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Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 3, 2026 · Covers the Zapline apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Mac, and for Samsung and LG smart TVs.

The short version

The Zapline app has no accounts, no analytics, no ads and no tracking, and nothing you add to it leaves your device. Our server hears from the TV apps for two things only: the free trial and activation, which it keeps under a one-way fingerprint of the TV's ID (never the ID itself), and “Use your phone”, where it passes on an encrypted message it cannot read and deletes it within 10 minutes.

Separately, the website offers an optional notify-me waitlist. If you use it, we store your email, the platforms you chose, and when you signed up or last updated that entry, in Cloudflare KV, only to tell you when those platforms launch; to stop spam, your IP is kept for 60 seconds in a short-lived rate-limit entry that expires automatically, and is never saved with the signup. Ask [email protected] anytime to delete your entry.

What the app stores, and where

Profiles, playlists, favorites, watch history and playback positions are stored only on your device (on Apple TV, inside the app's own private app-group container so the home-screen Top Shelf can display them).
Provider credentials (Xtream Codes logins) are stored in the device Keychain and are only ever sent to the provider server you configured.
The parental-controls PIN is stored in the device Keychain.
On Samsung and LG TVs, playlists, favorites, watch history, settings and the downloaded channel list are kept in the app's own private storage on the TV. Provider logins, playlist addresses and the parental-controls PIN are stored encrypted, and logins and addresses are only ever sent to the provider you configured. The TV also keeps the trial or activation status our server last sent, so it works offline; Settings › Reset Zapline erases everything else but keeps that status (resetting doesn't start a new trial). Uninstalling the app deletes all of it.

None of this data is transmitted to us.

Free trial and activation (Samsung and LG TVs)

Each TV can try Zapline free for 10 days, then needs a one-time activation. To keep track of that, even if the app is reinstalled:

The TV sends a one-way fingerprint of its device ID, made on the TV so that we never receive the ID itself, along with whether it's a Samsung or LG TV and the app's version.
We store, in Cloudflare's D1 database, that fingerprint, a short activation code shown on the TV, whether it's a Samsung or LG TV, when its trial started, and whether and when it was activated. We don't store the app's version, your IP address, or anything about your playlists or what you watch.
The activation page at zapline.app/activate sends only the code you enter, to look up and activate that TV.

We keep a TV's record for as long as it may use Zapline, because the trial and the activation depend on it. To have it deleted, email [email protected] with the code shown in Settings › Activation. Deleting it also removes that TV's activation: if the TV opens Zapline again afterwards, it gets a new record, as a new TV would.

Network connections the app makes

Besides zapline.app for the TV apps' trial and activation, the app talks only to servers you configure or ask it to use:

Your playlist/EPG provider — to download the playlists, streams and TV-guide data you added.
Artwork addresses from your provider — channel logos and movie or series posters are loaded from wherever your playlist or provider points.
The pairing relay at zapline.app (TV apps, only when you choose “Use your phone”) — the TV makes a one-time encryption key and shows a short code; the page you open on your phone encrypts the playlist details you type to that key before sending them. The relay holds only that encrypted message, which it cannot read, until the TV collects it or for at most 10 minutes, then deletes it. We don't log these requests. Like any website, the relay is served through our hosting provider, Cloudflare.
zapline.app, for the TV's trial and activation (TV apps) — at launch, then every few hours, and every few seconds while the activation screen is open; see “Free trial and activation” above.
The demo playlist (only if you choose “Try the demo”) — a list hosted at zapline.app pointing to free public test streams from their own publishers (for example Unified Streaming, Mux, Apple and the Internet Archive).

Website waitlist

The homepage notify-me form is optional and is not part of the app. Submitting it stores your email, the platform(s) you selected, and when you signed up or last updated that entry, in a Cloudflare KV namespace used by this site, solely to announce launches; to stop spam, your IP is kept for 60 seconds in a short-lived rate-limit entry that expires automatically, and is never saved with the signup. We do not sell this data or use it for analytics. We delete an entry once we've sent the launch email for the platforms it asked about. To delete it sooner, email [email protected].

Your rights

You can ask us what we hold about you (a TV's record or a waitlist entry), have it corrected, or have it deleted, by emailing [email protected]. We answer within 30 days. If you live in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you can also complain to your data protection authority (in France, the CNIL).

Your content, your responsibility

Zapline ships with no channels or content. It plays only playlists you supply, and you are responsible for having the right to watch them.

Changes & contact

If this policy ever changes, the updated version will be published at this address before it takes effect. Questions: [email protected]

Using Zapline is covered by the terms of use.