How Linkfisher works

Getting started

Linkfisher saves links. You catch one, it lands in your Inbox, and you file it whenever you feel like it. Nothing forces you to categorise at save time.

You can use the app in three ways. Premium adds on top of any of them, guest included, no account needed:

• Guest. No account. Your links are stored on that device only. Basic categories, no custom ones.
• Free account. Shared Buckets live on the cloud, so you and the people you invite can get to them from anywhere. Custom categories and shared Buckets are limited on this tier.
• Premium. No ads, unlimited categories and unlimited Catch & Release right away, guest or not. Add an account, and you also get unlimited shared Buckets and Link Aquarium sync across your devices.

The full breakdown of what each tier includes is on the Plans section of the home page.

Catching links

There are five ways to get a link into Linkfisher. Use whichever is closest to hand.

Linkfisher fetches the page title, description and preview image so the saved card is recognisable later. If a site blocks that fetch, the link is still saved and you can edit the title yourself.

Categories, Buckets and tags

Three different tools. They are easy to mix up, so here is what each one is for.

Categories

One category per link. Five come with the app: Inbox, Read Later, Inspiration, Tools and Entertainment. They are translated into every language the app supports. Anything you save without picking a category goes to Inbox.

In Profile › Manage Category you can add your own, rename them, drag to reorder, and hide the built-in ones you never use. Hiding keeps your existing links intact, it only takes the chip off your list. Free accounts get a limited number of custom categories, Premium has no limit.

If you drop below the number you are allowed, by logging out or by letting Premium lapse, the extra categories are locked rather than deleted. A locked category is greyed out and can't be put on a new link, but it stays in your list, still shows on the links already filed under it, and still works as a filter on Home. Log back in or resubscribe and it unlocks itself. The oldest categories are the ones that stay usable.

Buckets

A Bucket is a collection of links, and it is what you share with other people. A link can be in as many Buckets as you like, and a Bucket can hold links from any category. Create one from the Buckets tab, then add links to it from the Bucket itself, from a link's detail page, or while you are catching.

Tags

Free text, several per link, private to you. Tap a tag anywhere in the app to see everything carrying it. Tags stay private even on a link you put in a shared Bucket, so collaborators never see them.

Finding things again

• Search looks across titles, site names, notes and tags, including links inside Buckets shared with you.
• Row or card view. The button above your list switches between a compact row list and a two-column card grid. Your choice carries over into Buckets.
• The floating fish. A link you haven't opened yet keeps a little fish bobbing away on it. That's your catch, still swimming. Open the link and the fish goes. You can also mark a link read or unread by holding it.
• Hold any link for the quick menu: open, details, change category, change Buckets, mark read or unread, and delete.
• Catch statistics. Tap the card at the top of Home to see what you have been saving, by category and over time.

Catch & Release

A full screen way to clear a backlog. One link at a time, swipe right to keep it and swipe left to release it. Kept links drop out of future sessions, so you never review the same link twice. There is an undo button if a swipe goes wrong.

Open it from the Catch & Release card in the Profile tab. You need an account to use it. Free accounts get a limited number of sorted links, counted across both swipe directions, for the life of the install. Premium is unlimited.

Releasing a link deletes it. If it was in a shared Bucket, it disappears for the other members too.

Shared Buckets

Turn any Bucket into a shared one from the Bucket's own menu, then invite people by username or by email address. Each invite carries a role, picked when you send it:

• Viewer can see every link in the Bucket, and nothing else.
• Collaborator can also add their own catches to it, and update the Bucket's description.

The rest stays with the owner: renaming the Bucket, deleting it, managing who is in it, and turning sharing off. Removing someone ends their access straight away. Everyone is notified when new links arrive, or when the name or the description changes.

A link keeps the category it was tagged with, for everyone. If a collaborator files something under "3D Printing" and you have no such category, you still see the words "3D Printing" on that link. Nothing is hidden or renamed to fit your own list.

A shared Bucket lives on the cloud, so you and the people you invite can open it from anywhere, on whatever device you are signed in on. Free accounts can own a limited number of shared Buckets, with limits on how many links and people fit in one. There is no cap on how many invites you can send. Joining someone else's Bucket does not count against your own allowance. Premium removes all of those limits, for everyone in the Bucket.

Link Aquarium™: sync and backup

Link Aquarium is the Premium feature that backs up every one of your catches to the cloud and keeps your devices in step. Turn it on from the card in the Profile tab. With it on, a link caught on your phone shows up on your iPad, and edits, deletions, Buckets and categories follow.

Without it, your links live on the device that caught them. Shared Buckets are the one thing that still goes to the cloud, on any tier, because that is what lets everyone you invited reach them from anywhere.

Guests are the strictest case of all. With no account there is nothing to sync to and no way to share a Bucket, so nothing ever leaves the device.

The first time you switch a device on where the two sides do not match, Linkfisher asks what to do rather than guessing: merge both, keep this device, or keep the cloud copy. Nothing is deleted until you pick.

Your account

Signing in is by magic link. Enter your email address, we send you a one time link, you tap it and you are in. There is no password to forget or leak.

On first sign in you pick a username and a display name. The username is how other people invite you to Buckets, so it has to be unique. Both, plus your avatar, can be changed later in Profile › Account. Your email address cannot be changed in the app yet.

Logging out asks what to do with the links on that device: keep them, or delete them all. If you have catches that have not finished syncing, the app warns you before the destructive option.

To delete your account, go to Profile › Account and tap Delete Account. It asks you to confirm, and it asks what to do with the links still on that device, so you can keep them locally even after the account is gone. Deleting the account removes your cloud-synced catches and any Buckets you own or are part of. It cannot be undone.

Premium

Premium, called The Kingfisher on the upgrade screen, is a subscription. It adds:

• Link Aquarium, real time sync of every catch across your devices
• Unlimited custom categories
• Unlimited shared Buckets, and unlimited links and members in them
• Unlimited Catch & Release sorting
• No ads
• A subscriber only app icon and profile ring

Monthly and yearly plans are available. Current prices are shown on the upgrade screen in the app, in your own currency. Billing goes through your App Store account, and it renews until you cancel it there. Cancelling at least 24 hours before the period ends stops the next charge, and you keep Premium until the period runs out.

Bought Premium already and it is not showing on a new device? Open the upgrade screen and tap Restore purchases.

If a subscription lapses, nothing is deleted. Your links stay on the device, syncing pauses, and free tier limits apply to anything new.

Ads, tracking and privacy

Linkfisher shows ads from Google AdMob to guest and free accounts. Premium subscribers see no ads at all.

Ads are the only part of the app that involves a third party advertising network, and there are two separate permissions around them:

• The consent form. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google's consent form appears before any ad loads and asks whether ad partners may use your data. To change that answer afterwards, email hi@linkfisher.app.
• Ask App Not to Track. On iOS you are also asked whether Linkfisher may track you across other companies' apps and websites. Say no and ads still work, they are just less targeted. You can change it any time in iOS Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking.

Neither prompt appears at first launch. They come after the welcome walkthrough, at the first point an ad could actually show.

Separately, the app records anonymous usage analytics: which screens are opened and which buttons are tapped, so we can see what needs fixing. That is on by default and you can turn it off in Profile › Data Settings.

Notifications

Today, push notifications are about shared Bucket activity. Three kinds:

• Someone invited you to a Bucket
• Someone added links to a Bucket you are in
• Someone renamed a Bucket you are in, or changed its description

We may add other kinds later, such as news about the app or a new feature worth knowing about. Whatever we send, you stay in control: turn notifications off for Linkfisher at any time in iOS Settings.

You are asked once, shortly after you first sign in. A prompt explains what notifications are for and you can tap Not Now, which is the end of it. Nothing is asked at first launch, and guests are never asked at all.

To turn them on later, or to check where you stand, go to Profile › Notifications. If you already declined at the iOS level, that row sends you to the iOS setting, because iOS only ever shows its own permission prompt once.

Language and appearance

Linkfisher is available in English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, French and Dutch. It follows your device language. To set a different one just for this app, go to iOS Settings › Linkfisher › Language. Emails and notifications follow the same choice.

Your own custom categories and tags are never translated. They stay exactly as you typed them.

In Profile › Appearance you can pick Light, Dark or System Auto, and Premium subscribers can switch to the Kingfisher app icon.

Troubleshooting

A link has no preview image

Some sites block anything that is not a browser from reading their preview image. The link itself is fine. Open the link's detail screen and edit the title so it is easier to spot.

My links are not on my other device

Sync is Premium only. Check that you are signed in to the same account on both, and that Link Aquarium is on in the Profile tab of each. Links saved as a guest are never uploaded, so they will not appear anywhere else.

A category is greyed out and I can't pick it

It is locked, which happens when you have more custom categories than your tier allows, usually after logging out or after Premium ended. Nothing was deleted. Log back in or resubscribe and it works again, or delete a category you no longer want.

A link shows the wrong category, or shows Inbox

If a link's category no longer resolves, for example because you deleted that custom category, Linkfisher files it under Inbox instead of hiding it. Nothing is lost. Give it a new category from the link's detail screen or the hold menu.

I invited someone and nothing happened

If the email address has no Linkfisher account yet, the invite waits. It attaches itself the moment that address signs up, and then shows up as a Bucket invitation in their Buckets tab. Invites to an existing username or email are visible in the app straight away.

Catch & Release stopped and asked me to upgrade

The free allowance is per install and does not reset. Reinstalling the app clears it, and Premium removes the cap.

My links have disappeared

Check what you chose the last time you logged out. Logging out asks what should happen to the links saved on that device, and Release all your catches permanently deletes every link and Bucket on it. Delete Account offers the same choice. Keep links on this device is the option that leaves them alone.

If those links only ever lived on the device, because you caught them as a guest or with Link Aquarium switched off, that deletion is final. There is no copy on our servers, so there is nothing for us to restore, and deleting the app itself has the same effect. Link Aquarium is what protects against this: with it on, your catches are in the cloud and come back when you sign in again.

Common questions