Files
proton-stream/docs/PRIVACY.md
T
nvrl 87ccaf26e1 feat(app,android,ios): search across episodes and people
A search now also finds, with posters and descriptions on, the directors
and studios and the genres whose names hold it, as chips that open their
page, and the episodes whose provider names hold it, which play from the
result (pstr_core::discover::find). The titles it found follow under
their own heading.

The last eight searches are kept in recent-searches.json on this device
only (pstr_core::recent), written only when a search led somewhere, and
offered under the empty search box with a way to clear them. The bridge
exposes search_extras, recent_searches, remember_search and
forget_searches.

On Android and iOS the library's titles are now the whole library
whatever is searched for; the grid narrows through the arrangement, as
it already did. A title opened from an episode result can then always be
shown, and History and Downloads no longer shrink to the search.
2026-10-30 23:07:51 +01:00

3.8 KiB

Privacy

proton-stream has no server and no account with its developer. Each app talks to Proton directly, and to nothing else unless you turn on posters and descriptions. This page lists what goes where.

What the app sends, and to whom

To What When
Proton Requests for the shares you added and, if you signed in, your account's Drive Always
AniList and ani.zip, or TMDB The names of the titles in your library, and the ids of matched titles Only with Posters and descriptions on
TVmaze With AniList chosen: the names of the titles AniList has no match for, and the ids of those TVmaze matched Only with Posters and descriptions on
TMDB, with AniList chosen The TMDB ids of matched titles that have no wide picture or logo yet. Never a title's name Only with Posters and descriptions on and a TMDB key saved

Nothing else leaves your device. There is no telemetry, no crash reporting and no update check.

Posters and descriptions are off by default. When they are on, the provider learns the names of the titles in your library. It does not learn your files, your watch history or your shares. Turning them off deletes every stored answer.

Secrets

  • The part of a share link after # is the key that decrypts the share. The app treats it as a password.
  • A link's own password, if it has one.
  • Your Proton session, if you signed in. The app keeps the session, not your password.

All of these go into the system's credential store, never into a config file:

Platform Store
Linux Secret Service (GNOME Keyring, KWallet, KeePassXC)
Windows Credential Manager
Android App storage, encrypted with a key in the Android Keystore
iOS Keychain, this device only

If you sign in, your shares, with their links and passwords, also sync through your own Drive. Like every file there, they are end-to-end encrypted. See Account and sync.

How the player gets the video

The player is fed through a callback inside the app's own process. There is no local web server, so there is no port another program on the computer could ask for the decrypted video. The player is handed an opaque token, not a link, so no secret ends up in its log or window title.

What stays on your device

What Where on Linux
Settings, the share list (without secrets), My List and your last eight searches (recent-searches.json) ~/.config/proton-stream/
The library and watch history (catalog.db) and downloads (offline/) ~/.local/share/proton-stream/
Streamed video (blocks/), thumbnails and posters ~/.cache/proton-stream/

On Windows the same folders are under %APPDATA%\narl\proton-stream\ and %LOCALAPPDATA%\narl\proton-stream\. On macOS they are under ~/Library/Application Support/ and ~/Library/Caches/, in io.narl.proton-stream.

The streaming cache and downloads hold decrypted video. Anyone who can read your user's files can play them. Empty the cache in Settings → Storage, and delete downloads on the Downloads page.

The library database holds file names and your watch history, in plain text. It holds no secrets.

Recent searches are saved only when you open something a search found, are never synced, and Clear recent searches under the empty search box deletes them.

Other people on the same computer

  • A share link given on the command line, as in proton-stream 'https://…#key', is visible in the process list while the command runs, and may land in your shell history. Paste links into the window instead.
  • Your desktop's media controls are given the title, the episode and a picture already on disk. They are never given a provider link, so the desktop does not contact a provider by itself.