Privacy policy

Effective November 6, 2026. This policy covers the CellGlide iPhone app, the CellGlide Mac client and the cellglide.com website, operated by CellGlide. For privacy questions, contact hi@cellglide.com.

Overview

CellGlide shares your iPhone’s cellular connection with your Mac over USB or wirelessly and provides traffic statistics, DNS settings, speed tests and network diagnostics. No account is required. The app and the Mac client contain no advertising or advertising identifiers. The iPhone app and the Mac client send anonymous usage statistics that you can turn off (see iPhone usage statistics and Mac usage statistics). Apart from that and diagnostics you choose to send (see Diagnostics), we do not receive app usage data.

On-device records

App settings and, for shared traffic, session times, uploaded and downloaded byte counts, protocol categories and each connection’s destination main domain (such as example.com, used to show usage by service) are stored on your iPhone. The main domain comes from the proxy request or, when only an IP address is given, from the server name in the TLS handshake or the HTTP Host header. These records contain no full URLs, page contents or communication contents, and they are not uploaded to our servers. You can clear them at any time on the Traffic statistics screen. Device backups may include these records; clearing them does not delete existing backups. Data plan settings (allowance, billing day and calibration) are also kept only on the device, and reminders are local notifications.

Sharing and forwarding

While sharing, the app runs a local proxy on the iPhone. When sharing over USB, it accepts only connections forwarded from your Mac over USB and is not open to Wi-Fi, hotspot or local network devices; wirelessly, it accepts only encrypted connections from Macs you have paired (see Wireless connections). The proxy handles destination addresses and transferred data to deliver requests to the services you use. CellGlide does not install certificates or decrypt HTTPS content; unencrypted protocols do not have HTTPS transport protection. CellGlide does not provide a remote VPN service.

Wireless connections

When you don’t have a cable, a paired Mac can connect directly to a nearby iPhone over Apple peer-to-peer Wi-Fi and use its connection. The iPhone accepts these connections only while it is sharing with the app on screen and Allow wireless connections is on (it is on by default). So that the Mac can find it, the iPhone advertises a random ID nearby with Bonjour, not the device name; the Mac looks only for this service and does not scan or contact other devices on the local network. This is the only use of the local network permission on the iPhone and the Mac. Pairing needs your confirmation on both devices: allowing it on the iPhone while the cable is plugged in, or checking that both devices show the same 6-digit code. While pairing, each device shows the other’s name (such as “MacBook Air”). Each paired Mac has its own key, kept only in the keychains of the iPhone and that Mac and never sent to us; the connection between the two devices is encrypted. A device that has not been paired can only ask to pair and cannot send any traffic through the iPhone. You can turn off Allow wireless connections or remove paired Macs in the iPhone app’s settings, and turn off wireless connections in the Mac client’s settings.

DNS

With encrypted DNS turned on, your chosen Cloudflare, Google, Quad9 or custom provider receives domain queries and information such as the connection’s source IP, and processes and retains logs under its own policy. With CellGlide DNS turned off, system resolution is used and DNS requests still reach the corresponding resolver. Running diagnostics manually also sends fixed test queries.

Checks and speed tests

Cellular checks and speed tests connect to Cloudflare; network diagnostics may also connect to Apple and Google. These services can see the source IP and request metadata. The app shows the public IP, AS number and network name, city and country from Cloudflare’s response. These are IP-based estimates, not GPS location. The app also reads the current cellular generation (such as 5G) on the device; this needs no extra permission and is not uploaded, except in diagnostics you choose to send (see Diagnostics). Speed tests transfer test data and use cellular data. While the app is on screen or sharing, it also sends fixed test queries to Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) to measure network quality, used only to work out latency, jitter and packet loss. When you run a speed test in the Mac app, it can also test over Wi‑Fi, again connecting to Cloudflare. With no phone sharing, the Mac app’s menu bar panel checks this Mac’s own network: every 2 seconds while the panel is open and every 15 seconds otherwise, it opens a TCP connection to Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) and closes it at once, trying Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8) when that fails. No data is sent; this only works out latency, jitter, packet loss and connectivity over the last 30 minutes, and the results stay in the Mac’s memory. The panel also reads the bytes sent and received on the Wi‑Fi and wired interfaces to show usage since launch, which is not uploaded either.

Mac client

The Mac client runs on your computer, communicates with your phone over USB or wirelessly (see Wireless connections) and periodically checks HTTPS connectivity to Cloudflare through the phone. When TUN is on, your computer’s traffic is forwarded through the phone. While running, the client uses only CellGlide’s own temporary DNS setting, removes it when it stops and does not change Wi-Fi or other saved network settings. Apart from anonymous usage statistics (see Mac usage statistics) and diagnostics you choose to send (see Diagnostics), the client does not upload usage data.

iPhone usage statistics

To learn whether sharing starts reliably and which features are used, the iPhone app sends anonymous usage statistics through PostHog (sent to p.cellglide.com, a forwarding address PostHog hosts for us, and stored in PostHog’s US data center). They cover only: opening the app; sharing starting (with whether it runs in the foreground or background, and whether it shares the phone’s Wi‑Fi or cellular) and stopping (with a rough range for how long it lasted, such as “10 to 60 minutes”); a speed test finishing; sharing switching between the phone’s Wi‑Fi and cellular; and switching Data saver, ad blocking or Share the iPhone’s Wi‑Fi on or off. Each also carries the app and iOS versions, the iPhone model identifier, screen size, system language and time zone, plus a random installation ID that PostHog creates and keeps on this iPhone to tell installations apart. That ID is not linked to your name, email, Apple Account or device name, is not an advertising identifier, and we build no user profiles. The statistics never include the sites or addresses you visit, traffic amounts or contents, your carrier or what was blocked; nothing records the screen and no crash reports are sent. PostHog, and Cloudflare in front of it, see the IP address the request comes from; we have turned off IP-based location. You can turn off Send anonymous usage statistics in the app’s Settings, which stops sending at once.

Mac usage statistics

To learn whether the Mac client connects reliably and which features are used, it sends anonymous usage statistics through PostHog (sent to p.cellglide.com, a forwarding address PostHog hosts for us, and stored in PostHog’s US data center). They cover only: opening the app; a connection starting and ending, with whether Split Tunneling was on and a rough range for how long it lasted (such as “10 to 60 minutes”); the kind of problem when a connection has one (such as the cable connection or the phone’s network dropping); a speed test finishing; switching Split Tunneling on or off, and switching which network listed sites use (Wi‑Fi or the phone); which network you pick for an app in Network activity (the phone, Wi‑Fi or following Split Tunneling), without which app; and the kind of result when a leak test finishes (such as encrypted DNS, the carrier’s DNS or a leak, and whether WebRTC goes around the phone), without any network, carrier or interface names. Each also carries the app and macOS versions, the Mac model identifier, screen size, system language and time zone, plus a random installation ID that PostHog creates and keeps on this Mac to tell installations apart. That ID is not linked to your name, email, Apple Account or device name, and we build no user profiles. The statistics never include the sites or addresses you visit, traffic amounts or contents, your carrier, phone details or your Split Tunneling list; nothing records the screen and no crash reports are sent. PostHog, and Cloudflare in front of it, see the IP address the request comes from; we have turned off IP-based location. You can turn off Send anonymous usage statistics in the Mac client’s Settings, which stops sending at once.

DNS leak test

The DNS leak test in the Mac client and on this website runs only when you start it: your Mac or browser looks up about 20 random test names (*.leak.cellglide.com) through its current DNS, then fetches the result from leakcheck.cellglide.com. Our test server therefore sees the addresses of the DNS servers that ask for those names, any client subnet (ECS) they pass on, and your public IP when you fetch the result. It looks up which network and region these addresses belong to using DB-IP data, uses them only to show that test’s result, and deletes them after 5 minutes. It does not record which sites you visit or link this to any other data. The request for the result passes through Cloudflare. While you are online through the phone, the Mac client’s test also sends a few requests to Cloudflare’s STUN service (stun.cloudflare.com) to compare the public address seen through the phone with the one seen through Wi‑Fi and other interfaces, to tell whether browsers’ WebRTC goes around the phone in video calls. Cloudflare can see the source IP of these requests; the comparison happens on the Mac and the result is not uploaded.

Destination map

The iPhone app’s destination map shows roughly where the services your Mac reaches during this sharing session are. The destination addresses and traffic it uses stay in the phone’s memory, are cleared when sharing stops, and are never stored or uploaded. The first time you open the map, the app downloads an IP region database (from DB-IP) from geoip.cellglide.com and checks for an update at most once a week; it also asks cellglide.com once for the phone’s public IP to mark your exit on the map. Addresses are located on the phone. These two requests pass through Cloudflare and carry your IP address; we do not keep them. The Mac app’s destination map works the same way: destinations and traffic stay in the Mac’s memory, are cleared when sharing stops, and are never stored or uploaded; addresses are located on the Mac, and the same database is downloaded from geoip.cellglide.com. The Mac asks cellglide.com for the phone’s public IP to mark the exit and, when Split Tunneling is on, also asks over Wi‑Fi for the Wi‑Fi’s exit. With no phone connected, the Mac app’s destination map uses this Mac’s own connections as read by Network Activity and asks over Wi‑Fi for the Wi‑Fi’s exit. While the map page is open, these checks repeat about every 5 minutes; once you close the page, they stop.

Network Activity

The Mac client’s Network Activity page reads this Mac’s app connections with nettop, which comes with macOS: process names, remote addresses and ports, the network interface used, and bytes sent and received. It reads them only while this page is open, while the menu bar panel is open (to show speeds and the apps using the network most), or while the destination map is open with no phone connected. The data stays in the Mac’s memory for at most one hour and is cleared when the client quits; it is never stored, never included in diagnostics or usage statistics, and never uploaded. Remote addresses are located on the Mac with the same location database as the destination map.

Split Tunneling

With Split Tunneling on, your list is stored only on this Mac. When the list includes a built-in service that has community rules, the Mac checks rules.cellglide.com for updated rule files: usually once a day, sooner after you add a new service or a check fails. Files are downloaded only when they have changed. These requests pass through Cloudflare and carry your IP address and the app version. The file names in the requests show which services with community rules you added; beyond that they contain neither your list nor any other personal information, and we do not keep them. Rule-set links you add yourself are downloaded by the Mac directly from the site they point to; we cannot see them, but that site can see the requests. The “Recent” list lives only in the Mac’s memory, is cleared when you disconnect, and is never written to a log or uploaded. If you set an app to use the phone or Wi‑Fi in Network Activity, that setting is also stored only on this Mac; to tell which app a connection belongs to, the Mac reads those apps’ own network connections locally, without writing them to a log or uploading them.

Updates and ratings

The App Store version of the iPhone app asks Apple’s itunes.apple.com about every 12 hours for CellGlide’s latest version number on the App Store, to let you know about updates. The request carries only the app’s ID and the country code from the phone’s region setting; Apple sees your IP address and handles it under Apple’s privacy policy. The rating prompt is provided by iOS, and ratings and reviews go straight to Apple; we do not receive them.

Website visits

This website is hosted on Cloudflare Workers. There are no account registrations, ads or forms. Your manual language choice is stored only in this browser. Cloudflare may process IP addresses, request information and service logs to deliver the site.

Website analytics

To understand visits and downloads, this website uses PostHog (data stored in its US data center) to count page views and referring sites, plus clicks on the download, App Store, OpenWrt and social links and plays of the intro video. Analytics requests go to p.cellglide.com, a subdomain of this site that PostHog runs through Cloudflare. It uses no cookies and stores no identifier in your browser. PostHog receives your IP address, browser and device type, screen size, the page address and the referring address; it uses them to estimate your country and city and to tell visitors apart with a hash that changes every day, so the same person cannot be recognized from one day to the next. We do not record what you type on the pages or record your screen. No analytics are sent when your browser has Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control (GPC) turned on. For the anonymous usage statistics of the iPhone app and the Mac client, see iPhone usage statistics and Mac usage statistics.

Ad blocking

With ad blocking on in the iPhone app, the app blocks ad, tracking and analytics domains for your computer’s traffic through the phone: lookups of those names get a “does not exist” answer, and connections to them are refused. This is decided on the phone only; web pages are not decrypted and the sites you visit are not sent to anyone. The block lists come from the open-source projects HaGeZi and anti-AD. The app downloads them from rules.cellglide.com (through Cloudflare), or from cdn.jsdelivr.net or anti-ad.net if that fails, and checks for updates at most once a day; these requests carry your IP address and nothing else. This session’s block count and recently blocked names stay in the phone’s memory and are cleared when sharing stops; domains you allow are kept on the phone.

Diagnostics

We receive diagnostics only when you tap Send Diagnostics in the app. They contain the app and system versions and device model; the carrier name and cellular generation; CellGlide’s status; the Mac’s connection history or the phone’s latest network diagnostics report; CellGlide’s own log; a random ID for each sharing session (used to match a Mac report with a phone report); and the email and note you choose to add. Device names, web addresses, and email addresses and locations in logs are removed before sending, and IP addresses are shortened to their first part. We use diagnostics only to troubleshoot, keep them in Cloudflare R2 and delete them automatically after 90 days. The server uses your IP address briefly to limit how often reports can be sent and does not store it with the report. To have a report deleted sooner, send us the report code shown after sending to hi@cellglide.com.

Your choices

You can stop sharing, turn off encrypted DNS, turn off wireless connections or remove paired devices, cancel tests or diagnostics, clear local statistics, or uninstall the app and the Mac client at any time. We cannot delete logs held by the websites you visit or by DNS providers, or delete system backups, on your behalf. For data processing we are responsible for, contact hi@cellglide.com.

Changes

We will update this policy and its effective date when our data processing changes.

Provider privacy policies

Cloudflare · jsDelivr · Cloudflare Speed Test · Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1) · Google Public DNS · Quad9 · Google · Apple · DB-IP · PostHog

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