Privacy Policy

Last updated: 9 April 2026

1. Plain-language summary

Vays is a private voice memo app for iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac. We do not run any backend servers. We do not collect, transmit, or store your voice recordings, transcripts, summaries, or chat messages. Everything happens on your Apple devices, in your own app sandbox.

The only ways data leaves your device are: (a) syncing between your iPhone and your own Mac over your local network, (b) optional cloud chat that you explicitly enable by entering your own OpenAI API key, and (c) downloading AI model files from public model repositories on first use.

2. Who we are

Vays is developed by Arvind Juneja as an open-source project. The full source code, including all networking code, is available at github.com/arvindjuneja/voicememo under the MIT license. You can audit, fork, or build it yourself.

This privacy policy applies to the Vays apps for iOS, macOS, and watchOS distributed through the Apple App Store and the Mac App Store, as well as builds you compile yourself from the source repository.

3. What data Vays handles

Vays processes the following categories of data, all of which are stored exclusively on your device unless you explicitly choose to sync them:

• Voice recordings — audio captured by the microphone when you tap the record button. Stored in your app's Documents directory.
• Transcripts — text generated from your recordings by the on-device transcription engine (Parakeet TDT v3 or WhisperKit) or, if you pair with a Mac, by the WhisperKit instance running on your Mac.
• Memo summaries — titles, summaries, key points, and action items generated by the on-device LLM (Gemma 4 E2B) or by your local Ollama instance on Mac.
• Quick Tasks — structured tasks extracted from short voice commands.
• Chat conversations — messages you send to the chat feature and the AI's responses, including any image you attach.
• Settings — your preferences (model selection, transcription language, server URLs, etc.) stored in the app's user defaults.
• Subscription receipt — Apple's StoreKit transaction receipt, used only to verify your Pro subscription status.

We do not collect any data that personally identifies you. We do not have access to any of the data above — it lives only on your device.

4. Data that stays on your device

Vays stores all of the data above in your Apple-provided application sandbox, namely:

• Voice recordings: ~/Documents/VaysRecordings/ on iOS, ~/Documents/VaysRecordings/ on macOS
• Processed memos and summaries: ~/Documents/VaysMemos/
• Quick Tasks: app's Documents directory
• Chat history: app's Documents directory
• AI model weights (Gemma, Parakeet, WhisperKit): app's Library directory
• Settings: standard UserDefaults store

This data is automatically encrypted at rest by iOS / macOS using your device's hardware-backed encryption. It is included in your iCloud Backup if you have iCloud Backup enabled (this is an Apple feature; we do not control it).

When you delete the Vays app, iOS / macOS deletes the entire app sandbox, including all of the above data.

5. Network connections Vays makes

Vays makes the following network connections, all of which are either local-network-only or initiated by an explicit user action:

• Bonjour discovery on the local network. The Mac app advertises a _vays._tcp service on your Wi-Fi network. The iOS app discovers it and connects directly over HTTP to your own Mac, only on your own LAN. There is no relay server, and no traffic ever leaves your local network through this path.
• Apple StoreKit servers. When you launch the app, view the Pro upgrade screen, or restore purchases, the OS-provided StoreKit framework contacts Apple's servers to fetch product info and verify your subscription. Vays itself does not connect to any other Apple servers.
• Model download (one-time). When you first enable on-device transcription or on-device AI, the app downloads model weights from public model repositories: Hugging Face (Parakeet, Gemma), and the WhisperKit-hosted CDN. These are anonymous downloads of public files. Once downloaded, the model files stay on your device and Vays does not contact those servers again.
• Ollama (Mac, optional). If you have Ollama installed, the Vays Mac app connects to the local Ollama HTTP endpoint (localhost:11434). Ollama itself runs entirely on your Mac.
• OpenAI (optional, opt-in). If you switch the chat provider to OpenAI and paste in your own OpenAI API key, the chat messages you type in that view are sent directly from your device to api.openai.com using your key. Vays does not proxy this traffic — it is a direct device-to-OpenAI connection authenticated with your key. Subject to OpenAI's privacy policy, not ours.

6. Permissions Vays requests

Vays asks the OS for the minimum set of permissions needed to function:

• Microphone — required to record voice memos. Without this permission Vays cannot do its primary job.
• Reminders — optional. Quick Tasks can be saved to the Apple Reminders app if you enable this permission.
• Photo Library — optional. Used only if you attach an image to a chat message. Vays only reads images you explicitly select; it does not browse your library.
• Speech Recognition (macOS only) — used for the Live Transcription window, which calls Apple's on-device speech recognition framework. Apple processes this on the Mac, not in the cloud.
• Local Network — required for Bonjour discovery and the Mac sync described above. Vays only talks to your own Mac.

You can revoke any permission at any time in the system Settings app.

7. Optional cloud features (opt-in)

Vays has exactly one cloud-based feature, and it is off by default:

OpenAI chat provider. If you switch the chat tab provider to "OpenAI" and paste in your own OpenAI API key, your chat messages on that view will be sent to OpenAI's servers using your API key. Vays does not store, log, or proxy these messages; they go directly from your device to api.openai.com. The OpenAI API key you paste is stored in your device's secure keychain.

If you use this feature, your data is also subject to OpenAI's privacy policy.

8. Subscription & payments

Vays Pro is sold as an auto-renewing monthly subscription through Apple's App Store In-App Purchase system. Apple handles the entire payment flow. Vays receives only the StoreKit transaction receipt that confirms whether you have an active Pro subscription. We do not see your Apple ID, payment method, billing address, or any other personal information.

You can manage or cancel your subscription at any time from Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions on your device.

9. No analytics, no tracking, no ads

Vays contains no third-party analytics SDKs, no tracking pixels, no advertising frameworks, and no telemetry of any kind. We do not measure usage. We do not see crashes (unless you opt in to MetricKit's overnight reports, which Apple delivers to us via the system metrics service — these contain no PII). We do not know how many people use the app or what features they touch.

The Privacy Manifests (PrivacyInfo.xcprivacy) shipped in the app declare exactly two Required Reason API categories:

• UserDefaults (reason CA92.1) — to read and write the app's own settings.
• File Timestamp APIs (reasons C617.1 and 0A2A.1) — to display recording dates and verify downloaded model file sizes.

That is the entire list. No advertising, no tracking, no fingerprinting categories are declared because none are used.

10. Children

Vays is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any data from anyone (including children) because, as described above, we do not run servers and do not collect anything at all. The app is rated 4+ on the App Store.

11. Changes to this policy

If we materially change this privacy policy, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top and post a notice on the app's website. Your continued use of Vays after a change means you accept the updated policy. The historical versions of this policy are tracked in the Git history of github.com/arvindjuneja/voicememo.

12. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how Vays handles your data, please open an issue on GitHub or visit our Support page.

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This is a starting-point privacy policy written by the project author. It is not a substitute for legal advice. If you fork Vays for commercial distribution, please consult a lawyer in your jurisdiction.