Support

Latest is strict newest-first, grouped by day, and finite. Nothing is ranked by what others read, and nothing is personalised. A story covered by several sources is shown once, at the time of the earliest report, with every source listed under it.

Tap a story to open it, then press Read. The publisher’s page opens inside the app, in Safari’s Reader view where the page has one and as published where it has none. Reader has Safari’s own text-size control. Settings, Text size, makes the app’s own text larger or smaller.

A summary is the publisher’s own excerpt and nothing else. Where a site’s feed gives none, the story shows its headline and picture only. The app never writes a summary and never takes one from the article.

A publisher filed the post in a non-watch section of its own site. It stays in place, in time order, with that label. It belongs to no topic, so it shows under All. Only exact duplicates and broken items are removed.

The app labels a post from the publisher’s own markings and shows it. It does not hide them.

Yes. Settings, Text size, has Smaller, Larger and Reset (100, 112, 125, 140 percent), on top of the text size set in iOS. Reset is always there.

New stories never move the list under you. A “New since” line and a bar tell you they are there, and Refresh brings them in.

Open Settings, then Sources, or press Change sources at the foot of Latest or Videos. Every source has a switch that acts at once; there is no Save step and no limit on how many are on. Each row says how often the source posts, measured from its own feed.

Yes, by its feed address. The app checks the address before it keeps it. A source you added can be removed.

The app lists a site only if its feed can be read honestly. Write to us with the name and we will look.

On its own the app asks no source more than once in 15 minutes. Checking for new stories yourself asks sooner, but never more than once a minute.

Write to support@watchvaultmedia.com with the site and your role. The app links to your stories and republishes nothing.

No. The app never asks who you are.

No. We run no server for the app. It connects to the publishers’ sites and to YouTube, directly from your device; the Privacy Policy lists each connection.

No. Search looks only in what the phone already holds: stories and videos, saved items, sources and writers.

No notifications of any kind: no alert, no badge, no daily digest.

Yes. Every feature is free, with no subscription and no advertising. A Support screen in Settings offers optional tips; a tip unlocks nothing.

Podcasts have their own tab, beside Latest and Videos. Each show is a source with its own switch, under Podcasts in Sources. Play streams the episode from the show’s own audio host, which counts the play as it does for any podcast app. The small player plays one episode at a time, in the background and with the phone locked, and remembers where you left each episode on the device. It has no queue, no playback speed and no subscribing.

Yes, a podcast episode, only when you press Download. The copy stays on the device, out of iCloud and device backups, until you remove it or delete the app. It uses whatever connection the device has, including mobile data. Videos are never downloaded.

On iOS 17 and later, Siri and Shortcuts offer two actions: “Resume my podcast in Watch Vault Media” and “Play my latest download in Watch Vault Media”. They play in the background. The app asks for no Siri permission and learns only which of the two was asked.

The calendar button beside Search and Settings opens the fairs, awards and major watch auctions ahead, soonest first, with All, Fairs and Auctions. The list is chosen and kept by hand, and each date is checked against the organiser’s own page; a monthly check proposes changes, published only once we approve them. If the list can’t be reached, the app shows the last copy it saved, or the one it carried from when it was built. Add to Calendar opens Apple’s own New Event screen for you to check and add; the app asks for no calendar permission and cannot see your calendars.

Yes. On the Home Screen (small: the newest story; medium: the two newest) and on the Lock Screen, a widget shows the newest stories from the sources that are on. Tapping a story opens it in the app. A widget shows only the copy the app keeps for it, connects to nothing itself and sends no alerts.

Yes. Watch Vault Media is also on the web. It is at watchvaultmedia.app, for any modern browser. It reads the starting set of sources and has no accounts, no Saved, no source switches, no Settings, no tips and no podcasts. It shares nothing with the phone app.

iPhone and iPad. On a Mac with Apple silicon it runs as the iPad app.

Not yet. Watch Vault Media is in development.