Privacy Policy
Mealie Recipes
Your data belongs to you. Mealie Recipes is an open-source third-party client for your own Mealie server – no accounts, no tracking, no ads.
Last updated: October 2, 2026
We don't collect any personal data
Mealie Recipes does not collect, store, or transmit any personal data to the developer or to third parties. There are no user accounts with the developer, no analytics tool, no crash reporting, and no advertising networks. All your recipes, meal plans, and shopping lists live exclusively on your own Mealie server.
Developer & Controller
This app is developed by Walfrosch92 as a private, open-source project. Mealie Recipes is an unofficial third-party client for the self-hosted recipe manager “Mealie” and is not affiliated with the official Mealie project.
Contact: walfrosch92@gmail.com
Connection to your own server
Mealie Recipes connects only to the Mealie server address that you enter yourself. All content – recipes, meal plans, shopping lists, and images – is exchanged directly between your device and your own server.
There is no developer-operated server through which this traffic passes. What data your Mealie server stores and how it processes it is entirely up to you as the operator of that server.
Local storage on your device
So you don't have to sign in again on every launch, the app stores the following information locally on your device:
- Server address and access token of your Mealie instance – encrypted in the secure system storage (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore).
- App settings (e.g. language, appearance) in local preferences.
- Cached recipe data and images, so the app loads faster and works partly offline.
- Saved shopping locations (name and coordinates of up to 3 places), only if you turn on the optional shopping reminder – see section 6.
This data does not leave your device (other than the direct communication with your own server) and can be removed completely by uninstalling the app.
No tracking, no ads, no analytics
The app contains no analytics, tracking, or advertising components. No usage statistics are collected, no advertising IDs are read, and no behavior is logged.
No data sharing
Because no personal data is collected, no data is sold, rented, or shared with third parties.
Permissions & technologies used
The app only requests the permissions it needs for its features, each for a specific purpose:
- Network / Internet: to connect to your Mealie server.
- Local network (Bonjour / mDNS): to discover other devices on your Wi-Fi for “Cook Friends” and “Recipe Send” (peer-to-peer) – without any internet or cloud connection.
- Camera & Photos / Media: only when you take or pick a photo for recipe import.
- Location (incl. background location): only for the optional “Remind me to shop” feature – it notifies you when you are near one of your saved shopping locations. Requested only when you turn this feature on; details below.
- Notifications, exact alarms & full-screen intent: for cooking timers and their alarm.
- Foreground service (Android): so timers keep running reliably.
- Biometrics (Face ID / Touch ID / fingerprint): optional app lock. The check is performed solely by the operating system; no biometric data is transmitted to the app or the developer.
- Keep screen awake: so the screen doesn't turn off while in cooking mode.
- Microphone (iOS): The app does not record any audio. This entry is only technically required because the audio framework used for the timer alarms references the microphone API – it is never requested.
What it does: In the shopping list settings you can turn on “Remind me to shop” and save up to 3 places (e.g. your supermarket) – either via your current location or by searching for an address. When you come within about 500 m of one of these places and your shopping list still has open items, the app shows a notification (at most once per hour).
Why background location is needed: The reminder is meant to work when you are on the way, i.e. while the app is closed. For that the operating system has to know your saved places even when the app is not open. That is why iOS asks for “Always” location access and Android for “Allow all the time” (background location). Without this permission the feature cannot work. All other app features work without location access.
What happens with your location: The check whether you are near a saved place (geofencing) is done by the operating system on your device (iOS Core Location / Android location services). The app does not record a location history, does not track your route, and does not send your location to the developer, to your Mealie server, or to any other third party. The saved places are stored only locally on your device.
Address search: If you search for a place by address, the search text is resolved to coordinates by the operating system's built-in geocoding service (Apple on iOS, Google on Android). The app uses no map or location services of its own.
Turning it off: The feature is off by default. You can turn it off at any time in the app settings or revoke location access in your device's system settings. When it is turned off, the app stops monitoring the saved places.
Mealie Recipes is built with Flutter and uses well-established open-source components that work exclusively locally or for the connection to your own server – including:
There are no analytics, advertising, or crash-reporting SDKs included.
- Apple Reminders (iOS): If you import shopping items from Apple Reminders, the app accesses your lists locally through Apple. None of this data is sent to the developer.
- Google Tasks / Google Sign-In: If you choose to sync your shopping list with Google Tasks, you sign in with your Google account and the app communicates with the Google Tasks API. In that case Google's Privacy Policy additionally applies. This feature is optional and active only when you explicitly use it.
Open Source
Mealie Recipes is open source. The full source code is publicly available at:
github.com/Walfrosch92/Mealie-Recipes-APP
Children
This app is intended for adults who cook and is not designed for children. No data from children is knowingly collected – the app does not collect any personal data at all.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy may be updated when needed, for example when new features are added. The current version is always available on this page; the date shown under “Last updated” above is authoritative.
Contact
If you have any questions about privacy, you can reach the developer at:
walfrosch92@gmail.com