WebWatcher/ Docs

Data and privacy

This page lists what WebWatcher stores on your Mac, what it connects to, and how to back up or remove its data. It is for anyone deciding whether to trust the app with a signed-in browser or a Gmail account, and everything here is taken from the app's source code. WebWatcher is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and its source is on GitHub under a licence that requires attribution (see Building from source).

On this pageWhat is stored and whereWhat the app connects toThe three permissionsBack up your watchersRemove all WebWatcher data

#What is stored and where

Most files live in ~/Library/Application Support/WebWatcher/. Open that folder from Settings then Data then Open Config Folder.

ItemWhat it holdsSensitive
watchers.jsonYour page watchers: name, page address, selector, watch type, check interval, notification text and the last values read.It lists the pages you watch and the values read from them. It holds no passwords or tokens.
backups/Copies of watchers.json named watchers-<stamp>.json, made each time the app starts. The newest 25 are kept. A file that cannot be read is set aside as watchers-unreadable-<stamp>.json.The same as watchers.json.
email_watchers.jsonYour Gmail sender watchers: name, account, sender list, and the state of the last check, which includes subjects and sender addresses of recent mail.It holds email subjects and sender addresses. It holds no message bodies and no tokens.
gmail_accounts.jsonOne entry per connected account: address, display name, poll interval, last check time, last error and unread count.It holds your email address. Tokens are deliberately not written to it.
site_profiles.jsonPer-site settings for how counts are read, described in Site profiles.No.
icons/Copies of the custom notification icons you picked.No.
macOS KeychainThe Google access and refresh token for each connected account, and a Google OAuth client you imported, including its secret.Yes. The Keychain protects them.
macOS preferencesThe switches under Settings then General and the Defaults group.No.
Website dataCookies and sessions stored by WebWatcher's own web view.Possibly. Clear Saved Cookies/Sessions deletes them.

#What the app connects to

ServiceWhenWhat is sent
Safari, through Apple EventsEvery check of a page watcher.WebWatcher runs a small script in a Safari tab you already have open and reads the result. Safari loads the page, not WebWatcher, and your signed-in sessions stay in Safari.
Google sign-in, in your browserWhen you add or reconnect a Gmail account.You sign in on Google's own page. WebWatcher listens briefly on 127.0.0.1 to receive the result.
oauth2.googleapis.comWhen you sign in, and when an access token expires.The OAuth client ID and secret, and the sign-in code or refresh token.
gmail.googleapis.comEvery check of a connected account, and when you press a notification button.The access token, a search for your watched senders, requests for message headers and previews, and the label changes or Trash request for a button.
mail.google.comWhen you click a Gmail notification or an email watcher's row.Your browser opens the link. WebWatcher does not make the request.
Herald, at 127.0.0.1 on your MacWhen Herald is your delivery service and is running.The notification text and its buttons. WebWatcher reads Herald's port and token from ~/Library/Application Support/Herald/. See Herald delivery.
Notification CenterWhen Herald is not used.The notification text, on your Mac.

Nothing is sent to the Google APIs unless you connect a Gmail account. The app's source contains no analytics, no crash reporting and no update checker. A page you watch is fetched by Safari, so the site sees the visit as it sees any other tab you have open.

#The three permissions

macOS asks you to approve Apple Events to Safari, Automation, and Notifications. The reasons and the steps are in Permissions.

#Back up your watchers

  1. Open Settings then Data and click Open Config Folder.

    You seethe WebWatcher folder in Finder.

  2. Copy watchers.json and email_watchers.json to a safe place.

    You seethe copies next to your originals. Restoring means putting them back in the folder while WebWatcher is quit.

Gmail accounts are not part of this backup, because their tokens are in the Keychain. After a restore on another Mac, connect the accounts again.

#Remove all WebWatcher data

  1. In Settings then Gmail, click the red remove button on each account.

    You seethe account disappears and its tokens are deleted from the Keychain. This does not end WebWatcher's access on Google's side. Remove WebWatcher under your Google Account's Security then Third-party access as well.

  2. If you imported your own OAuth client, expand Advanced: use your own Google OAuth client and click Remove.

  3. In Settings then Data, click Clear Saved Cookies/Sessions.

  4. Quit WebWatcher and delete the ~/Library/Application Support/WebWatcher/ folder.

  5. Delete the WebWatcher app.

  6. Remove the app's preferences in Terminal.

    Terminal
    defaults delete com.webwatcher.app

    You seeno output. The command prints an error if there are no preferences to delete.