Methodical Enterprises LLC
Last updated: October 12, 2026
The short version: ScribeMe keeps your writing on your device. It doesn't collect your data, doesn't track you, and doesn't send anything to us. There are no accounts and no servers of ours. Dictation turns your voice into words on your device. If iCloud sync is on, your books sync through your own private iCloud — still never to us.
This policy applies to the ScribeMe writing app for iPhone and iPad (listed on the App Store as BookWrite: ScribeMe, and formerly named Penna), published by Methodical Enterprises LLC ("we," "us").
Nothing. ScribeMe has no user accounts and no backend servers. We never receive your books, drafts, notes, drawings, or any information about how you use the app. If you email us, for example with Send Feedback in ScribeMe's Settings, we receive only what you choose to send, and use it only to answer you.
Everything you write in ScribeMe — your books, chapters, notes, drawings, illustrations, and settings — is stored on your device. This information never leaves your device except through features of iOS that you control, such as your own iCloud device backup, the iCloud sync described below, or when you deliberately export or share your work yourself.
ScribeMe can keep your shelf in sync across your own devices. A new library starts with sync off. You turn it on in ScribeMe's Settings, and the change takes effect the next time the app starts. When sync is on:
If you update from an earlier version and your library was already syncing to iCloud, ScribeMe turns the switch on for you, so your books keep syncing. It does this only if you have never changed the switch yourself. You can turn it off in Settings at any time.
In versions up to and including 1.3, the library could sync to your own private iCloud even with the switch off. Version 1.4 fixes this: with the switch off, your library stays on the device. Either way, it never reached us.
You can lock any book so it opens only after Face ID, Touch ID, or your device passcode. This check is performed entirely by iOS. ScribeMe is told only whether the check succeeded — no biometric information is ever available to the app, to us, or to anyone else. If your device has no passcode set, there is nothing to check against, and a locked book opens normally. A locked book's title still shows on your shelf.
You can speak your story instead of typing it. The first time, iOS asks permission for ScribeMe to use the microphone and speech recognition. Speech is turned into words on your device: ScribeMe requires on-device recognition, and on a device that can't do it, dictation is simply unavailable rather than sending your voice to Apple's servers. Your voice is not recorded or kept; only the words go onto the page. Nothing is sent to us. You can turn off either permission at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security.
To add an illustration to a page or a photo to a cover, ScribeMe uses Apple's photo picker. You choose a photo, and only that photo is given to ScribeMe. The app never sees the rest of your photo library, so it does not ask for photo library permission. Photos you pick are made smaller and saved with your book. They are never sent to us.
Cover illustrations can use Apple's Image Playground, and read-aloud and audiobook export use Apple's speech synthesis. Both run on your device through Apple's own frameworks and are subject to Apple's privacy policy. Neither sends your writing to us. You can turn off AI illustrations in ScribeMe's Settings.
ScribeMe's Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets can show your words today, your streak, and the titles and cover colours of the books you choose in Settings. The app hands these to its widget on your device; your page text is never included. During a writing sprint, a Live Activity shows the book's title on your Lock Screen. If you use the Siri shortcuts ("Add an Idea" and "Today's Writing"), Siri handles what you say under Apple's privacy policy, and ScribeMe saves the idea in your library on your device.
When you export a PDF, booklet, EPUB, text file, audiobook, book file, or backup file, that file is created on your device and goes wherever you send it using the iOS share sheet. We are not involved and receive no copy.
If you turn on the daily writing prompt, iOS asks permission to show notifications, and ScribeMe schedules them locally on your device. There is no push server of ours, and no message of any kind is sent to us.
ScribeMe contains no analytics, no third-party SDKs, no advertising, and no tracking of any kind. We do not build a profile of you and do not track you across apps or websites. There are no purchases, subscriptions, or ads.
ScribeMe does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. It is safe for writers of all ages.
Because your writing lives on your device (and, if sync is on, your own iCloud), you are always in control. Deleting the app removes its data from the device; to remove synced copies, delete them from your iCloud storage. We hold nothing to delete, because we never had it. Please keep your own backups of writing you want to preserve — ScribeMe can save your whole library to a single file.
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top of this page and post the new version here.
Questions? Email dwheat@methodical-ep.com.