For the Rayloom app for MacEffective: 14 September 2026Last updated: 14 September 2026
The short version
Rayloom doesn't go online. Its sandbox has no network access, so it cannot reach any server — and we don't run one.
It only touches the files you point it at. Rayloom can read only the folders you add, the files you open, and the photos and videos you drag in or double-click from Finder. All processing happens on your Mac.
Your originals stay as they are. Edits are saved as a hidden recipe file next to the original. An original is only rewritten if you explicitly choose "Overwrite original" in the export panel's location menu (HEIF and JPEG photos only).
No accounts, no ads, no analytics SDKs, no trackers, no third-party code. The trial and purchase are handled by Apple; we never see your account or payment details.
1. Who provides this app
Rayloom (Chinese name 织光, "the app") is developed and published by gwongsam ("we"), an independent developer, for Mac. It is used to browse, edit, and export photos and videos, and to combine many frames into a star stack, a time-lapse video, or a focus stack.
This policy explains how the app handles your information. One premise runs through all of it: the app does not connect to the internet and has no backend server, so your photos, videos, and edits never reach us. What follows describes how data moves around your own Mac.
2. What data the app handles
The following is created or read as you use the app, and all of it stays on your Mac:
Category
What it covers
Photos and videos you choose
Pixels and metadata read to show thumbnails and previews, and to edit, combine, and export — including the capture time, camera and lens, exposure settings, and GPS location if the original contains one
Edit recipes
The settings you adjust in the four layers: Lens, Light, LUT, and Color
Resources
Recipe presets, the filter library (including .cube files you import), and the input-restore LUTs you import for video
Copyright and credit
The author, copyright notice, contact details, and usage terms you enter in the Copyright window
Settings
Your source folders, recent export locations, the last export format and naming used for each workflow, and interface preferences
License state
Whether a trial has started, when, and whether the full version was purchased — read from Apple's transaction records and cached on your Mac (see section 6)
The app does not request or collect government ID numbers, phone numbers, payment information, contacts, calendars, advertising identifiers, or device fingerprints, and it never asks for your location (GPS data already inside your originals is only processed along with your files — see section 5). There is no account system and nothing to sign up for.
3. Where the data lives
Entirely on your Mac, in three places:
The app's sandbox container (~/Library/Containers/com.gwongsam.rayloom/). Settings, credits, the filter library, presets, and the cached license state live here. Thumbnails are cached in its Caches folder, which the system may clear at any time; they are rebuilt as needed.
Next to your originals. An edit recipe is saved as a hidden file with the original's name, a leading dot, and the .crrecipe extension (for example .IMG_0001.crrecipe next to IMG_0001.heic). The recipe travels with the file: copy the whole folder to another Mac and your edits come along. Files opened with "Open Files" are the exception — their recipes are kept in memory only and discarded when you quit, and nothing is written to disk.
The export location you pick. Exported and combined results are written only where you choose in the export panel.
The app does not use iCloud sync and writes nothing to any server.
4. File access and permissions
Sandbox. The app runs in the macOS App Sandbox and can only read and write files and folders you choose yourself — via Add Folder, Open Files, choosing a location in the export panel, dragging from Finder, or double-clicking.
Bookmarks. So you don't have to grant access again after a restart, the app stores standard macOS security-scoped bookmarks for the source folders and export locations you add, inside its sandbox container. Removing a folder from the sidebar deletes that record and never touches the files inside. Files opened temporarily get no bookmark.
No other permissions. The app does not request camera, microphone, Photos library, location, contacts, calendar, or any other system permission.
No network permission. The app's sandbox has network access switched off, both outgoing and incoming. The Privacy Policy and Terms links in its windows open in your default browser, not in the app.
5. What exported files carry
Whether a result carries your originals' metadata depends on how it was made:
Result
Metadata kept from the originals
Single and batch photo exports, video exports
The descriptive metadata of the original: capture time, camera and lens, exposure settings, IPTC, and the GPS location if there is one
Stacks saved as HEIC, TIFF, or PNG
The reference frame's metadata, including GPS if present; exposure time is written as the total exposure
Stacks and focus stacks saved as DNG
EXIF shooting data, without GPS
Focus stacks saved as HEIF, TIFF, or PNG, and time-lapse videos
None of the originals' EXIF or GPS
In addition, every result gets:
the processing software name and version ("Rayloom" and its version), plus the standard flag marking the image as re-rendered;
if you turned on "Write copyright and credit" in the Copyright window (off by default) and entered an author: the author, copyright notice, contact details, and usage terms.
This information travels with the file. Before sending results to someone or posting them online, check the metadata if you'd rather not share where a photo was taken or how to reach you. The app currently has no option to strip location on export.
6. Trial and purchase
The app is free to download. Browsing, comparing, and editing are always free; exporting and combining require Rayloom Full Version.
The "14-day Trial" is an in-app purchase priced at zero, and the Full Version is a one-time purchase that never renews. Both are completed by Apple through the App Store, and we never see your Apple Account, payment method, or billing details.
The app uses Apple's StoreKit on your Mac to read the transaction records, solely to determine whether the trial has started and how many days are left, and whether the Full Version was purchased. It caches that conclusion locally so a purchased app doesn't flash "Full Version required" at launch.
Trial and purchase records belong to your Apple Account. After reinstalling or moving to another Mac, sign in with the same account and choose Restore Purchases. Reinstalling does not restart the trial.
Refunds, Ask to Buy approvals, and similar matters are handled by Apple under its own rules.
7. Diagnostics and crash data
The app contains no crash-reporting or performance-analytics SDK and never sends logs anywhere on its own — it has no network capability to do so.
If you have turned on "Share with app developers" under System Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements, Apple may provide developers with aggregated, de-identified crash reports and performance metrics. That data is collected and de-identified by Apple, contains none of your photos or edits, and can be turned off in System Settings at any time.
8. Third parties: what we don't do
Spelled out, to avoid ambiguity:
We do not sell your personal information (including "sale" and "sharing" as defined under US state laws);
We do not use or disclose your information for targeted advertising; the app contains no ad SDK;
We integrate no analytics, event-tracking, A/B testing, crash-reporting, attribution, or profiling service;
The app contains no third-party SDKs — only Apple's own system frameworks;
We do not use your photos, videos, or edits to train any model, and we perform no automated decision-making;
We neither receive nor transmit any of your information, so there is no cross-border transfer initiated by us.
The one third party involved is Apple, which handles in-app purchases and transaction records through the App Store. See the Apple Privacy Policy.
9. Retention and deletion
We hold none of your data, so there is no retention period on our side. How long anything lives is entirely up to you:
Source folders: remove them from the sidebar. Only the record and bookmark are removed; the files are untouched.
Edit recipes: press Reset while editing, or bring every setting back to its default, and the recipe file is deleted; you can also delete the hidden .crrecipe file next to the original yourself (press ⇧⌘. in Finder to show hidden files).
Filter library and recipe presets: delete them in their windows; copyright and credit: clear them in the Copyright window, or turn off "Write copyright and credit".
Everything on this Mac (including imported input-restore LUTs and the thumbnail cache): delete the app and the folder ~/Library/Containers/com.gwongsam.rayloom/.
Files you exported: manage them yourself — we have no way of knowing where they are.
Trial and purchase records: they belong to your Apple Account and are managed by Apple.
None of this requires contacting us, and we have no copies to delete on your behalf.
10. Your rights
Under applicable law — including the GDPR in the EU/EEA and UK, the CCPA/CPRA in California, and the PIPL in mainland China — you have rights to be informed about, access, copy, correct, supplement, delete, and port your personal information, and to withdraw consent.
In this app, exercising those rights requires neither contacting us nor waiting for our approval, because the data has been in your hands all along:
Right
How to exercise it
Access / copy
Your photos, videos, and results are ordinary files on your disk; settings and resources are visible in the app's resource windows
Portability
Recipes travel with the folder of originals; results are standard HEIF, TIFF, PNG, or DNG images, or MOV / MP4 videos
Correction
Change recipes, presets, or credits directly in the app
Deletion
See section 9 above
Withdraw access
Remove a source folder from the sidebar and the app no longer accesses it
Object to automated decisions
The app performs no automated decision-making or profiling
If you believe your rights have not been honoured, or you have any question about this policy, contact us as described in section 14. We will respond within 30 days. You also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
11. Children
The app is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect personal information from them. Because nothing is ever transmitted to us, we hold no information about any user's age. If you are under the applicable age of digital consent in your country, please use the app with your guardian's consent and guidance; parents can manage in-app purchases with Apple's Screen Time and Ask to Buy.
12. Security
The app runs in the macOS App Sandbox, can access only the files you authorize, and is built with the system's Hardened Runtime.
The app has no network permission, so there is no path for your photos or edits to leave your Mac through it.
We hold none of your data, so there is no "our database was breached" risk to speak of.
Exported files carry your originals' metadata (see section 5) — keep that in mind when sharing.
That said: the security of your Mac underpins all of the above. Use a login password, turn on FileVault, and keep macOS updated. No technical measure can guarantee absolute security.
13. Changes to this policy
If the way the app handles data changes, we will update this page and the "Last updated" date at the top. For material changes — the app starting to use the network, for instance — we will make it prominent in the app and, where required, ask for your consent again. Previous versions of this page can be inspected in this site's public repository.
14. Contact
For any question about this policy or your data, email: gwongsam@gmail.com
Please mention the app version and your macOS version — it helps us answer faster.
Rayloom