The usual questions.
Short answers, no small print.
Do I need an account?
No. Kosmotheka works without an account and without internet from the first day: you open the app, create your library and start noting things down.
There is an optional account. It is for having your libraries on all your devices, even if they are not on the same Wi-Fi, and for inviting other people. That is the cloud: keeping your libraries on the internet too. For now, you can only use the cloud if someone invites you. Without an account, everything keeps working the same. More in «The cloud».
Where is my data?
On your devices. If you do not create an account, nowhere else: we never see it.
If you create an account and upload a library to the cloud, it is also stored on a server (a computer on the internet that keeps the cloud libraries). Whoever runs that server could read it: it is not stored in a way that only the people in the library can see. Uploading a library is a separate decision, library by library, and what you do not upload does not leave your devices. The privacy policy explains it in detail.
To fill in the details of a work, the app queries public internet services, such as Open Library (a books website) or MusicBrainz (a music website). It only sends them what you search for (the book’s number, its ISBN, the barcode or the title), never your library. All of it is in «What leaves your device and what does not» and in «Where the details come from».
What if I lose my phone?
If you have an account and you uploaded the library to the cloud, you sign in with the same account on the new phone, and the library arrives by itself. If not, but it was shared with another device at home, it stays there in full: you pair the new phone with a QR code (the square of dots that is read with the camera), and it receives the library.
You can remove the lost phone from your account. And whoever administers a library (whoever can change it and give permissions) can remove it from that library, so that it stops receiving changes. If the library was only on that phone, with no account and no other device, you recover it from your last backup (a file you keep with your books). That is why it is worth making backups from time to time. The steps are in «I lost my phone or changed it», «Remove a person or a device from a library» and «Backups, export and import».
How do I share with my family?
With a QR code. On a phone, open the menu, go to “Sharing and devices” and tap “Pair another device” (on the computer, “Pair a device”). Pairing means connecting two devices so that they pass changes to each other. On the other device, on the same Wi-Fi, you read the code with the camera. You choose which libraries to share and what that person can do: administer (change everything), edit (add and change things) or only view.
From then on, the two pass to each other what each one changes, by themselves, every time they are at home together. The steps are in «Share at home», and the roles are in «People and permissions». See it on the home page.
And with someone in another city?
With the cloud: an optional account with which the library also updates from a distance, and with which you can invite someone by sending them a link (an address that opens when you tap it). Only whoever administers the library can invite, and the library must be uploaded to the cloud. For now, you can only use the cloud if someone invites you.
Without the cloud, you can pair when you are together, on the same Wi-Fi: each time you meet again, it updates. For what works without a connection, see «Away from home and offline: what works».
How much does it cost?
Nothing. It is free and has no advertising.
Is it free software?
Yes, it is free software (under the AGPL licence, which sets out the rules of use): anyone can read the code, change it and share it. And you can run your own server, your own computer on the internet with your libraries, if you prefer not to use the official one.
What can I keep track of?
Books, comics, board games, films, series, video games and music, each one with its own details page. And for everything else (model kits, puzzles, toys…), “Other”.
Can I bring in what I’ve already listed?
Yes: import your spreadsheet (a CSV file, the kind Excel and other programs save), and the app turns it into your catalogue. Everything comes in as a book, and afterwards you can change the kind of each thing from its details page. You can also export it whenever you like. It is explained in «Backups, export and import».
How do I delete my account?
From the app, at once. If you cannot sign in, by writing to privacy@kosmotheka.com. The steps are in «Delete my account and my data».