Privacy Policy

Echo Fluent ("Echo Fluent," "we," "us") helps you practice speaking along with podcast episodes. This policy explains what data the app handles, why, and how it's stored.

The short version

• Your podcast transcripts, practice recordings, and progress stay on your device and in your own private iCloud account — never on our servers.
• We don't run ads, analytics, or trackers, and we don't sell or share your data.
• The only outside party involved is Apple, for iCloud sync and subscription processing.

Information we collect

Voice recordings

When you practice speaking along with a chunk, the app records your voice using your device's microphone so you can play it back and compare it with the original. These recordings are stored locally in the app's private storage on your device. We never receive, upload, or listen to your recordings.

Speech-to-text transcription

To create practice chunks, Echo Fluent transcribes English-language podcast audio entirely on your device using Apple's on-device Speech framework. The audio and resulting transcript are never sent to Apple's servers or ours.

Podcast content

Episode audio and metadata (titles, show names, artwork) are downloaded from the podcast feeds you choose to add, directly from those feeds' hosting providers.

Practice data and progress

Your episodes, transcripts, chunks, and practice history are stored using Apple's SwiftData, synced through your personal iCloud account (via CloudKit) so your progress carries over between your own devices. This data lives in your private iCloud storage — Echo Fluent has no access to it and no copy is kept on our servers.

Subscription and purchase information

If you subscribe to Echo Fluent Premium, the purchase is handled by Apple through the App Store, and entitlement status is managed using RevenueCat. RevenueCat receives your anonymized purchase/transaction data from Apple to determine whether your subscription is active — it does not receive your name, email, recordings, or practice content. This data is used solely for app functionality (unlocking Premium) and is not used for tracking or advertising.

Diagnostics

The app logs a small set of technical events locally (for example, "purchase succeeded" or "restore failed") to help us understand and fix subscription-related issues if you report a problem. These diagnostics never include your recordings, transcripts, receipts, transaction IDs, prices, or other personal content, and they are not automatically transmitted anywhere.

What we don't do

• We don't use third-party analytics or advertising SDKs.
• We don't track you across apps or websites.
• We don't sell your information to anyone.
• We don't have a backend server that stores your recordings, transcripts, or listening activity.

Permissions the app requests

• Microphone — to record your voice during practice.
• Speech recognition — to transcribe podcast episodes into practice chunks.

You can review or revoke these at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security. If revoked, the corresponding features (recording practice, or preparing new episodes) won't work.

Third-party services

• Apple iCloud (CloudKit) — stores and syncs your practice data across your own devices. Governed by Apple's Privacy Policy.
• Apple Speech framework — powers on-device transcription; runs locally and does not transmit audio to Apple.
• Apple App Store / StoreKit — processes subscription purchases.
• RevenueCat — manages subscription entitlement state. Governed by RevenueCat's Privacy Policy.

Data retention and deletion

Your recordings, transcripts, and progress live on your device and in your personal iCloud account. Deleting the app removes local data; deleting your episodes/history in the app (or turning off iCloud sync for Echo Fluent in iOS Settings) removes the corresponding data from iCloud. Because we don't hold a server-side copy, there's nothing for us to delete on our end.

Children's privacy

Echo Fluent is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we'll update the effective date above and post the revised version at this same URL.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email echofluent@spencerfeng.com.