UnfoldMyMacFrost’s desktop capture
Frost uses ScreenCaptureKit to blur your desktop. Capture starts when you enable Frost or preview it, and stops when you switch away. Frames stay in memory; Frost does not save or transmit them. No audio is captured.
Your artwork
Imported images are copied into ~/Library/Application Support/UnfoldMyMac/Artwork/. Removing an imported design deletes the app’s copy and leaves your original file alone. Bundled artwork ships with the app; there is no runtime image-generation service.
Optional wallpaper connections
Local Claude and Codex sources read activity metadata from selected files. Lifecycle hooks require a setup step. You choose which connections to enable in Customize on a design’s detail page.
GitHub connections make network requests for public profile data, events, and avatars. Custom HTTP providers contact the endpoint you configure. Those services receive the requests made to them; their own policies apply.
Public space weather and countdowns
Previewing or running Aurora Observatory requests public aurora forecasts and planetary Kp readings from NOAA. It needs no account setup. A shared cache refreshes every five minutes; the app labels cached or stale data when feeds are unavailable. Earth imagery is bundled with the app.
GTA VI — Vice City Countdown uses your local calendar and the release date stored in its template. It does not fetch release updates from Rockstar. Website previews use sample data and make no live NOAA or Rockstar requests.
Hinge Garden’s optional inputs
Hinge Garden uses local lid, battery, power, time, and CPU readings. Customize provides separate controls for pointer parallax and supported motion sensors. Sound reactions are optional and ask for microphone permission when enabled. Audio is reduced to a local level measurement; it is never recorded or transcribed. Reduce Motion pauses sound reactions. One-liners are bundled text and require no online service.
The Workshop’s local counts
The Workshop counts ordinary open apps on this Mac. App names and window contents are not retained. Folder access is optional: choose Desktop or another folder in Customize to count its immediate nonhidden items. File contents are never opened. The chosen folder’s path and access bookmark are stored locally so the connection can work after reopening the app; Disconnect removes that connection. Motivating lines are bundled text.
The wallpaper extension
On macOS 26, the scene on your desktop and lock screen is drawn by a sandboxed wallpaper extension that macOS hosts. It has no network, microphone, or file-access entitlements. It reads one file: a snapshot the app writes into the extension’s own container, carrying the readouts you connected. Rendered thumbnails for System Settings are cached in that container. That snapshot lives at ~/Library/Containers/com.unfoldmymac.wallpaper/Data/Documents/Snapshot.json, is overwritten every few seconds while a wallpaper is on, and never leaves your Mac. The app never selects a wallpaper provider for you or writes macOS’s wallpaper store; it opens the System Settings pane and reads which scene macOS is showing. Its own Use wallpaper mode sets a still of the scene as your primary display’s desktop picture and restores your previous one when you stop.
This website
The website stores your appearance choice in your browser under unfoldmymac.theme. It does not add analytics, advertising trackers, accounts, or a contact form. Fonts, images, and the original animation previews are served with the site. Films hosted on YouTube load after you press Play or choose a chapter. The embedded player uses youtube-nocookie.com; Google receives requests when that player loads, and its policies apply.
The site is designed to be hosted on GitHub Pages. Hosting and DNS providers process requests as part of delivering the site. Following a GitHub or Matterward Labs link takes you to that service.
Questions about the app
You can open a GitHub issue or reach the team through Matterward Labs. Keep private logs and credentials out of public issues.