Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 25, 2026

Vocabcord is built around a simple principle: we don't want anything that identifies you. No accounts, no advertising identifiers, no profiles, no third-party trackers. This page explains exactly what the Vocabcord iOS app does and does not do with information related to you.

What we collect

No personal data. Vocabcord does not collect, store, or process anything that identifies you. Specifically:

• No account creation or login is required or offered.
• No advertising identifiers, device fingerprints, or tracking pixels.
• No third-party analytics, attribution, ad, or crash-reporting SDKs are embedded in the app.
• No contacts, photos, microphone, or location access is requested.
• We never see your name, email, Apple ID, payment method, or any other personal information.

The app does send a small amount of anonymous, non-personal information to our own servers, described next. None of it can be tied to you.

Anonymous setup analytics

Vocabcord only works once you wire up a charger automation in the iOS Shortcuts app, and that setup is the step where people most often get stuck. To measure how many installs make it through, the app sends two one-time events to our own servers:

• First open. Sent once, the first time you open the app.
• First phrase played. Sent once, the first time a charger-triggered phrase actually plays, so we know your setup worked.

Each event carries a random identifier generated on your device, used only to link those two events for the same install, plus the app version. That identifier is not your Apple ID, not your device's advertising identifier (IDFA), and not any hardware ID, and it is never linked to your name, email, or any personal information. We use it for exactly one purpose: counting, in aggregate, how many people successfully get set up. No third-party analytics service is involved. We also approximate your country from your network connection at the moment of the request, the same coarse signal any web server sees, and we store nothing else.

Separately, if you tap "Request a language" inside the app, that sends us the text you type plus your device language and app version, so we can decide which languages to build next. That happens only when you choose to submit the form.

What stays on your device

Vocabcord stores its working state locally on your iPhone, inside the app's App Group container. None of it leaves the device:

• Spaced-repetition state — a single file (phrase_state.json) tracking which phrases you've heard, how often, and when each is due to surface again. This drives the weighted exponential decay that decides what plays next.
• Selected pack and language pair — the CEFR pack you're currently learning from.
• Purchase status — whether you've unlocked paid packs, managed via Apple's StoreKit framework (see below).
• Bundled audio assets — the phrases and recordings ship inside the app bundle and are read locally during playback.

This data is stored using iOS's standard file system and UserDefaults APIs. It is automatically removed when you uninstall the app.

Third-party services

Vocabcord integrates with two Apple frameworks that you should know about. There are no other third-party SDKs, analytics, ad networks, or trackers in the app.

Apple StoreKit (In-App Purchases)

When you subscribe or restore a prior purchase, the app uses Apple's StoreKit framework to process the transaction. Apple handles the payment, verifies the receipt, and tells the app whether you've purchased. Vocabcord never sees your payment method, Apple ID, or billing information. Apple's privacy policy governs that interaction: apple.com/legal/privacy.

Apple Shortcuts (Automation)

Vocabcord exposes an App Intent ("Play Phrase") that the iOS Shortcuts app can trigger. When your charger is connected and your personal automation runs, iOS asks Vocabcord to pick and play the next phrase. Choosing what plays happens entirely on your device. The only thing that ever leaves your device here is the one-time anonymous "first phrase played" event described above, sent the very first time a charger-triggered phrase plays. You can remove the Shortcut at any time in the iOS Shortcuts app.

Children's privacy

Vocabcord does not knowingly collect personal data from anyone, including children under 13. The anonymous setup events described above contain nothing personal and cannot identify anyone, child or adult.

Your rights (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)

Privacy laws such as the GDPR (EU) and CCPA (California) give you the right to access, correct, or delete personal information held about you. Because Vocabcord holds no information that identifies you, there is nothing personal for us to access, correct, or delete. The anonymous setup events cannot be traced back to you, so they cannot be tied to an individual person. You can remove all on-device data associated with Vocabcord by uninstalling the app.

Changes to this policy

If we ever begin collecting anything that identifies you, we will update this page first and make the change clear in the app. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent change.

Contact

Questions about this privacy policy? Reach us at our support page.