Privacy Policy

What you type, and how it is decided

Whether a word is Korean or English is decided on your device by the engine built into the app. What you type is never sent to a server, and there is no account.

On macOS, Catchtype uses Accessibility permission to see keys typed into other apps. Keys are only used to decide; they are not stored or sent.

Before fixing an earlier word, the macOS and Windows versions read the text before the cursor in the field to check whether the app already changed it. The Linux version only checks whether the field text that IBus reports is empty. That text is only used for these checks; it is not stored or sent.

What stays on your device

Settings and learned words (words you undid three times, so they are no longer changed) are kept only in settings on your device. You can see and forget learned words with "<n> Learned Words…" in the menu.

A debug log is kept only when you turn on "Keep a Debug Log" in the menu. It records each changed word before and after, and which app and what kind of input field it was (the app name, the field type and whether it can be edited, but none of its text), in a file on your device, readable only by your user account, and it is never sent on its own. It does not ask for the field type in password fields or terminals. If you choose "Attach Debug Log" in the app's feedback window, it shows you exactly what will be attached and sends it with that feedback. The words before and after a change are part of what you typed. If you do not choose it, it is not sent.

• macOS: ~/Library/Logs/Catchtype/edits.jsonl
• Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Catchtype\Logs\edits.jsonl
• Linux: ~/.local/state/catchtype/edits.jsonl

Checking for new versions

From 0.3.0-beta.4 on, the macOS app downloads https://catchtype.com/appcast.xml (the update list) once a day to see whether a new version is out. It downloads a new version only when you choose to install it, and installs it only if its signature is valid. The requests carry nothing you typed, no cookies, no device identifier, and no system information.

From 0.3.0-beta.3 on, the Windows and Linux apps download only https://catchtype.com/version.json once a day to see whether a new version is out (the macOS app did this in 0.3.0-beta.3 only). The request carries nothing you typed, no cookies, and no device identifier. From 0.3.0-beta.6.1 on, after finding a new version this way, the Windows app downloads the new zip from https://catchtype.com/download/ only when you click to get it, and replaces itself only if the signature is valid.

Turn off "Check Once a Day" ("새 버전 확인" up to 0.3.0-beta.5.1) in the menu to stop these checks.

We only count how many of these requests, and of update downloads, arrive each day. Nothing about who sent them is kept.

This site and its downloads are hosted on Vercel, which may keep access logs for these requests like any web request (IP address, time, requested address and similar) (Vercel Privacy Policy).

Feedback

Feedback sent through the feedback form or Report a wrong change on this site or "Send Feedback…" in the apps is sent once, when you press send. Nothing is sent on its own.

What is sent: what you wrote, a way to reach you if you gave one, the platform (macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS or Android), your language, any photos you attach (up to 3, 10 MB each) and one text file (.txt, .log or .jsonl, 5 MB), and, when sent from an app, the app version and the OS name and version. In the apps, the debug log (see "Debug log" above) goes along only if you choose "Attach Debug Log". Apart from a debug log you choose to attach, nothing you typed elsewhere is sent, and no device identifier is sent. If you send it through Report a wrong change, what you meant to type, what showed up, the input mode at the time (Korean or English), the app name you picked or typed and, if you gave it, your Catchtype version are sent too.

What you send passes through this site's server function (Vercel, Seoul region) on its way to storage. Photos, files and debug logs you attach are kept in a private store with Supabase (Seoul region) and deleted 90 days after we receive them (the text is kept as described below). Location and other metadata in photos (EXIF, XMP) is removed when they arrive.

To stop too many sends in a short time, we keep a value made from your IP address that cannot be turned back into it (a hash) for one hour, then delete it. The IP address itself is not kept.

Feedback is stored with Supabase (a database service, Seoul region) and used only to improve Catchtype and to reply. Only we can read it. Email us below to have yours deleted. Like any web request, Supabase may keep access logs (IP address, time and so on) (Supabase privacy policy).

iOS and Android keyboards

From version 1.0.4, the iOS keyboard asks for "Allow Full Access." Typing works the same without it.

With "Allow Full Access" on, the iOS keyboard uses it for two things only: a light vibration when you press a key, and writing to the on-device storage it shares with the Catchtype app (an App Group). That storage holds only the keyboard settings (automatic Korean/English switching, typo correction level, number row, automatic capitals, keyboard height, vibration), when each was changed, and when the keyboard first saw Full Access turned on. It never holds letters or words you typed, or text field contents.

The iOS keyboard has no code that connects to the internet. Even with "Allow Full Access" on, what you type and the values above never leave the device. Every build is checked automatically to make sure no networking code ends up in the keyboard.

The warning iPhone shows when you turn it on is the same text for every keyboard. Deleting the Catchtype app deletes the values above.

To find out why keys get dropped, the iOS keyboard keeps counts on the device only: how often the keyboard opened, touches and how many fingers touched at once, how keys went in (lift, next finger, system cancel) and why some did not (only the kind of key, such as letter, space or delete), slides to another key while pressing, zones such as rows and edges, ranges of press time and key handling time, keys pressed while the keyboard was still opening, how often the text field was not what it expected and it lost track of the word being typed, the date counting started, and how often a typo was fixed automatically and how often that fix was undone. It keeps no letters, words, text field contents or app names, and these counts never leave the device. Deleting the app deletes them.

The Android keyboard has no internet permission, so what you type cannot leave the device. On the device it keeps only the keyboard settings (including the apps you turned it off in), whether you finished the first-run guide, and when you last opened Send Feedback. It keeps no letters, words or text field contents. Deleting the app deletes them.

The warning Android shows when you turn it on ("may be able to collect all the text you type") is the same text for every keyboard.

Site visit statistics

This site counts only page views, downloads, how often the "Try it" demo is started and how it is used (below), and how often the user group link (KakaoTalk, on the Korean site) is clicked, without cookies, using Vercel Web Analytics. A download button also sends the platform, the file name and whether the "Try it" demo was used in that tab (yes or no), and the user group link sends only where it was clicked (for example the footer or the feedback page). Vercel tells visitors apart only within a day, using a value made from the request, and collects the page address, referrer, rough location, operating system, browser and device type for aggregated statistics (Vercel Web Analytics privacy).

Downloads are also counted on the server. Each download from /download/ (including links elsewhere and app updates) is counted by file name only, without the IP address, browser details or cookies.

The "Try it" demo is counted once per page, when you first type, and only as having started. Your keys, your text and how much you type are not sent.

The "Try it" demo also sends: the name of an example you pick (such as github-e); once the engine has loaded, how long it took (under 1 s, 1–3 s, 3–10 s or over 10 s) and whether the screen is a touch screen; the stage, if it fails to load; and, once per page, only that the engine fixed something you typed. The mark that you used the demo stays only in that tab (sessionStorage) and is gone when you close it. None of these include your keys or text.

The apps and keyboards send nothing, apart from the update checks above and feedback you send yourself. There are no advertising or tracking tools. The "Try it" demo runs only in your browser and sends no keys.

Email news

When you sign up through the sign-up form on the home page, we keep your email address, what you picked (iPhone and Android keyboard launch, Pro launch, news about new languages and big updates), when you signed up and confirmed, the effective date of this policy at that time, and the site language.

We use them only to email you what you picked.

Addresses that picked only launch alerts (iPhone and Android keyboards, Pro) are deleted after those launch emails are sent. Update news stays until you unsubscribe; every two years we ask whether you still want it and delete the address if there is no answer.

When you sign up, we send a confirmation email, and we send news only to addresses that confirm. If you add news to receive, we ask you to confirm again. Addresses that are not confirmed are deleted after 30 days. Because news about new languages and big updates may be promotional, the subject starts with "(광고)" (advertisement) and every email says how to unsubscribe. We do not send it between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m. Korea time.

Addresses are kept in a Supabase database in the Seoul region, and only this site's server can add them. Browsers cannot read or change them.

Sending service: Stibee (Korea). When you sign up, your address, what you picked and the site language are handed to Stibee.

If you use the unsubscribe link in any email, we delete your address from our records and from Stibee right away. If you ask at hebbianai@gmail.com, we also delete it right away and tell you the result within 14 days.

Android tester sign-up

Android keyboard tester sign-ups use a Google Form (an outside service). This site only links to the form and does not receive what you enter.

What you enter in the form is collected by Google and shown to us. We use it only to invite you to the Android keyboard test and to contact you about it. Email us below to have it deleted. Google handles it under the Google Privacy Policy.

Questions and problem reports

If you report a problem by email, we use your address and message only to reply and to fix the problem, and delete them once it is resolved.

For questions about privacy, email us. hebbianai@gmail.com

If this policy changes, we will update this page with a new effective date.

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