Privacy

What Shorty sees, and what it keeps.

Shorty asks for one of the most powerful permissions a Mac app can get. Here is exactly what it does with it, in plain words.

Last updated October 4, 2026. Applies to Shorty 0.36 and later.

What it sees

To notice when you click something that had a keyboard shortcut, Shorty needs macOS's Accessibility permission. That lets it see key presses and clicks across your Mac, because that is how the permission works. It only acts on shortcuts: which keys you pressed together, in which app, and what kind of thing you clicked.

It never records what you type. Typing into a text field doesn't count as anything, a single-key shortcut (like E in a mail app) only counts where that key really is a shortcut, and Shorty pauses completely while a password field (secure input) is active.

What it keeps

Everything lives in one folder on your Mac, ~/Library/Application Support/Shorty/. It holds:

  • Which shortcuts you used, in which app, and when, for the apps you turned on, plus the everyday shortcuts every app shares (like ⌘C and ⌘V).
  • Your progress: scores, streaks and which shortcuts you're learning.
  • The apps and websites you picked during setup, and your settings.
  • The menu name of a shortcut it learns from an app's menus (for example "Split Pane").

It does not keep what you typed, the contents of any text field, window or document titles, or web addresses.

One time, during setup

To suggest websites you might want help with, the setup screen reads your browser history from Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc or Vivaldi and counts visits per site. Only the sites you tick are saved. Safari history is never read.

iTerm

If you use iTerm, Shorty asks it how many panes the current tab has, so it can suggest pane shortcuts at the right moment. macOS asks your permission first (Automation). That number is all it asks for.

The internet

Shorty has no account, no analytics and no crash reporting. Nothing you do in it is uploaded.

The one connection it makes is a daily check for a new version: it fetches a small file from shorty.davidmshaner.com, which is served from GitHub. Like any web request, that reveals your IP address and, in the request header, the Shorty and macOS versions. Updates are downloaded from GitHub and are cryptographically signed, so Shorty only installs updates that really came from us.

Deleting everything

  • Quit Shorty.
  • Delete the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Shorty/.
  • Remove Shorty from System Settings › General › Login Items, and if you like from Privacy & Security › Accessibility and › Automation.
  • Drag Shorty.app to the Trash.

Questions

Shorty is made by David Shaner. Email [email protected] and you'll get a human.