YalqenYalqen has no account or crash reporting. Each browser profile is counted once, anonymously; optional active-install counting is off by default. Your history, bookmarks, passwords and settings stay on your Mac. Because the browser is open source, you can check that for yourself.
What is on by default
Ad blocking is on from the first launch. Some stronger protections are a switch away in settings.
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Ad and tracker blocking | On | Filter lists are cached on your Mac and refreshed about once a week. |
| Secure DNS | Automatic | Automatic uses encrypted DNS when your resolver supports it. Cloudflare, Google, Quad9 or off are one choice away. |
| HTTPS-only mode | Off | Opens pages over HTTPS and asks before falling back to HTTP. |
| Block third-party cookies | Off | Makes it harder for embedded content to follow you between sites. |
| Automatic updates | On | Checks GitHub releases in the background. You can turn it off in settings. |
| Ask before downloading | On | Every download waits for your confirmation. |
Optional active-install counting
Builds that support this feature keep it off by default, including when upgrading an existing profile. You can enable it in Settings → Privacy and turn it off at any time. It sends only a random ID for your browser profile to yalqen.com, at most once per UTC day while a non-private window is open. Development builds and sessions with only private windows send no usage heartbeat.
The counter stores a keyed hash of that ID and the time of the last heartbeat. It does not store the raw ID, visited URLs, searches, history, passwords, names or email addresses. Entries older than 30 days are removed when the counter is read or updated; the entire set expires after 35 days without new reports. The hosting provider receives your IP address to deliver the request and may keep infrastructure logs.
The public number means participating browser profiles observed in the last 30 days. It does not identify people, count all users, or recover past usage. A second profile or a reset profile can count separately; offline users, older versions and people who leave the option off are absent. Turning the setting off stops future reports immediately; its previous observation ages out of the 30-day window.
One-time anonymous count
Once per browser profile, after the thank-you letter is closed, Yalqen sends an empty request to yalqen.com/api/letter. The request carries no installation ID or other identifier and no browsing data. The server records it as one anonymous event in our self-hosted analytics at stats.yalqen.com, with only the event name and time. Your IP address and user agent are not passed on, and no ID is stored. The hosting provider receives your IP address to deliver the request and may keep infrastructure logs. If the request fails, Yalqen tries again on a later launch until it is delivered. Development builds and sessions with only private windows do not send it.
The number is cumulative. It counts browser profiles that received the letter, not people or active users. A second profile or a reset profile counts again, and people who have not updated are absent.
Download counting
The disk image button on the download page goes through yalqen.com/api/download, which counts distinct downloaders before sending you to the latest release. The counter keeps only a keyed, irreversible hash of your IP address and browser user agent in a probabilistic set that cannot be listed. Automated requests are skipped. The hosting provider receives your IP address to deliver the request and may keep infrastructure logs. Downloads through Homebrew or direct GitHub links are not counted.
Sites ask first
Camera, microphone, location, notifications and pop-ups wait for your permission, and Yalqen remembers your answer per site. You can review and change them in settings.
Every service it talks to
Beyond the sites you visit, Yalqen only connects to these, and only for the reason given.
| Service | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Filter list servers | When the ad blocker refreshes its lists | To keep blocking up to date. Only if ad blocking is on. |
| yalqen.com letter counter | Once per browser profile, after the thank-you letter | Adds one anonymous event to our self-hosted analytics. Sends an empty request with no ID or browsing activity. |
| yalqen.com active-install counter | At most once per UTC day while a non-private window is open | Only when you enable active-install counting in Settings → Privacy. Sends a random installation ID, not browsing activity. |
| GitHub releases | Shortly after launch and every few hours | To find and download updates. Only if automatic updates are on. |
| Your search engine | When you search | Google by default. Yandex, DuckDuckGo, Bing, Brave, Ecosia, Startpage, Kagi or your own are built in. |
| Your DNS resolver | When you open a site | Your system’s resolver, or the secure DNS provider you pick. |
| Chrome Web Store | When you add an extension | To download the extension package. |
| Google Translate | When you translate a page or a selection | The text to translate is sent to translate.googleapis.com. |
| Your selected AI provider | When you use the AI panel | Prompts, attached page content and the project context used by the agent are processed by Claude, Codex or Gemini. Provider authentication is separate from browsing. |
Passwords
Yalqen offers to save a password when you sign in. Saved passwords are encrypted with a key kept in your macOS Keychain and never leave your Mac. Yalqen fills saved logins into matching sign-in forms the next time you visit. You can reveal, copy and remove them in settings, and choose never to save for a site.
Private and developer windows
The sidebar’s session switcher opens personal, developer and private windows with one click.
- Private windows keep no browsing history.
- Developer windows run in their own session, apart from your everyday browsing, with third-party cookie blocking and ad blocking off. Cookies, storage and cache are wiped when the last one closes.
This website
This website uses privacy-friendly analytics to count visits and download clicks, served from our own domain. Website analytics are separate from the optional browser installation counter.
Found a privacy problem? Report security issues privately through GitHub Security Advisories, and everything else in an issue.