the device's audio unless you mute it. Framer never uploads or shares these files; they are yours to keep, move or delete.
Your settings stay on your Mac too: whether Framer shows in the Dock, whether wireless mirroring is on, the default device color, the color and window size remembered for each device model, whether captures include the device frame, and where captures are saved. They are stored in macOS's standard preferences and are removed if you delete them or the app.
What Framer sends
Update checks
When Framer launches and every hour after that, it downloads the list of published builds from this website to see whether a newer version exists. The request carries no account, identifier or information about your devices. Like any web request, it reveals your IP address, and it carries macOS's standard user agent, which names Framer's build number and your macOS version.
If an update is available, Framer downloads it from this website. With Install updates automatically on (Settings → Advanced), it installs the update when no device is mirroring. With it off, Framer waits for you to install it.
Diagnostics logs
Framer keeps a short log of what it does, so problems can be tracked down. It lives on your Mac in ~/Library/Logs/Framer, one file per launch; only the five most recent are kept. A line reads like “usb dev1 connected”, “win1 opened for dev1: 1170x2532 iPhoneIsland” or “win1 muted”.
The log records: devices connecting and disconnecting, over USB or AirPlay, identified only by a short label that is new each launch (dev1, dev2) and by their model (such as iPhone15,2) or screen size; windows opening and closing; muting, rotating, screenshots and recordings (not the images or their file names); changes to Framer's settings (on or off, or which preset, never your capture folder); update checks and installs; errors; your Framer and macOS versions and whether your Mac is Apple silicon or Intel.
The log never records: your device names or your Mac's name, your name, serial numbers, device IDs or UDIDs, network addresses, file or folder names, or anything shown or played on a device. Text from other software that goes in (such as an error message) is scrubbed of these before it is written, so the file on your Mac is exactly what is sent. See Exactly What Gets Sent in Settings → Privacy opens it.
With Send diagnostics automatically on (the default), Framer uploads the current log every few minutes while it changes, and when it quits. Uploads carry a random ID made only for diagnostics, so a log can be matched to a report you send; it isn't linked to you or to anything else. Uploaded logs are deleted automatically after 30 days. Delete My Logs from the Server deletes them right away and turns automatic upload off.
Help reports
If you send a report from Settings → Help, it carries your message, the name and email you choose to give (both optional), your Framer and macOS versions and, if you leave Include my logs checked, the diagnostics ID that finds your logs. Checking it sends your logs for that report even if automatic upload is off. Reports are kept for 180 days and used only to answer you and fix the problem.
Your local network
For wireless mirroring, Framer runs an AirPlay receiver so your iPhone or iPad can find your Mac under Screen Mirroring. It also watches for AirPlay receivers on your network to tell you whether Screen Mirroring will see this Mac. This traffic stays on your local network. If you mirror over USB only, turn off Allow mirroring over AirPlay (Settings → General) and Framer does neither.
Installing UxPlay
If you choose to install UxPlay from Framer's menu, Framer opens Terminal and runs an install script you can watch. The script uses Homebrew and downloads UxPlay's source from GitHub, so those services receive the usual requests for those downloads.
What we keep
- Mirrored screens and audio
- Not stored
- Never leaves your Mac
- Screenshots and recordings
- Files in the folder you choose, only when you make them
- Delete the files
- Settings
- On your Mac only
- Delete the app or its preferences
- Diagnostics logs
- On your Mac (five most recent launches); uploaded copies for 30 days
- Turn off, or Delete My Logs, in Settings → Privacy
- Help reports
- 180 days, only when you send one
- Ask us to delete a report
- Update checks and downloads
- Standard server logs kept by our hosting provider
- No identifiers are sent
Who else is involved
This website, the build list, the downloads, uploaded diagnostics logs and Help reports run on Cloudflare. Cloudflare serves this traffic on our behalf and, like any hosting provider, may keep standard server logs such as IP addresses for security and operations.
This website sets no cookies and uses no analytics. Framer has no advertising or analytics SDK; its diagnostics log is its own, described above. We do not sell data, and we do not share it with anyone except the hosting provider above.
Permissions the app asks for
- Camera: macOS presents a USB-connected iPhone or iPad as a camera, so Framer needs this to show its screen. Framer never uses your Mac's own camera.
- Microphone: to play a connected device's audio and include it in recordings. Framer never listens to your Mac's microphone.
- Local Network: to find AirPlay receivers, as described above. Not used while wireless mirroring is off.
- Screen Recording: only when you capture a mirror with its device frame included, and only of Framer's own mirror window. Framer never captures the rest of your screen. Screen-only captures don't need it.
- Files and Folders: to save screenshots and recordings to your Documents folder, or to the Desktop or Downloads folder if you choose one of those.
- Automation (Terminal): only if you install UxPlay from Framer, to run the install script in Terminal.
Children
Framer is a utility for people who work with iPhones and iPads, and is not directed at children under 13.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will appear at this address with a new date at the top.
Contact
Questions about privacy: email framer@davejones.dev.