Private translation: local processing, cloud consent and deletion

Find the policy for the app and feature you will use

Start with the exact app listing and its developer, then follow the privacy link and check the policy’s scope and date. A hardware shop’s purchase or cookie policy may describe checkout rather than what happens to speech in the translation app. If a link is broken or the document covers a different service, ask the developer for the applicable policy.

For a concrete example, the Timekettle App listing description links a separate app policy. The policy distinguishes ordinary real-time translation from its AI Character and AI Speaking Coach features; it describes different content-handling paths and separate consent for those AI features. That is the developer’s published description, not our independent audit or a privacy ranking. Do not extend a statement about one function to every mode in the app.

Separate live processing, saved history and service records

Ask three questions separately: where is content processed to produce the answer, where can a conversation be retrieved later, and what account or usage records remain? A local history screen does not prove that the translation itself stayed local. Likewise, an anonymous identifier does not mean there is no billing record.

Apple’s App Store guidance defines collection for its labels in terms of access beyond servicing a request in real time. A label therefore does not by itself show that speech never leaves the device. Read the feature’s processing explanation as well as the label; do not use a short label as a substitute for the applicable policy.

• Check whether the selected mode uses local resources or a remote provider.
• Check whether saving, syncing, exporting and support attachments have separate settings or recipients.
• Find how to withdraw optional consent or request deletion, and what the confirmation says will be removed.
• Keep unanswered questions unresolved before submitting sensitive material; a working translation is not a privacy audit.

No sign-in does not mean no account record

LingoVela creates an anonymous device-linked service account to hold access and credits. It does not require a sign-in form, name or email for that account. The service still keeps the anonymous identifier, purchase and credit records, and usage information.

Content follows the selected mode

On Device translates supported input locally. OpenAI · Online sends relevant input to OpenAI. Private Cloud Compute sends translation content to Apple’s cloud service. Online provider consent is required and can be managed in the app; declining is not permission to send content through a different provider.

History and data deletion

Conversation history is stored on the device. The app’s Delete my data control requests deletion of the anonymous backend account and clears the applicable local profile and content. Read the confirmation carefully: this can remove device-linked credits. Server deletion requires connectivity.

Subscription is separate

Deleting data or uninstalling does not cancel an Apple subscription. Manage cancellation in your Apple Account settings. For the precise current retention and provider details, read the published policy; do not infer Zero Data Retention from the use of an API key.