Support
Need help? Most answers are in the app. Open Equipment Book, go to the Equipment tab, and tap the gear button (Help & Settings).
Email equipmentbookhelp@proton.meEquipment Book is made and supported by one person. Email support is limited, so it may take a few days to hear back.
Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 18, 2026
The short version
- No account, no sign-in, no tracking, no ads, no analytics.
- Your records are saved on your phone.
- Meter pictures (hours and miles) are read on your phone, and serial numbers and VINs are worked out on your phone. Serial plate, paperwork, anti-freeze jug and meter pictures are not saved. Part pictures you choose to keep are saved with that part on your phone.
- When Smart Reader is on (you said Yes to "Read plates and papers with Smart Reader?"), or when you tap Smart Reader, the serial plate, extra serial number, part, anti-freeze jug, registration, tag or inspection picture goes to our AI provider, Anthropic, only to read it.
- When a VIN is read (if you turned on automatic lookup), or when you tap Look up VIN, only the VIN goes to NHTSA, straight from your iPhone.
- Important info stays on this phone. It is not synced, shared or sent to any server.
- If you turn on sharing, your Business machines go through our server only to the people you share with.
- If iCloud Backup is on, your iPhone's own backup can include this app's data.
Your records
Your equipment, service records, parts, reminders and notes are saved on your device. Like other app data, they are included in your iCloud backup if you have that turned on. You can also save your own backup file from the Equipment tab.
Reminder alerts are scheduled on your phone. For shared Business machines, dates and reminders are shared through our server like other machine details.
Pictures
Meter pictures (hours and miles) are read on your device, using the text reading built into your iPhone. Serial plate, extra serial number, part, anti-freeze jug, registration, tag and inspection pictures are read by Smart Reader (see below) when it is on or when you tap it; otherwise you type the information in. Serial plate, paperwork, anti-freeze jug and meter pictures are not saved. Part pictures you choose to keep are saved with that part on your phone; they go into a backup file you choose to save yourself, but are not sent to our server or to linked phones. These pictures are sent only when Smart Reader is on or when you tap Smart Reader (see below); meter pictures are sent nowhere. A photo you pick stays in your Photos, unchanged. Choosing a photo uses Apple's photo picker, so the app only sees the one picture you pick.
What leaves your device
Serial numbers and VINs are worked out on your device. Besides your own iCloud backup and Apple's crash reports (both described on this page), these are the only things the app sends out:
- "Look it up on Google": If you tap Look it up on Google, your phone opens a Google search with the make, model and serial number. The app doesn't send it anywhere else. For a part, the search has the part number and description. Your picture is not sent. Google's privacy policy covers that search.
- Update check: The app checks Apple's App Store for a newer version, usually once a day. Only the app's ID is sent.
- Sharing, if you turn it on (see below).
- Smart Reader, only when it is on or when you tap it (see below).
- "Look up VIN": When a VIN is read, or when you tap Look up VIN, the app sends only the VIN to NHTSA, the U.S. government's free vehicle database (the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The automatic lookup happens only if you said Yes to "Look up VINs automatically?"; you can change this in Help & Settings. Equipment Book doesn't receive or keep it. Results come from NHTSA, so please check them before saving. Information returned by NHTSA is provided as is and may be incomplete. "Check safety recalls" opens NHTSA's recall page for that VIN in Safari.
Like any internet request, these services can also see your internet address.
Sharing between phones (off unless you turn it on)
When you link phones with a 6-digit code, your Business machines and their records are stored on our server so your linked phones can see them. That includes machine details, service entries, reminders, extra serial numbers, and part numbers, descriptions and the date each part was put on. Part pictures are not shared; people you share with see the part details but not the picture. Personal machines are stored on our server only if you turn on Personal sharing, which is not available yet; today they stay on your phone. Important info is not shared.
For each linked phone, the server also keeps a random ID, the phone's name ("iPhone" or "iPad" unless you rename it), the type of phone, whether it is the owner or a joined phone, when it joined and last synced, when its subscription was last checked, and its subscription end date. We check your subscription with Apple's record but don't keep it. If someone types a wrong code, the internet address and a random install ID are kept for 15 minutes to stop code guessing. The server does not get your name, email or payment details.
Our server is hosted by Rork on Cloudflare. They may see internet addresses in normal request logs.
Smart Reader (only when it is on or when you tap it)
Smart Reader reads serial plates, extra serial number plates, part labels, anti-freeze jugs, registration cards, cab cards, tag receipts and inspection papers with our AI provider, Anthropic. The first time you take one of these pictures, the app asks "Read plates and papers with Smart Reader?" (Yes or Not now); you can change the answer in Help & Settings. When it is on, you have signal and you have Smart Reads left, each of these pictures you take or choose (with location and other photo details removed, at most 2576 pixels on its long side) goes through our server (hosted by Cloudflare) to Anthropic, so it can fill in the boxes for you to check. When the serial, make or model is still missing, for a serial plate the app may send one closer look from the same picture (a sharper part of it, or four overlapping parts); that counts as the same Smart Read. When it is off, you type the information in, and the Smart Reader button on the Check and save and Edit screens sends a picture only when you tap it. Your records are not sent. Equipment Book does not keep the picture or the result on its server (a part picture you choose to keep stays only on your phone). Under Anthropic's commercial terms, Anthropic does not use it to train AI and normally deletes it within 30 days. It may keep it longer only if needed to enforce its usage rules or if the law requires it. If we change AI provider, the app asks you again and names the new provider.
To count Smart Reads (5 free per phone, 250 a year with a subscription) and stop misuse, the server keeps counts for a random install ID, a one-time Apple DeviceCheck token (so deleting the app doesn't reset the free count), and your subscription period from Apple's record. It keeps only those counts, not the picture or the text. Like any internet request, it can also see your internet address, used only for rate limits.
When shared data is deleted
- When the owner turns sharing off, all shared data is deleted from the server.
- Deleting a shared machine or entry, or moving a machine to Personal, only marks it deleted. Its details stay on the server until sharing is turned off or the shared data is deleted.
- Anything a joined phone added stays in the shared list after that phone leaves.
- A joined phone's entry is deleted when it leaves, the next time it connects after the owner removes it, or 31 days after its subscription ends.
- All shared data is deleted 61 days after the owner's subscription end date that the server last saw. The server only learns about a renewal when the owner opens the app, so open it after each renewal. If the owner deletes the app, the shared data is deleted 61 days after that date, even if the subscription keeps renewing.
Important info
Account numbers, phone numbers, websites and notes you type (or speak with the keyboard's microphone) on the Important info tab are kept only on your phone, encrypted, behind a PIN you set the first time you save something (Face ID or Touch ID is optional). Spoken words are turned into text by your phone and aren't sent to Equipment Book's servers. Important info is not synced, not shared with other phones, not sent to our server or any AI provider, and not included in printed reports or PDFs. When you make a backup file, you choose to include it, leave it out, or include it protected by a password. Anyone with a backup file that includes it without a password can read it.
Clear all
"Clear all" in Help & Settings deletes your saved machines, records and Important info from your phone. If you own a shared list, it is deleted from our server and from linked phones when they next connect. If you only joined someone else's list, your phone leaves it and the owner's data is not deleted. Backup files you already saved are not deleted.
Crash reports from Apple
The app has no tracking, analytics or crash reporting tools of its own. If you turned on "Share With App Developers" in your iPhone settings, Apple may give us crash reports and usage statistics that Apple says do not identify you.
If you email us, we get your email address and message, and we use them only to answer you.
Purchases
Subscriptions are handled by Apple. We do not see your payment details. To cancel, open Settings, tap your name, then tap Subscriptions.
Terms of use
Equipment Book uses Apple's standard license agreement: apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula
You're responsible for checking your information before relying on it and for following any legal or tax rules that apply to you.
Children
Equipment Book is intended for adults. It is not intended for anyone under 18.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.