Privacy

Last updated October 15, 2026

By Heart is a quiet practice, and it treats your information the same way. Verses live on your device. Nothing is sold, nothing is tracked across the web, and nothing asks for more than it needs.

The app

Your verses stay on your device. The verses you keep, your practice history, your streak and achievements, and how well each verse is known are stored on your phone (or, in the web app, in your browser), not on our servers.

An account is optional. You can use By Heart without one. If you sign in with email or Google, our sign-in provider (Supabase) keeps your email address, and the name and picture Google shares, so you can sign in again. Nothing else. If you sign in with Apple on iPhone, nothing is sent to our servers: the app keeps the private identifier Apple gives it, on your phone. Signing in does not upload your verses.

Recordings are heard, not kept. When you say a verse aloud, the recording waits on your phone until it can be scored, then goes through our server to a transcription service (OpenAI), which turns your speech into text so the app can compare what you said with the verse. Once a recording is scored, the app deletes it. OpenAI does not use what we send it to train its models, and keeps it only as long as its own policy for abuse monitoring allows (up to 30 days). Our server notes technical details of a recording, such as its size and the app’s version, and never what you said. We do not use your voice for anything else, and we do not build a profile from it.

Words as you say them stay on your phone. If you turn on “Show words as I say them”, your iPhone’s own speech recognition lights up the words while you speak. It runs on the device, and that audio does not leave it.

A short log stays with you. The app keeps a list of your recent recitations and what it heard, on your phone, so a problem can be traced. It leaves your phone only if you choose to share it with us.

Scripture comes from a scripture source. When you add a verse, its text is fetched from a public Bible text service in your chosen translation. That request contains the verse reference, not your identity.

Reminders are set on your phone. If you choose a daily reminder, your phone schedules it. We do not send notifications from a server.

Feedback is an email. “Send feedback” opens an email to us in your own mail app. We see only what you choose to send, and we keep it to read and answer it.

Translation requests are counted. When you tap a translation under “Request a translation”, the app records which translation, when, and a random ID the app makes for your phone so that one phone counts once. That ID is not linked to your account, your name, your email, or your device’s own identifiers. We use the count only to decide which translations to add. If it cannot be sent, the app opens an email instead, as does “Another translation”.

Deleting your account

In the app, go to Settings and tap Delete account. This deletes your account from our sign-in provider, ends the app’s link to your Apple ID if you signed in with Apple, and erases everything By Heart has stored on your phone. It cannot be undone. You can also write to us and we will do it for you.

The website

If you join the waitlist, we keep the email address you give us. It is stored with Loops, the service we use to send email, and it is used to tell you when By Heart is ready, and nothing else. Write to us any time to have it removed.

We measure how the site is doing with Vercel Analytics, which is anonymous, sets no cookies, and does not follow you to other sites. There are no advertising trackers here.

Who helps us

• Vercel hosts the website, the web app and our server.
• Supabase handles email and Google sign-in.
• OpenAI transcribes recordings so they can be scored.
• Loops sends waitlist email.

What we don’t do

• No selling or sharing of your information for advertising.
• No third-party ad trackers, in the app or on the site.
• No reading of your contacts, photos, or location.
• The microphone is used only while you are reciting, and only after you allow it.

Children

By Heart is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will live at this address with a new date at the top. A meaningful change will be said plainly, not buried.

Questions

Write to hello@byheart.day. A person reads it.