How Private Is LingoAI? What Stays on Your Phone, and the Three Exceptions

TL;DR

Text you translate with the LingoAI Model or System engine never leaves the phone. Three things can: text sent to Cloud (only if you choose it), speech recognition (handled by Apple's service), and ad requests on the free plan. The keyboard has no network code at all.

The problem

The things people translate are often private: a message to a doctor, a legal phrase, an address, a draft email. Most translators send everything to a server behind an account, and it’s rarely clear what’s stored or who can read it. “Private” in marketing doesn’t tell you where the exceptions are.

What stays on the phone

  • Typed and pasted text translated by the LingoAI Model or System engine.
  • History, saved on the device.
  • The keyboard: it has no network code, so nothing you type is sent anywhere, and nothing is stored.
  • No account, no sign-in.

The three exceptions

  1. Cloud (only if you choose it). Text goes to LingoAI’s server and then to an AI provider to be translated. Cloud is off by default, and the interface changes (for example “Sent to LingoAI’s server and uses credits”) whenever it’s selected, so you can always tell. The server is set up not to keep the text or log it.
  2. Speech input. Dictation uses Apple’s speech recognition. It isn’t forced to run on the device, so audio may be processed by Apple. That’s Apple’s service and governed by Apple’s terms.
  3. Ads on the free plan. The ad SDK makes its own network requests. Removing ads (separately or with Pro) removes them.

There’s also an optional feedback form, which sends only what you choose to write and attach.

How to keep everything local

  1. Leave the engine on LingoAI Model (the default) or System.
  2. Type or paste instead of dictating if the content is sensitive.
  3. Don’t select Cloud for private text.
  4. Check it yourself: turn on airplane mode and translate.

Honest limits

  • On-device translation is private, not perfect. Verify sensitive wording before you rely on it.
  • If you export or share a translation, it leaves the phone like any other text.

FAQ

Is anything uploaded when I use the default engine? No. Text translated by the LingoAI Model or the System engine stays on the device.

What happens when I choose Cloud? Your text is sent to LingoAI’s server and processed by an AI provider, using credits. The interface says so whenever Cloud is selected.

Is voice input private? Dictation uses Apple’s speech recognition, which may process audio on Apple’s servers. That is Apple’s service, not LingoAI’s.

Does the keyboard send what I type anywhere? No. The keyboard contains no network code and stores nothing.

The app LingoAI Translate →