Storage and cookies

Our pages and the app set no cookies. That includes the I’m interested button: it keeps nothing in your browser, no cookie and no stored item, and only adds one to a count on our server.

When you sign in, the sign-in page is served by our sign-in service, which runs on Amazon Web Services under our control. That page sets its own cookies, only to sign you in safely, on the sign-in address, not on this site.

The app keeps a database in your browser (IndexedDB) so your books open and save with no signal.

• prose- followed by your account id: your books, plans, outlines, notes, pictures, snapshots and the changes waiting to sync. One per account you sign in with on this device.
• pop-share: on a reader's device, the notes they are writing on a chapter someone shared with them, until they send them.
• pop-reminders: your reminder settings, so a reminder can arrive while the app is closed. It holds no text from your books.

The app keeps copies of its own files in your browser (Cache Storage) so it opens with no signal.

• prose-shell- followed by a version: the app's pages, code and styles.
• thesaurus-moby-1: the thesaurus, once you first use it.
• print-paged- followed by a version: the page layout tool used for print preview, once you first use it.
• pop-help-v1: the help articles, once you first open help.

• Persistent storage: after your first change, the app asks your browser to keep its storage persistent (navigator.storage.persist()), so the browser doesn't clear your books to free space. The browser decides; Settings shows whether it agreed and how much space the app uses.
• Offline copies: the database and files above are full copies, kept so the app works with no signal. Anyone who can open this browser can read them, so set a screen lock on your device.
• On a shared device, sign out and remove this device's copy. Signing out alone keeps your books on the device for next time. Sign out and remove this device's copy deletes your books' database from this browser. If any change hasn't reached our server yet, the app tells you how many and asks again before removing it.

Kept in the browser's local storage until you sign out:

• prose.auth.refresh: keeps you signed in, for up to 30 days.
• prose.auth.sub: your account id, so the app opens the right books.
• pop.signedIn: a plain yes-or-no flag that you are signed in, so the home page can send you straight to your books. No account details.

Kept only while the tab is open (session storage), during sign-in:

• prose.auth.verifier, prose.auth.state and prose.auth.return: check that the sign-in you finish is the one you started, and bring you back to the page you were on.

• pop.rescue. keys: a copy of words you typed that haven't reached our server yet, so a crash or a closed tab can't lose them. They go once the words are saved.
• pop.held. keys: how many changes each open tab still has waiting, so signing out can warn you before unsaved words would be lost. No text.
• pop.account: keys: whether your account is waiting to be deleted, so the app can tell you while offline.

Kept in local storage, so the app looks and behaves the way you left it. Each remembers a choice and holds no text from your books:

• Appearance and layout: pop.appearance, pop.pageLayout, pop.moreAppearance, pop.spacingFold, pop.write.comfort, and the open or closed panels and tabs (pop.panes., prose:sidetabs: keys).
• Writing: pop.checkSpelling, pop.formatAsYouType, pop.readFootnotes, pop.recentChars, pop.hl.last (the last highlight color you used), pop.sprint, pop.sprint.last, pop.dailyGoal, pop.clock, pop.reminders.
• Where you were: pop.place, pop.reopen, and the last page, plan item, outline view and step of each book (pop.lastPlanItem., pop.outlineView., pop.lastOutlinePage., pop.lastStepPlace. keys).
• Hints and offers you dismissed or answered: pop.welcomeDone, pop.writerKind, pop.tips, pop.overviews (whether step overviews show), prose.iosHintDismissed, and per-book choices such as pop.brainstormOffer., pop.genreLinesHidden., pop.ideaPin., pop.deeper. and pop.coreGroup. keys.
• Sharing: the name you share under (pop:share-name), and which reader links you made or copied (pop:link-copies: and pop:had-readers: keys).
• Other: settings waiting to sync (pop.profileDirty), saved searches you used (pop.saved.used. keys), snapshot timing (pop.snapAuto. keys), and the administrator view, for our own account only (pop.admin).

Kept only while the tab is open (session storage):

• ra-online: keys: that you agreed to use an online voice for read-aloud in this book, so the app doesn't ask again in the same session.
• prose.firstrun.skipped, pop.signedOut and pop:bible-place: that you skipped the first-run question, what you chose when you signed out, and where to return in the story bible.

An automated test checks this list against what the app actually keeps in your browser, so a key missing here fails our tests.

You can remove everything Path of Prose keeps in your browser in your browser's settings, under site data. Do this only after your words have synced: words that haven't reached our server yet are lost with it. Signing in again brings your synced books back.