Aloud reads your documents aloud with voices that run on your iPhone. Without an account, your documents never leave your device. If you choose to sign in, your library is stored in your Aloud account so it can sync to your other devices. This page explains what leaves your device, why, and how to delete it.
In short: accounts are optional. Signed out, documents stay on your iPhone. Signed in, your documents and reading positions are stored in your account (Google Firebase) so your devices match, and Delete Account in Settings erases the account and everything synced to it. Aloud also sends anonymous usage events and crash reports to Firebase, and purchase state to RevenueCat. Nothing is sold, shared for advertising, or used to track you across other apps and websites.
What stays on your device
- Your documents, unless you sign in. The text extracted from files you add, their titles, and your reading position are stored in the app's private container on your iPhone.
- Speech. Text is turned into audio on your iPhone, by Apple's speech synthesizer or by a natural voice model running on the device. Your text is never sent anywhere to be read.
- Settings. Speed, voice, text size, and your preferences are stored locally.
Your optional Aloud account
You can sign in with Apple or with Google in Settings. You never have to; everything except sync, including the subscription, works without an account.
- What the account holds. A user ID and the email address that Apple or Google shares with Aloud. With Sign in with Apple you can hide your email, and Aloud then receives an Apple relay address. Aloud does not ask Apple for your name; Google shares the name on your Google account.
- What syncs. While you are signed in, the text of each document in your library, its title, the name of the app or file it came from, its format, word count, and your reading position are stored with your account in Google Cloud Firestore, so your other devices show the same library and pick up where you stopped. Document text is stored compressed. Google encrypts this data in transit and at rest and stores it in the United States, and Aloud's security rules let only your signed-in account read or change it. We do not access your synced documents unless the law requires it or you ask us for help that needs it.
- How it is used. Aloud uses your account information, including the name and email address Google shares, only to sign you in and keep your library with your account. It is never sold, used for advertising, or shared beyond the service providers named on this page.
- Who processes it. Google Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore host the account and the synced library on Aloud's behalf. See Google's Firebase privacy information.
- Signing out stops syncing; documents already on your device stay there.
What Aloud sends, and to whom
- Subscription state (RevenueCat). Aloud Pro is an auto-renewing subscription sold through the App Store. To confirm your subscription and restore it on a new device, Aloud uses RevenueCat, which receives your App Store purchase receipt and an anonymous app user ID generated on your device. RevenueCat does not receive your name, email, account, or documents. See RevenueCat's privacy policy.
- Usage events (Firebase Analytics). Anonymous events such as "opened the paywall", "started playback at 2.0x", or "added a PDF", plus general device information (model, iOS version, country, app version) and a per-install identifier. We use them to see which features are used and where people get stuck. Events include whether you are signed in and with Apple or Google, but never document text, titles, your email, or your account ID, and they are not linked to your account.
- Crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics). If Aloud crashes, a report with the stack trace, device model, iOS version, and app version is sent so the bug can be fixed. Reports never contain your documents.
- Natural voice downloads (Hugging Face). When you reach the voice step during setup, or pick a natural voice later, Aloud downloads the voice model from Hugging Face, which sees an ordinary download request from your device, including its IP address. Nothing you read is sent.
- Web links you share. When you share a link to Aloud, the page is downloaded once to extract its text, the same way a browser would. Safari pages shared from the Share sheet are captured as displayed and are not fetched again.
Aloud does not use advertising SDKs, does not request the advertising identifier, and does not track you across apps or websites owned by other companies.
Turning analytics off
In Aloud, open Settings and turn off "Send anonymous usage and crash reports". Both analytics and crash reporting stop immediately. Subscription checks with RevenueCat, and sync if you are signed in, continue, because they are part of how the app works.
Your subscription
Aloud Pro is billed by Apple through your Apple Account, not through your Aloud account. Aloud never sees your payment details. Manage or cancel the subscription in the iPhone Settings app under your Apple Account, Subscriptions, or at apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions. Deleting your Aloud account does not cancel the subscription. The subscription is covered by Aloud's terms of service and Apple's Licensed Application End User License Agreement.
Data retention and deletion
- Delete your account in the app: Settings, Account, Delete Account. After you confirm with Apple or Google, Aloud deletes every document synced to your account and then the account itself, and revokes Aloud's access to your Apple or Google sign-in. Google then removes the deleted data from its systems, including backups, within 180 days. Documents on your device stay until you delete them there.
- Delete documents from the library, or delete the app, to remove everything stored on your device. Deleting a document while signed in also deletes its text and title from your account and removes it from your other devices. Aloud keeps only the document's random ID and the time it was deleted, so a device that was offline removes it too.
- Google keeps user-level analytics data for at most 14 months and crash reports for 90 days.
- RevenueCat keeps purchase records for as long as needed to honor your subscription. To have your anonymous RevenueCat record deleted, send the Support ID shown in Aloud's Settings to the address below.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us for a copy of the data tied to your account, to correct it, or to delete it. Depending on where you live, for example in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or California, local law may give you more rights, such as objecting to how your data is used or complaining to your data protection authority. We use account and sync data to provide the sync you asked for, and analytics and crash reports to fix and improve Aloud, which you can turn off at any time. We do not sell your personal information or use it for targeted advertising. To make a request, email the address below; we answer within 30 days.
Children
Aloud is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from them. An account requires being at least 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with an updated effective date.
Contact
Questions or requests, including deleting an account you can no longer sign in to: daelynd1@gmail.com. Include the Support ID from Aloud's Settings if your question concerns a subscription.