Set Up Your Mac

Written & tested for accuracy by a developer (not AI) · Updated June 2026

Privacy for "Set Up Your Mac" Apps

About the data "Set Up Your Mac" apps collect and our privacy assurances.

"Set Up Your Mac" is a family of free macOS apps distributed from Mac Install Guide that diagnose a Mac configuration and set up a developer environment.

This page explains what data "Set Up Your Mac" apps collect, what they share, and with whom.

What "Set Up Your Mac" collects

"Set Up Your Mac" apps collect anonymous usage data so we can learn how they're being used. Specifically:

  • A per-install random session ID: UUID, not tied to your Apple ID, email, or any personal identifier.
  • App name and version: which "Set Up Your Mac" app it is, and its version number.
  • Event names at each step of the diagnose-and-set-up flow (e.g., diagnosis_reached, setup_completed).
  • Event data: small contextual details about each event, including the diagnosis category, the install method (Homebrew, an official installer, etc.), a short excerpt of a verification command's output (for example java -version or brew --version) to confirm a tool works, and similar non-identifying technical details.

"Set Up Your Mac" does not collect:

  • Your name, email, IP address, or any personally identifying information
  • The contents of your shell configuration files (we show you the difference and let you approve every modification, but we don't transmit the file contents)
  • Your installed software inventory beyond the specific categories the audit needs to know about (e.g., install method, terminal app, AI coding tool, package manager)

How "Set Up Your Mac" uses this data

The app data helps us answer three questions:

  1. Do Mac Install Guide visitors download and run one of these apps from an article page?
  2. Does the diagnose → set up → verify loop work reliably?
  3. Do users who are offered optional downloads want the recommendations?

Anonymous aggregate counts and per-event details support these measurements. They are also used to identify bugs and prioritize fixes.

Download counting

When you download a "Set Up Your Mac" app from downloads.install.guide, we count the download so we know which pages lead people to the app. This matches the no-personal-data policy described above.

Each download is recorded with:

  • The product and the page it was downloaded from.
  • A label and link, so we can tell which call-to-action drove the download.
  • Your browser's user-agent, used to filter out bots.
  • A country (such as "US"), derived by our CDN.

Download counting does not record:

  • Your IP address, name, email, or any personal identifier
  • Any link between a download and an individual — the data is aggregate counts only

What's shared with whom

Products we recommend

Some "Set Up Your Mac" apps recommend third-party products. A product marked Recommended is one we think is the right tool for our audience. Some vendors appreciate our recommendations and want to support the website and app as a sponsor. Our "Recommended" marker isn't tied to a vendor's payment. A recommendation is based on our editorial evaluation alone. You have no obligation; you can use any app without installing products we recommend.

We disclose our sponsors. Some sponsors pay Mac Install Guide a commission when someone clicks a recommendation or installs from our apps or articles. This page is where we disclose any commercial relationships, in conformance with United States Federal Trade Commission guidance for our US audience.

Our recommendations are based on editorial evaluations. A product is recommended because it suits our audience, and a sponsor paying does not by itself earn a recommendation. We appreciate any sponsor who supports our website and apps but we do not accept any support conditioned on providing recommendations.

To show we are worthy of financial support, we provide our sponsors monthly aggregate counts of click-throughs and installs, for example "247 click-throughs and 32 direct installs in June 2026." We do not share per-user data, per-session data, IP addresses, or any other detail beyond those monthly aggregate totals.

Commercial relationships we currently have:

  • Warp is a terminal product, recommended in some "Set Up Your Mac" apps and on some Mac Install Guide web pages. Warp provides support for our apps and website by paying for click-throughs and direct installs. Our recommendation of Warp predates any compensation agreement.

Mac Install Guide infrastructure

"Set Up Your Mac" telemetry is hosted on the InsForge backend-as-a-service platform. Data is retained for 12 months and then deleted.

No third-party analytics

"Set Up Your Mac" apps do not use Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Segment, or any other third-party analytics service. The telemetry endpoint is our own server only.

Your choices

If you feel you need more privacy than we provide, you can opt out before installing, decline at first launch, or remove local data.

  • Opt out before installing: simply don't install the app. Mac Install Guide's articles remain free to read; using the apps is up to you.
  • Decline at first launch: each "Set Up Your Mac" app's first-run consent screen shows you what data will be collected before the app does anything. If you quit the app on the first screen, no data is sent and the app exits.
  • Remove local data: removing the app and clearing its preferences (stored under the guide.install.mac.* preferences domain) clears all locally stored state. The anonymous session ID gets a new value on next install.

Contact

If you have questions about this policy or the data "Set Up Your Mac" has collected, email [email protected]. We respond within 5 business days.

Last updated: 2026-08-09.