SaymondoSaymondo is an app that translates a spoken conversation between two people who are together. It is developed and published by Cloud of Star Co., Ltd., called “Saymondo”, “we” or “us” in this policy. This policy explains what the app, and the optional Saymondo account if you choose to use it, do with information. It applies to Saymondo from Google Play and to the version downloaded from https://www.saymondo.com, which run on Android and work the same way, and to the version for iPhone and iPad from Apple's App Store (the “version from the App Store”), which works in the same way except where this policy says otherwise. In this policy, “phone” also means a tablet, such as an iPad.
Summary
- Speech recognition and translation run on your phone. Saymondo does not send what you say or its translation to us or to any server, unless you choose to send us feedback on a sentence (see Feedback on a translation). Translations are read aloud by the offline voice pack, by your phone's text-to-speech engine, which then receives the text, or, in the version from the App Store, by the voices built into iOS and iPadOS (see Reading translations aloud).
- Face-to-face translation never requires an internet connection or any server of ours. Once the models are on the phone, you can use it offline.
- The app's own code goes online only to download its models, when you ask it to, from our download site files.saymondo.com, which Cloudflare runs for us, to check with our account server api.saymondo.com whether the phone has already had the free trial (see Free trial and subscription), and, if you sign in to the optional Saymondo account, to connect to that server for the account (see Saymondo account). The download site sees your IP address and which files you download. In the version from Google Play, Google Play also goes online to sell the Saymondo Pro subscription and to tell the app whether you have it, and the Google Play Billing Library built into that version sends Google technical information about how it runs (see Free trial and subscription). In the version from the App Store, the App Store sells Saymondo Pro and tells the app whether you have it, and Apple tells our account server about purchases of it (see Free trial and subscription).
- If you do not sign in to a Saymondo account, the only thing the app itself sends us is a one-way code derived from the phone's Android ID (in the version from the App Store, a one-time token from Apple's DeviceCheck instead) and, once the trial has started, its start time, so that each phone gets the free trial once (see Free trial and subscription), and feedback on a sentence if you choose to send it (see Feedback on a translation). The account is optional; if you sign in, the app sends our server what the account needs, such as your email address and a random ID for the phone, and nothing that was said or translated except feedback that you choose to send (see Saymondo account). The app has no ads, and we have put no analytics or crash-reporting tools in it; in the version from Google Play, the Google Play Billing Library reports on its own workings to Google (see Free trial and subscription).
- Saymondo Pro is paid for through Google Play or, in the version from the App Store, through Apple's App Store. We never receive your card details. If you buy it, Google or Apple gives us a record of the purchase and tells our server about the subscription, whether or not you use a Saymondo account, and our server keeps a record of it; if you link it to a Saymondo account, the record is linked too (see Free trial and subscription and Saymondo account).
- Conversations exist only in the app's memory while you use them. They are not saved, and there is no history.
- We do not sell or share personal information, and we do not track you.
Your voice
Saymondo uses the microphone only while a Hold to talk button is held down, and for about 0.4 seconds after it is released, so that the end of the last word is not cut off. One turn can last up to 30 seconds. If the app goes to the background, recording stops. Saymondo never records in the background.
The sound is kept in the app's memory and turned into text on the phone. It is never saved to storage and never sent anywhere. The sound of the latest turn stays in memory until a talk button is pressed again or the app is closed.
What was said and its translation
The recognized text and its translation are produced on the phone and shown on screen. They are kept in the app's memory for the current conversation only: they are not written to storage, there is no conversation history, and nothing is uploaded unless you choose to send feedback on a sentence (see Feedback on a translation).
When you choose Clear conversation, the conversation disappears from the screen. The app keeps it in memory only so that you can tap Undo, until someone next starts talking. When you close the app, or the system stops it, the conversation is gone.
Reading translations aloud
Saymondo can read translations aloud in three ways:
- Offline voice pack (optional download, in versions of Saymondo that offer it). The speech is made on the phone by the Supertonic 3 model. Nothing is sent anywhere.
- Your phone's text-to-speech engine. The translation text is handed to the text-to-speech engine installed on the phone, such as the one from Google or from your phone's maker. That engine is a separate app. When the engine lets apps choose a voice, Saymondo chooses only voices that are installed and work without an internet connection. Some engines do not let apps choose; Saymondo then cannot tell whether the engine goes online. What the engine does with the text is governed by its provider's privacy policy. You can change the engine and its voices in Android's text-to-speech settings.
- The voices of iOS and iPadOS (version from the App Store). The translation text is handed to the speech synthesizer built into iOS or iPadOS, which reads it on the device with a voice installed there. Saymondo uses only voices that are installed on the device, and never your Personal Voice. You can download more voices in the Settings app, under Accessibility > Spoken Content > Voices.
To find a voice, Saymondo checks which text-to-speech engines or, on iPhone and iPad, which voices are installed. This information stays on the phone.
Copying
If you tap Copy on a sentence, the original and the translation are placed on the clipboard of Android, iOS or iPadOS. Other apps you use, such as your keyboard, a clipboard manager or a cloud clipboard feature on some phones, may then be able to read them; on iPhone and iPad, Universal Clipboard may also make them available on your other Apple devices nearby that use the same Apple Account. Apart from this and feedback on a sentence (see Feedback on a translation), the app has no way to share or export conversations.
Stored on your phone
Saymondo stores the following in storage on the phone that only the app can access. None of it contains sound or conversation text.
- Settings: the two conversation languages, which side each person is on, theme, conversation mode, the chosen offline voice, whether microphone access was declined, which version of the offline voice's terms you accepted and when, and on Android 12 the app language (newer Android versions keep it in the system settings).
- Trial and subscription records: when the free trial started, the date, the number of sentences translated that day and when that day's count ends, the latest date and time the app has seen and how long the phone had then been on since it was last started (so that turning the phone's clock back does not restart the trial or the day), which notes about the trial the app has shown, which code and trial start the app last checked with our server, and, in the version from Google Play, when Google Play last confirmed a Saymondo Pro subscription.
- Saymondo account, only if you sign in: the installation ID, your account ID, the key that keeps the phone signed in, the membership record for Saymondo Pro and when it was last renewed, a copy of your account summary (contact email address, sign-in methods and whether you have Saymondo Pro) so that the account page can be shown offline, and the Google Play subscriptions already linked to the account, in hashed form, so that they are not sent again. They are kept in a separate file that is excluded from backups and phone-to-phone transfers. Signing out or deleting the account removes all of this from the phone except the installation ID, which identifies the installation, not you.
- Technical records: which downloads to resume, and records that let the app notice when loading a model crashed, so that it can avoid the problem next time (for example by using the CPU instead of the GPU).
- The downloaded models (about 5.6 GB if you download everything; the packs selected by default during setup take about 3.5 GB), the latest list of model files from our download site, and a cache that the translation engine builds from its model so that it starts faster.
In the version from the App Store, the app keeps the same kinds of information, apart from settings that iOS and iPadOS manage themselves, such as the appearance and the app language, and with the App Store in place of Google Play. It keeps it in its own storage and in the Keychain of iOS and iPadOS, which only Saymondo can read. The trial and subscription records are kept in the Keychain, with a copy in the app's storage. The Saymondo account information is kept in the Keychain for this device only, instead of in a separate file. The Keychain also holds a random key that the app makes once on each device to keep track of the free-trial check; it is never sent anywhere. These Keychain items are not synchronized through iCloud Keychain, and, unlike the app's files, they stay on the device when you delete the app (see Deleting data).
Backups
If backup is turned on, Android may include Saymondo's settings, trial and subscription records and technical records in your phone's backup (for example to your Google account), or copy them to a new phone when you move your data. This is done by Android and your backup provider; we cannot see it. After such a restore, the free trial and the day's count of free sentences continue where they were. The models, the list of model files, the translation engine's cache and the list of downloads to resume are excluded from backups and from phone-to-phone transfers, so a new phone does not start downloading models by itself. The Saymondo account file is never included in backups or transfers either: a restored or new phone is not signed in, and you sign in again on it.
In the version from the App Store, iOS and iPadOS may include Saymondo's settings and its trial and subscription records in an iCloud backup or a backup on a computer, and restore them on the same or a new iPhone or iPad. This is done by Apple and your backup provider; we cannot see it. After such a restore, the free trial and the day's count of free sentences continue where they were. The models, the list of model files, the translation engine's cache and the other technical records are excluded from backups. The Saymondo account information is kept for this device only: it is not restored to another device, which is then not signed in.
Internet
Face-to-face translation never requires an internet connection or any server of ours. Speech recognition and translation run on the phone. Reading aloud uses the offline voice pack, the voices of iOS and iPadOS on the device, or your phone's text-to-speech engine; where the engine lets apps choose a voice, Saymondo picks one that works offline (see Reading translations aloud).
Features that are not needed for translation may use the internet. At present these are downloading models, described below; checking with our account server whether the phone has already had the free trial (see Free trial and subscription); the optional Saymondo account, which connects to our account server (see Saymondo account); sending feedback on a translation when you choose to (see Feedback on a translation); and, in the version from Google Play, buying and checking the Saymondo Pro subscription through Google Play, and the reports that the Google Play Billing Library sends Google about its own workings; and, in the version from the App Store, buying and checking Saymondo Pro through the App Store (see Free trial and subscription). Apart from our download site for the models and our account server, the app does not contact any server we operate. If a new version adds a feature that goes online, we will update this policy before that version is released.
The models are the translation engine (about 2.6 GB), a speech-recognition pack for each group of languages, and the optional offline voice pack. A download starts only when you ask for it, for example during setup, in Settings, or when the app offers a pack you need. A download that was interrupted resumes when you return to the app; in the version from the App Store, iOS and iPadOS can also continue a download in the background after you leave the app. On mobile data, the app asks before downloading.
The files come from files.saymondo.com, our download site. Cloudflare, Inc., a company based in the United States, stores and delivers them for us. When a download starts, the app first fetches from the same site a small list of the files and their addresses, signed by us; the app checks the signature and uses the list only if it is ours.
The site receives what any website receives when a file is downloaded: your IP address, the time, and which file is requested (which shows the languages you picked). The app identifies itself only as Saymondo with its version number (for example “Saymondo/1.0.0”), not with the phone model or the version of Android, iOS or iPadOS, and it sends no account, cookie, advertising ID or other identifier. Cloudflare handles this information on our behalf, to deliver the files.
Downloads use HTTPS. The list of files is signed by us and its signature is checked before it is used; every file is pinned to a fixed version and checked against its expected size and SHA-256 checksum before it is used.
Free trial and subscription
Every feature of Saymondo is free for 3 days; after that, it translates a limited number of sentences a day for free, and the optional Saymondo Pro subscription removes the limit (section 10 of the terms of use). The app keeps track of the trial and counts the sentences on the phone. These records never include what was said (see Stored on your phone and Backups).
Each phone gets the free trial once, even if the app is reinstalled or its storage is cleared. To check this, when the phone is online the app sends our account server, api.saymondo.com, a code that it derives from the phone's Android ID by a one-way function (SHA-256) and, once the trial has started, the time it started. The Android ID is a number that Android gives the app on each phone; it changes when the phone is reset to factory settings. The app never sends the Android ID itself, and it sends nothing else for this check: no account, no installation ID, nothing that was said or translated. Our server stores only a further one-way code made from the code with a secret key, together with the trial's start time and when the phone last checked, and tells the app when the trial on that phone started, if it has. This record is not linked to a Saymondo account. The app checks when it starts or you return to it, and only until our server has the trial's start time for this phone; if it cannot reach the server, the trial works as before, and it tries again later. Translation never depends on this check. We keep each record for 2 years after the trial started, and then delete it (legal basis: our legitimate interest in offering a free trial that is not taken again and again on the same phone). The day's count of free sentences is never sent.
In the version from the App Store, the app uses Apple's DeviceCheck instead of the Android ID. When the phone is online, the app asks iOS or iPadOS for a DeviceCheck token, a short-lived, encrypted code that only Apple can read and that does not tell us which device it comes from, and sends our account server this token and, once the trial has started, the time it started. It sends nothing else for this check: no account, no installation ID, nothing that was said or translated. Our server passes the token on to Apple, which keeps two bits of information for each device and each developer, together with the month in which they were last changed. We use one bit, to record that a free trial of Saymondo has started on the device: our server reads it, sets it when the trial starts, and tells the app whether a trial has started on the device, but not when. For this version, our server does not store the token, the bits or the trial's start time. The app checks when it starts or you return to it, until it has an answer for the device, and again right after the trial starts; if it cannot reach the server, the trial works as before, and it tries again later. Translation never depends on this check. Apple keeps the bits for the device; deleting the app does not change them. Apple handles DeviceCheck under its own privacy policy (legal basis: as above, our legitimate interest in offering a free trial that is not taken again and again on the same phone).
In the version from Google Play, you buy Saymondo Pro through Google Play. Google handles the payment under its own terms and privacy policy, and we never receive your card number or other payment details. No server of ours takes part in buying a subscription, or in the app's check of it described below. Whether or not you use a Saymondo account, Google tells our account server, api.saymondo.com, about each Saymondo Pro subscription bought in Google Play and about later changes to it, such as renewals, cancellations and refunds; our server then asks Google for the subscription's current state and keeps a record of it (see Records of subscriptions below). If you are signed in, our server also checks the subscription with Google to link it to your account (see Saymondo account).
To find out whether you have a subscription, the app asks the Google Play Store app on the phone when it starts, when you return to it and when you open the subscription page, and it asks Google Play for the current prices of Saymondo Pro. Google Play may contact Google's servers over the internet to answer, and tells the app whether the Google account signed in to Google Play has Saymondo Pro. The app checks Google's signature on the answer on the phone. Translation never needs this check or an internet connection. If you are signed in to a Saymondo account, the app can also get Saymondo Pro from the account (see Saymondo account).
The version from Google Play includes Google's Play Billing Library, through which the app talks to Google Play. The library itself sends Google technical information about how it runs, over the internet from within the app, possibly later in the background once the phone is online: for example which billing functions the app used, whether they worked and problems connecting to Google Play, together with details such as the phone's model and maker, its Android version, its language, country and time zone settings, its mobile network and network type, and the app's version. This information never includes what was said or translated. Google handles it under its own privacy policy, and we do not receive it.
As Google's payments privacy notice explains, Google gives us some information about each purchase in the Play Console: for example the order number, the date, the product, the price and the buyer's country, and sometimes the city, region or postcode, which Google provides for tax purposes. The Play Console also lets us find an order by the buyer's email address. We use this information only to keep our accounts, to meet our tax obligations and to answer questions about a purchase, such as a refund request (legal basis: providing the subscription you bought, and our legal obligations). Google keeps these records in our Play Console account.
In the version from the App Store, you buy Saymondo Pro through Apple's App Store. Apple handles the payment under its own terms and privacy policy, and we never receive your card number or other payment details, your name or the email address of your Apple Account. To find out whether you have a subscription, the app asks the App Store on the device when it starts, when you return to it and when you open the subscription page, and it asks the App Store for the current prices of Saymondo Pro; the App Store may contact Apple's servers to answer. The app checks Apple's signature on the answer on the device. Restore purchases asks the App Store to bring the device's list of purchases up to date. Translation never needs this check or an internet connection. If you are signed in to a Saymondo account, the app can also get Saymondo Pro from the account (see Saymondo account).
Whether or not you use a Saymondo account, Apple tells our account server, api.saymondo.com, about each purchase of Saymondo Pro in the App Store and about later changes to it, such as renewals, cancellations, failed payments and refunds. Our server then asks Apple for the subscription's current state and keeps a record of it (see Records of subscriptions below). App Store Connect also gives us sales reports, for example the product, the price, the date and the country or region of purchases, without the buyers' names or contact details. We use this information only to provide Saymondo Pro, to keep our accounts, to meet our tax obligations and to answer questions about a purchase (legal basis: providing the subscription you bought, and our legal obligations).
Records of subscriptions. For each Saymondo Pro subscription that Google or Apple tells our server about, our server keeps one record: the store; the store's identifier of the subscription (the Google Play purchase token or the App Store's original transaction number) and, if it replaced an earlier subscription, the earlier one's; the product; its state, whether it renews and when it ends; whether it is a test purchase; for the App Store, whether it was bought or shared through Family Sharing; if it was bought while signed in to a Saymondo account, that account's code for the store; when the record was created, last changed and last checked with the store and, if it happened, when it was linked or moved to an account; and a short summary of the store's latest answer, with the store's order or transaction numbers. A record contains no name, email address, payment details, country or region, price or currency, and it is linked to a Saymondo account only if the subscription is linked to one (see Saymondo account). A record that has never been linked to an account is deleted 1 year after the subscription ended, that is, after it expired, was cancelled and ran out, or was refunded or revoked. A record that is or was linked to an account is kept as described under Saymondo account (legal basis: providing the subscription you bought, keeping our accounts, and our legitimate interest in linking a subscription that is still paid for to your account when you sign in).
The version from the website does not include Google Play's billing. It keeps track of the trial and the free sentences in the same way, on the phone, including the check with our account server that each phone gets the free trial once. Its button for subscribing only opens Saymondo's page in Google Play; what Google Play then receives is governed by Google's privacy policy. If you sign in to a Saymondo account in this version, it can use Saymondo Pro that the account has (see Saymondo account).
Saymondo account
A Saymondo account is optional. You do not need one to translate, to use the free trial or the free sentences, or to buy Saymondo Pro in Google Play or the App Store. An account lets you use Saymondo Pro on your other devices and keep it when you change phones (sections 10 and 11 of the terms of use). The free trial and the free sentences are always counted on each phone and are never linked to an account. Translation never uses the account or our server, and nothing that is said or translated is ever sent to it, except feedback on a sentence that you choose to send (see Feedback on a translation).
Ways to sign in:
- Sign in with Google. Android shows the Google accounts on the phone; when you choose one, Google gives the app a signed token for Saymondo, which the app sends to our server. It contains your Google account's ID, its email address and whether Google has verified that address. It may also contain your name and the address of your profile picture; we do not store them. Google learns that you signed in to Saymondo and handles this under its own privacy policy. In the version from the App Store, the app opens Google's own sign-in page in a secure browser window of iOS or iPadOS, which can use a Google sign-in you already have in Safari, asks Google only for your Google account's ID and email address, and receives the same kind of signed token.
- Email code. You enter your email address, and our server has a 6-digit code sent to it, valid for 10 minutes, from no-reply@saymondo.com, in the app's language. Our server keeps the address, the code in hashed form and your IP address only to check the code and to limit how often codes are sent, and deletes them within 2 days after the code expires.
- Sign in with Apple, in the version from the App Store and in other versions of Saymondo that offer it; the Android app does not offer it at present. In the version from the App Store, iOS or iPadOS shows Apple's own sign-in sheet. Apple sends our server a token with an ID of your Apple account for Saymondo and an email address: either your own or, if you choose Hide My Email, an address at privaterelay.appleid.com that Apple forwards to you. We do not ask Apple for your name. Our server also receives from Apple a key that it keeps, encrypted, only to end your Sign in with Apple for Saymondo when you delete your account. Apple handles your sign-in under its own privacy policy. If you stop using Sign in with Apple for Saymondo in your Apple account settings, or delete your Apple account, Apple tells us and we stop using that sign-in method.
Sign-ins that bring the same verified email address belong to the same account; Apple's Hide My Email addresses are never used to join accounts. You can add sign-in methods to your account, remove them (except the last one), and merge another account that you can sign in to into the one you are using. A merge moves everything from the other account and closes it; the other account's personal information is then deleted as described under Deleting your account, and a merge cannot be undone.
When you are signed in, the app sends our account server, api.saymondo.com:
- the sign-in details described above;
- an installation ID: a random number that the app creates the first time you sign in on the phone. It is not taken from the phone's hardware or from Android or iOS, and reinstalling the app creates a new one;
- the platform (Android or iOS), the phone's model name (for example “Pixel 6” or “iPhone 15”), which we show you in your list of devices so that you can tell them apart, and the app's version;
- the app's language, only when it asks for an email code, so that the email is in your language;
- in the version from Google Play, the purchase token that Google Play gives for each active Saymondo Pro subscription on the phone, to link the subscription to your account (see Linking Saymondo Pro below);
- in the version from the App Store, the record of each active Saymondo Pro subscription that the App Store gives the device, signed by Apple, to link the subscription to your account (see Linking Saymondo Pro below).
Our server also receives your IP address with every connection, and the app identifies itself only as Saymondo with its version number (for example “Saymondo/1.2.0”). For the account, the app never sends hardware identifiers such as the serial number or the Android ID, the advertising ID, your contacts or the phone's location, and never anything that was said or translated; feedback that you choose to send is described under Feedback on a translation.
The app connects to our account server when you sign in; when you open the account page or do something on it; right after you buy Saymondo Pro while signed in; and, at most once a day, when the app starts or you return to it, to renew Saymondo Pro on the phone. If a connection fails, the app tries again later without telling you, and translation is never affected. When you are not signed in and not signing in, the app contacts our account server only for the free-trial check (see Free trial and subscription) and to send feedback when you tap Send (see Feedback on a translation).
Our server keeps, for as long as you have the account:
- an account ID that we create;
- your sign-in methods: for Google and Apple, the ID that Google or Apple gives for your account; for each method, the email address it brings, whether that address is verified, and whether it is an Apple Hide My Email address;
- a contact email address, taken from your sign-in methods, which we use only to write to you about your account (we do not send marketing emails);
- your devices: the installation ID, the platform, the model name, the app version, when the device was first and last seen, whether it uses one of your Saymondo Pro places, and, for a device that was signed out or removed, when that happened;
- your Saymondo Pro: the subscriptions linked to your account, with the store, the product, the state, renewal and expiry, the purchase token and a short record of the store's latest answer about the subscription, such as whether it renews and the store's order number; and any Saymondo Pro time we have added to the account;
- sign-in sessions: each time a device signs in, the installation ID, the key that keeps it signed in, in hashed form, when the session started, was last used and ended, and the IP address at sign-in;
- a record of actions on the account, such as signing in, adding or removing sign-in methods, merging, linking or moving a subscription, removing a device and deleting the account, with the time and the IP address, to protect the account and to look into misuse.
We do not ask for or keep a password, your name, your phone number, your contacts or your location.
Linking Saymondo Pro. Buying Saymondo Pro never requires an account. In the version from Google Play, when you are signed in, our server asks Google about each subscription whose purchase token the app sends, and links it to your account. Google also tells our server when a subscription changes, for example when it renews or is cancelled or refunded, and our server then asks Google again. If you subscribe while signed in, the app also gives Google Play a code that is derived from your account by a one-way function and does not contain your email address; Google keeps it with the purchase. In the version from the App Store, our server checks Apple's signature on each subscription record that the app sends and asks Apple about the subscription, and Apple tells our server when it changes (see Free trial and subscription). If you subscribe in the App Store while signed in, the app gives the App Store your account's code for Apple: a random number that our server creates for your account and that does not contain your email address; Apple keeps it with the purchase and includes it when it tells our server about the purchase. A subscription is linked to one account at a time. If it is already linked to another account, the app shows that account's email address in shortened form, showing only its first character and the part after the @, so that you can recognize it.
Saymondo Pro without an internet connection. When your account has Saymondo Pro, our server gives the phone a membership record signed by us. It contains the installation ID, a code derived from your account (not your email address), the kind of device, where Saymondo Pro comes from (for example Google Play or the App Store) and its dates. The app checks it on the phone, so Saymondo Pro keeps working without an internet connection for up to 30 days, or until the paid time ends if that is earlier.
Devices. To apply the device limits in section 10 of the terms of use, our server counts the devices that receive Saymondo Pro through your account and records when you replace one. The account page shows your devices with their model names and when each was last seen, so that you can remove one. A device that has not connected for 60 days no longer counts.
We use this information only:
- to provide your account and Saymondo Pro on your devices, including linking subscriptions, merging accounts and the device limits (legal basis: providing the service you asked for under the terms of use);
- to keep accounts secure and to prevent misuse, for example to limit how often codes can be sent, to notice a stolen sign-in and to look into sharing beyond the device limits (legal basis: our legitimate interest in protecting you, our service and Saymondo Pro);
- to write to you about your account and to answer your questions (legal basis: the terms of use, and your request);
- to keep the records that accounting and tax laws require (legal basis: our legal obligations).
We do not use it for advertising, and we do not sell it.
Where it is kept and who handles it for us:
- Our server. api.saymondo.com runs on a server that we rent from Vultr (The Constant Company, LLC, United States) in Singapore. The data is stored in Vultr's managed database service in Singapore.
- Cloudflare, Inc. (United States) carries all connections to api.saymondo.com and protects it from attacks; the information passes through Cloudflare's network, which handles it on our behalf.
- Resend, Inc. (United States) sends the emails with codes for us; it receives your email address and the email with the code.
- Google and Apple take part when you sign in with them, Google when our server checks a Google Play subscription, and Apple when our server checks an App Store subscription or, for the free-trial check, a device's DeviceCheck bits. They act under their own privacy policies.
These providers may handle information outside your country, including in the United States and Singapore. For such transfers we rely on the safeguards in their data processing terms, such as the European Commission's standard contractual clauses where those apply.
How long we keep it:
- Account information: until you delete the account. A sign-in method that you remove is deleted at once. A device that you remove or sign out stays in the account's records, marked as removed, until the account is deleted.
- Email codes, with the email address and the IP address: deleted within 2 days after they expire.
- The hashed keys that keep devices signed in: deleted within 100 days after they are issued.
- Sign-in sessions, with the installation ID and the IP address at sign-in, and the record of actions on the account, with its IP addresses: kept for as long as the account exists. When the account is deleted, its sessions are deleted at once, and the record of actions is kept for one year without IP addresses, email addresses, installation IDs or device model names, and then deleted.
- Logs of our server and of Cloudflare, which contain IP addresses: kept for a limited time for security and troubleshooting, and then deleted or overwritten.
- Backups of the database: kept for a limited time and then overwritten; information deleted from the database disappears from the backups as older backups are replaced.
- Records of subscriptions: they are not deleted when you delete your account, but kept without any link to you or your account, so that a subscription that is still paid for can be linked to a new account, and for our accounting. A record that was never linked to an account is deleted 1 year after the subscription ended (see Free trial and subscription).
Deleting your account. You can delete your account in the app, under Settings > Account > Delete account, or at https://www.saymondo.com/account/delete. Deleting it:
- deletes your sign-in methods, contact email address, devices and sign-in sessions, signs out every device and, if the account has Sign in with Apple, ends it for Saymondo;
- unlinks your subscriptions from the account without deleting the record of them, so that a subscription that is still paid for can be linked to a new account later;
- unlinks your feedback reports from the account and removes installation IDs, device model names and the account's email addresses from reports (see Feedback on a translation);
- ends any Saymondo Pro time that we added to the account;
- does not cancel a subscription in Google Play or the App Store: cancel it there;
- cannot reach membership records already on your devices, because the app checks them offline: they keep working until they expire, at most 30 days later;
- keeps the record of actions on the account for one year, without IP addresses, email addresses, installation IDs or device model names, and then deletes it.
Uninstalling the app or clearing its storage signs the phone out but does not delete your account.
Links and system screens
Some pages in the app, such as the open-source licenses page, contain links. A link opens in your browser only when you tap it, and the website you open sees that visit. The app can also open Android's own settings screens (for example text-to-speech, app language or app permissions) and a text-to-speech engine's screen for installing voices. What those screens download is up to Android or the engine. Saymondo also opens Google Play to show your subscriptions when you choose to manage your subscription, and, in the version from the website, to show Saymondo's page there. In the version from the App Store, Saymondo can open its own page in the Settings app (for example for the microphone or the app language) and Apple's screens for managing subscriptions and redeeming offer codes.
Notifications
While models download, Saymondo shows a notification with the progress. If the app is not open when a download finishes, fails or pauses, it shows a notification about that. Notifications never contain conversation text. The version from the App Store does not show notifications and does not ask for permission to show them; downloads show their progress in the app.
Permissions
- Microphone: to hear speech while a Hold to talk button is held. Asked for the first time you press one.
- Notifications (Android 13 and later): to show download progress. Downloads work even if you decline.
- Internet and network state: to download models, to tell Wi-Fi from mobile data so that the app can ask before using mobile data, to check with our account server whether the phone has already had the free trial, and, if you sign in, to connect to that server for the account, and to send feedback when you choose to. In the version from Google Play, the Google Play Billing Library also uses the internet (see Free trial and subscription).
- Google Play billing (version from Google Play only): to buy Saymondo Pro and check the subscription through Google Play.
- Biometric and fingerprint hardware: declared by the Android sign-in component that the app uses for Sign in with Google, which may use them to let you confirm a sign-in. Android grants them without asking you. The app itself does not use them, and no fingerprint, face or other biometric data ever reaches the app or us.
- Foreground service and prevent phone from sleeping: to keep a download running while the screen is off or you use other apps. Used only during downloads.
You can turn these permissions off at any time in Android's settings. Without microphone access, the app cannot hear speech.
In the version from the App Store, Saymondo asks only for access to the microphone, the first time you press a Hold to talk button. It does not ask for notifications, speech recognition, the camera, photos, contacts or location. You can turn microphone access off at any time in the Settings app, under Privacy & Security > Microphone; without it, the app cannot hear speech.
Diagnostic messages
To help with troubleshooting, Saymondo writes technical messages to Android's system log on the phone: for example the phone model, chip, Android version, memory, language codes, the text-to-speech engine and voice in use, download servers and speeds, and error details. The app's own messages do not include what was said or its translation. The app does not save these messages to a file or send them anywhere. Android keeps the system log on the phone for a short time, and ordinary apps cannot read it. The app's messages about the account do not include your email address, your account or installation ID, or the keys that keep it signed in. The version from the App Store writes similar messages, with the same limits, to the system log of iOS and iPadOS on the device. iOS and iPadOS keep the log on the device for a limited time; it can leave the device only in a diagnostic report that you choose to share, for example with Apple.
Google Play
If you install Saymondo from Google Play, Google handles the download, installation, updates and payments for Saymondo Pro under its own terms and privacy policy. If you have allowed your phone to share usage and diagnostics data with Google, Google may give us crash and “app not responding” reports through the Play Console. They contain technical details such as the phone model, the Android version and where in the app the problem happened. We use them only to fix problems.
App Store
If you install Saymondo from the App Store, Apple handles the download, installation, updates and payments for Saymondo Pro under its own terms and privacy policy. If you have chosen in the settings of iOS or iPadOS to share analytics with app developers (Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Share With App Developers), Apple may give us crash reports and other diagnostic information about Saymondo through App Store Connect and Xcode. They contain technical details such as the device model, the version of iOS or iPadOS and where in the app the problem happened. We use them only to fix problems. Apple also gives us statistics about downloads and sales of Saymondo that do not identify you.
Feedback on a translation
If a sentence was recognized or translated badly, you can tell us: choose Report a translation problem on the sentence. The app shows what it will send, and sends it to our account server, api.saymondo.com, only when you tap Send. A report contains:
- the kind of problem you chose: wrong translation, wrong recognition, offensive, or something else;
- that sentence as it was recognized and, if there is one, its translation, with their languages;
- your comment, if you write one;
- an email address, if you give one; it is optional, and we use it only to reply to you about the report;
- the app's version, the platform (Android or iOS), the model name of the phone or tablet, and the app's language;
- the installation ID, if the app has one (see Saymondo account);
- your Saymondo account, if you are signed in.
A report contains no sound and no other sentences of the conversation. Please do not write personal information into the comment. Our server does not store your IP address with a report. It receives the address as with every connection, and the logs of our server and of Cloudflare contain it as described under Saymondo account; to limit how many reports can be sent, our server counts recent reports per IP address, in its memory only, and per installation ID.
We use reports to find and fix mistakes in recognition and translation, and to reply to you if you gave an email address (legal basis: our legitimate interest in improving Saymondo's translations; your request, for the reply). Reports are stored on our account server, which is hosted as described under Saymondo account (Vultr in Singapore, with Cloudflare carrying the connections), and only we can see them, in our administration system. We do not share them with anyone unless the law requires it.
We delete a report 1 year after we have finished handling it, and at the latest 2 years after it was sent. If you delete your Saymondo account, its reports are unlinked from the account; the installation ID and the device model are removed from the reports that were linked to the account or sent from its installations, and the account's email addresses are removed from every report, including reports sent without signing in. The texts and comments are kept to improve translations. If you merge accounts, the reports move to the account you keep. You can ask us at support@saymondo.com to delete a report: tell us what it said, or the email address you gave with it.
If you email us
If you write to support@saymondo.com, we receive your email address and whatever you write or attach. We use it only to reply to you and to fix the problem you report (legal basis: your request, and our legitimate interest in answering messages sent to us). Emails are stored with our email provider. We keep them for up to two years after our last exchange with you, and delete them sooner if you ask. We do not share them with anyone unless the law requires it. Where a version of the app cannot send feedback to our server, Report a translation problem may instead open your email app with an email to us, with the sentence, its translation, their languages and the app's version filled in; it reaches us only if you send it, and it is then handled like any other email.
Children
Saymondo is not directed at children under 13, or under a higher minimum age set by the law where they live, and such children should not create a Saymondo account. Without an account, the app itself sends us only the code or token for the free-trial check (see Free trial and subscription) and feedback that is sent (see Feedback on a translation); if Saymondo Pro is bought, Google or Apple gives us a record of the purchase (see Free trial and subscription). If you are a parent or guardian and your child has emailed us, sent us feedback or created a Saymondo account, contact us and we will delete the email, the feedback or the account.
Deleting data
- Conversation: Clear conversation removes it from the screen; closing the app removes it from memory.
- Models: delete them in Settings.
- Everything the app stored: clear the app's storage in Android's settings, or uninstall the app.
- On iPhone and iPad: deleting the app removes its files and settings, but not what it keeps in the Keychain: the trial and subscription records, the free-trial key and, if you were signed in, the Saymondo account information. The account information is removed the next time Saymondo is installed and opened; to remove it at once, sign out before you delete the app (the installation ID stays). The trial and subscription records are kept on purpose, so that the free trial is not given again (see Free trial and subscription). Erasing the device (Erase All Content and Settings) removes all of them.
- Backed-up settings: they stay in your backup until you delete that backup or it expires.
- Free-trial record: our server keeps it for 2 years after the trial started. Clearing the app's storage or uninstalling the app does not remove it; that is its purpose. In the version from the App Store, our server keeps no record; the bit that Apple keeps for the device stays set.
- Subscription: cancel it in Google Play or, in the version from the App Store, in the subscription settings of your Apple Account. Uninstalling the app, clearing its storage or deleting your Saymondo account does not cancel it.
- Saymondo account: delete it in the app under Settings > Account > Delete account, or at https://www.saymondo.com/account/delete (see Saymondo account).
- Emails you sent us: ask us to delete them.
- Feedback you sent: ask us to delete it (see Feedback on a translation).
Your rights
Depending on where you live, for example under the EU General Data Protection Regulation, you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal information or get a copy of it, to withdraw consent, to object, and to complain to a data protection authority. In practice these rights concern your Saymondo account if you have one, emails and feedback you have sent us, and the records of purchases that Google or Apple gives us. The free-trial record contains no name, email address or account, so we cannot tell which record is yours. The account page in the app shows your sign-in methods, contact email address, Saymondo Pro and devices, and lets you remove sign-in methods and devices and delete the account. For a copy of your account information, or for anything else, write to support@saymondo.com, if possible from an email address of your account so that we can check that the account is yours. To find a feedback report that is not linked to your account, tell us what it said, roughly when you sent it, or the email address you gave with it. We will reply within 15 working days.
Security
- Saymondo keeps conversations in its memory and never writes them to storage or sends them to a server, except a sentence that you choose to send as feedback (see Feedback on a translation). Text leaves the app only when you copy it (see Copying), when you send feedback, or when a translation is handed to your phone's text-to-speech engine or to the speech synthesizer of iOS and iPadOS (see Reading translations aloud).
- Models are downloaded over HTTPS and verified before use.
- What the app stores is kept in storage that Android, or iOS and iPadOS, keep private to the app; in the version from the App Store, partly in the Keychain.
- Connections to our account server use HTTPS. Our server keeps email codes and the keys that keep devices signed in only in hashed form, and any key from Apple encrypted. Membership records are signed by us, and the app checks the signature on the phone.
- The Saymondo account file on the phone is excluded from backups. In the version from the App Store, the account information is kept in the Keychain for this device only and is never restored to another device. Anyone who can use your unlocked phone while you are signed in can open the account page and see your contact email address and devices.
- Anyone who can use your unlocked phone can see a conversation that is still open. Android's recent-apps screen, or the app switcher of iOS and iPadOS, may show a snapshot of the app, and accessibility services you have turned on can read what is on screen.
Changes to this policy
If a new version of Saymondo handles information differently, for example if it adds an optional feature that uses the internet, we will update this policy before that version is released, change the effective date above, and mention the change in the release notes. The current version is at https://www.saymondo.com/privacy and in the app under Settings > About > Privacy policy.
This policy is written in English. If a translation differs, the English version applies.
Contact
- Email: support@saymondo.com
- Website: https://www.saymondo.com