Privacy Policy

This policy covers LingCat on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and its Safari extension.

1. We collect nothing

LingCat collects no data.

• No server. The developer runs no backend service, so no data ever reaches the developer.
• No account. Using LingCat requires no registration and no sign-in.
• No analytics. LingCat includes no analytics, crash reporting, or advertising tools, and no third-party SDKs. The Statistics page in the app stays on your device; see section 5.
• No device identifiers. LingCat doesn’t read the advertising identifier (IDFA), the identifier for vendor (IDFV), or anything else that could identify your device.

2. Where your text goes

Translating means handing your text to a translation service. Your text goes from your device straight to the service you choose and never passes through a server belonging to the developer, because no such server exists. Where it goes depends on the service.

When the floating window is on, text you copy in other apps is sent automatically to the translation service chosen for the floating window.

Apple Translate

Handled by the translation framework built into the system, either on your device or by Apple’s services. What happens to the text there is determined by Apple and covered by Apple’s privacy policy.

Apple Intelligence

Translated by the Apple Intelligence model on your device. Your text doesn’t leave your device.

Services that need an API key

DeepL, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, ERNIE Bot, Doubao, Qwen, Hunyuan, Z.ai, and others. These require your own API key. Text travels from your device straight to that provider, under your own account and quota, so that provider’s privacy policy and retention rules apply. The developer is not a partner of these services and can’t see anything you send through them.

Google Translate and Bilibili

LingCat calls the public translation endpoints provided by Google and Bilibili, which need no API key and involve no account. When you use these services, your text is sent to Google or Bilibili, and their privacy policies apply.

Custom services

Custom Chat Completions, Custom Messages API, and DeepLX connect only to the address you enter, such as a service you host yourself or a relay. What happens to the text there depends on the service behind that address.

What a request contains

A request contains the text to translate and the source and target languages. With a large language model, it also contains the model and style settings you chose. If you added custom request headers or parameters to a translation service, the request contains them too. LingCat adds no device identifier or user identifier. As with any network request, translation services can see your IP address and similar network information.

When you translate a webpage in Safari, a request may also contain the following.

• Formatting in a paragraph, such as links, bold text, and code.
• With Smart Translation, the webpage’s title, the website’s domain, the heading of the section a paragraph is in, and each paragraph’s role on the page, such as a button or a table cell. Smart Translation is available only with large language models and is on by default.
• With Translate Tab Titles on, the webpage’s title. This setting is on by default.
• With Input Translation, the text you type in a text field. Password fields are never included.

A webpage’s full address is never sent to a translation service.

3. API keys

The API keys you enter are stored in the keychain and encrypted by the system, on iPhone, iPad, and Mac alike. A key is used only to make requests to the translation service it belongs to. It is sent nowhere else, and the developer has no way to obtain it.

With iCloud Keychain turned on, your API keys sync with end-to-end encryption to devices signed in to the same Apple Account.

Deleting a translation service deletes its API key too. To remove your API keys, delete the translation services that use them before you delete the app.

4. iCloud sync

LingCat can sync translation services, styles, and some settings through iCloud, including the first and second languages used for language detection, and webpage translation settings such as languages, the translation service, appearance, and translation rules (the websites to translate automatically or never translate automatically, and the languages to translate or not to translate). API keys aren’t included; they sync only through iCloud Keychain.

Automatic Sync is off by default. This data is uploaded only when Automatic Sync is on or when you choose Push to iCloud.

The data is stored in your own iCloud account. Only you can access it, and the developer can’t read it.

LingCat has no option to delete this data. Turning off Automatic Sync only stops future syncing, and deleting the app doesn’t delete it either. To delete data that’s already in iCloud, follow Apple’s instructions to manage your iCloud storage.

5. Data that stays on your device

The following data is stored on your device and never sent to the developer.

• Usage statistics. The Statistics page totals translations, characters, and tokens by day, by translation service, and by feature. It doesn’t store the text you translate or the translations, and it doesn’t sync to iCloud. Translations in private browsing add only counts and characters. You can clear the statistics with Reset Statistics.
• Webpage translation cache. When you translate a webpage again, paragraphs you’ve already translated come from the cache instead of the translation service. The cache holds only translations and the digests used to look them up, not the original text. It’s limited to about 50 MB, is on by default, and doesn’t sync to iCloud. Translations in private browsing are neither read from nor written to the cache. You can turn off Cache Translations, or clear the cache, in the Advanced settings for webpage translation.
• Settings. Translation services, styles, and other settings are stored on your device. With iCloud sync, a copy of some of them is also kept in your iCloud account; see section 4.

6. System permissions on Mac

These features in the Mac app need a system permission, which is requested the first time you use them.

• Translate Selection needs Accessibility access. When you press the shortcut, LingCat simulates a Copy command to read the selected text, then immediately restores what was on the clipboard before.
• Translate Screenshot and Capture Text need Screen Recording access. Screenshots are processed in memory only and never saved, and text is recognized on your device. Translate Screenshot sends the recognized text to your enabled translation services; Capture Text copies it to the clipboard.

7. Safari extension

The extension sends webpage content to a translation service only when you want it translated. That means when you translate a webpage or use Hover Translation or Input Translation, when a webpage matches the automatic translation rules you set, and as you keep browsing a website you’ve translated in the same tab.

Translating a webpage, showing the Translate button on webpages, translating automatically by your rules, Hover Translation, Input Translation, and the context menu on Mac all need your permission for the extension to access the website.

8. Purchases

The LingCat Pro purchase is handled by Apple’s App Store. The developer never sees your payment details and has no way to learn your Apple Account. The only thing available to the developer is the aggregate sales reporting Apple provides through App Store Connect, which identifies no one.

LingCat reads your purchase status and App Store region from the App Store and uses them only on your device, to unlock LingCat Pro and to show the translation services available in your App Store region.

9. Tracking and advertising

LingCat performs no tracking of any kind, never asks for App Tracking Transparency permission, shows no advertising, and uses no information for advertising or marketing.

10. Children

LingCat collects no data from anyone, children included.

11. Changes to this policy

If the way LingCat handles data changes, this policy will be updated and the new date shown on this page.

12. Contact

For any question about this policy, write to [email protected].