# Ply - Browse & Synthesize > Private, on-device browser for reading, note-taking, and synthesizing web content. (iPhone/iPad app by Andrew Neitsch.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ply-browse-and-synthesize/id6781907490 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Andrew Neitsch](https://appshunter.io/developer/6781907492) - Category: Productivity - Price: Free - Rating: 5.00/5 from 1 App Store ratings - Age rating: 17+ - Requires: iOS 17.0 · 18 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-06-26 - Data updated: 2026-09-09 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ply-browse-and-synthesize/id6781907490/reviews.md ## What is Ply? Ply is a quiet, private browser built for reading and thinking, not for being tracked. Everything you do stays on your device. There are no accounts, no telemetry, no third-party connections, and nothing is ever sent to a server. Privacy is not a setting you switch on. It is how Ply is built. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT • No tracking, no ads, no analytics. Ply collects nothing. • A built-in content blocker stops trackers and ads before they load. • Fingerprint protection makes you harder to follow across sites. • A manipulation blocker quietly defuses dark patterns: fake countdowns, guilt-trip buttons, and pre-checked boxes. • Cleaner, more private links: Ply skips AMP wrappers and link-tracking redirectors. READ WITHOUT THE NOISE • Reader mode strips the page down to just the text. • Highlight passages and write margin notes as you read. CAPTURE WHAT MATTERS • Save snips, highlights, notes, and links into one tidy library, organized by workspace. • Each capture remembers the page it came from, so you can always trace it back. • Edit your saved links in place, with item counts for every section. COMPOSE YOUR OWN SYNTHESIS • A built-in Canvas turns your captures into a document you actually write. • Live formatting controls, inline link editing, and drop a saved citation right at the cursor. • Export to Markdown or PDF whenever you want it elsewhere. ENCRYPTED, IF YOU WANT IT • An optional vault encrypts your synthesis data at rest with a password you choose. • Unlock with Face ID. Forget the password and even Ply cannot open it. SYNC YOUR OWN DEVICES, DIRECTLY • Plytether syncs directly between your own devices over your local Wi-Fi. No server, no cloud, no relay. Pair once by comparing a six-digit code, then pull whenever you like. • Sync carries snip images, Canvas documents, and whole workspaces, not just history and saved Stuff. End-to-end encrypted, on-device, no account. • A new Inbox lets you review what a pull brings (snip images with a preview, Canvas docs you can append to a workspace, whole workspaces you can add) before anything lands. Your own copies are never overwritten. BRING YOUR OWN AI (OPTIONAL) • Connect your own local or hosted model to search and summarize. Ply ships no AI of its own and talks only to the endpoint you configure, only when you ask it to. Ply is for people who want a calmer, more private place to read and make sense of the web. Open it, and the only thing watching the page is you. ## Key features - Private browsing by default - Built-in content blocker - Reader mode with highlighting and notes - Save and organize captures - Create documents from captures - Direct device-to-device sync - Optional local AI integration ## Frequently asked questions about Ply ### Does Ply have ads? No, Ply is completely ad-free. It is built with privacy as a core feature and does not track users or display advertisements. ### What devices does Ply support? Ply is currently supported on iPhone devices. Future platform expansions may be considered based on user demand and development resources. ### How often is Ply updated? Ply was last updated on July 2, 2026, with version 1.0.6. The developer, Andrew Neitsch, appears to provide regular updates to enhance functionality and maintain privacy features. ### Is Ply suitable for younger users? Ply has an age rating of 17+, indicating it may contain content or features not suitable for all audiences. Parents should review the app's features and privacy policy before allowing younger users to access it. ### Can I export my synthesized documents from Ply? Yes, Ply allows you to export your synthesized documents in Markdown or PDF formats. This enables you to easily share or use your created content outside of the application. ### How does Ply's device sync work? Ply uses Plytether to sync directly between your own devices over local Wi-Fi, without any servers or cloud storage. It is end-to-end encrypted and requires a one-time pairing. ### What is the user sentiment for Ply? Based on the available data, Ply has a perfect rating of 5.0 stars from 1 rating, suggesting very positive initial user sentiment. ### Can I use my own AI models with Ply? Yes, Ply offers an optional feature to connect your own local or hosted AI models for searching and summarizing. Ply itself does not ship with AI and only communicates with the endpoint you configure. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 1.1.0 — 2026-08-28 A rebuilt new-tab screen, two more kinds of page pressure spotted, and a long structural overhaul finished underneath. • The new-tab screen has been rebuilt. It no longer ships with six websites somebody else picked. it starts empty and holds the sites you actually choose. Add, rename, reorder and remove them from the page itself or in Settings. • Fake urgency gets turned down. Badges like "Only 2 left in stock" or "13 people are viewing this" are dimmed so they stop shouting. Ply can't know whether a claim is true, it just stops it from doing the pushing. • Cookie banners that hide the "Reject" button now get it outlined, so you can find it. Ply never clicks either button and never touches "Accept”. it only makes the buried choice visible. The decision stays yours. • The parts of the app that handle your vault, your saved passwords and device sync have been restructured so each one has a single clear owner, checked automatically on every change. Nothing you see or store changes. • Added the ability to refresh tracker and ad blocklists. • Several privacy descriptions in the app were corrected. A few of them promised more than Ply actually does. • Fixed “Save photo to gallery” when long pressing an image from a web page. • Subtle UI changes. ### 1.0.7 — 2026-08-08 • Closing a tab that's playing a video or music actually stops it now. It used to carry on in the background with nothing left on screen to pause. • Tapping the address bar selects the whole address, so typing a new one replaces it instead of getting mixed into the old one. • Moving a tab to another workspace now moves it properly. It keeps that workspace's cookies and logins separate the way it should, and the tab list keeps up with the page's name and address. • "Delete everything & start fresh" really does delete your snips now. ### 1.0.6 — 2026-07-02 New - Download files: a Download action in the page ⋯ menu saves the current page or document — a PDF, a Word doc, anything — straight to Downloads. - Block third-party scripts (optional, off by default): stops cross-site scripts from running. Allow it per site from the shield. - Block remote fonts (optional, off by default): stops web-font downloads, a common fingerprinting and tracking vector. - Strip tracking parameters: removes campaign and click-ID tags (utm_*, fbclid, gclid, mc_eid, …) from links you open, keeping the rest of the URL untouched. - Camera, microphone, and motion access is now deny-by-default; pages with an opaque or insecure origin are refused outright. Changed - Far stronger tracker and ad blocking — the full EasyPrivacy list now applies (tens of thousands of rules), loaded ahead of the ad list. - Third-party cookies are now blocked on every cross-site request, not just known trackers. - Stronger fingerprinting resistance — Ply's protections no longer reveal themselves to scripts. - Container workspaces now keep their cookies and logins across restarts. - "Ask before downloading" now actually prompts, and Ply warns before saving an executable or installer. Fixed - Privacy toggles take effect immediately on open tabs — turning a protection off truly turns it off, and every toggle now does exactly what its label says. ### 1.0.5 — 2026-06-28 New - Password manager: save logins on-device in the vault, with a generator, TOTP codes, and CSV import. It's now a tab in the bottom bar. - Password sync with Ply on your Mac or Windows machine over the local network. - EasyList + EasyPrivacy blocking, plus cosmetic filtering for leftover ad slots. - Per-site zoom, remembered per site. - Translate selected text with your own AI model; saved as a note. - A screen to review and remove your per-site privacy exceptions. - Your iPhone shows by name (with an iOS icon) in the Mac's sync device list. - Idle background tabs auto-freeze to save memory. Changed - WebRTC toggle renamed to "Limit WebRTC IP exposure"; now also scrubs the SDP path. Fixed - Dropped a dead Extensions filter & a Settings light/dark flicker. ### 1.0 — 2026-06-26 No release notes. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-09.*