Privacy Policy

VocalChess is an iOS app published by Studio Marabel LLC ("we", "us"). This policy covers the VocalChess app and this website, vocalchess.com.

The short version: the App Store version of VocalChess collects nothing. There is no account, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking, and your voice never leaves your device. Beta versions on TestFlight also send us the text of your spoken moves, never audio, so we can fix what the app mishears. That's explained below, and you can turn it off.

Your voice

VocalChess listens for your moves only while the microphone button is on. It asks iOS for permission to use the microphone, and you can turn it off at any time in the Settings app.

Your speech is turned into text by Apple's speech recognition, running on your device. The app uses that text to work out your move. It never records your audio. The App Store version doesn't save transcripts, and nothing leaves your device.

The first time you play, iOS may download Apple's speech recognition model for your language. Apple handles that download under Apple's privacy policy.

What is stored on your device

The app saves your settings, such as whether moves are read aloud, in the app's local storage. They stay on your device, are not sent to us, and are deleted when you delete the app.

What we collect

From the App Store version, nothing. It contains no analytics, advertising or tracking code, and it does not send data over the network. The chess engine, Stockfish, runs inside the app.

Beta testing through TestFlight

Beta versions of VocalChess on TestFlight send us voice data so we can fix what the app mishears. For each move you speak, that's the text the speech recognizer produced, what the app understood, the move it played, and how long each step took. Audio is never sent. Each install is identified only by a random ID created on your device, not by your name or Apple Account. The first time you open a beta, the app explains this. ☰ → Share voice data turns it off, which also deletes anything not yet sent. The data is stored with our hosting provider, Cloudflare, used only to improve speech recognition, and deleted after 90 days. App Store versions never record or send it.

If you test a beta version through Apple's TestFlight, Apple shares some information with us: your name or email address (if you were invited by email), your device model and iOS version, install and session information, crash reports, and any feedback or screenshots you choose to send. We use it only to fix problems and improve the app. Apple's TestFlight terms govern that sharing. You can stop testing at any time by deleting the beta from TestFlight.

This website

vocalchess.com counts visits with Cloudflare Web Analytics. It uses no cookies, stores nothing on your device, and does not identify or follow you across sites. Cloudflare, our host, also processes IP addresses to deliver pages and protect the site. See Cloudflare's privacy policy.

Children

VocalChess is suitable for all ages. Because the app collects no personal information, it collects none from children.

Your rights

Because we hold no personal information from the app, there is nothing for us to access, correct or delete. If you emailed us, you can ask us to delete that correspondence. For any privacy question, write to privacy@studiomarabel.com or Studio Marabel LLC, 2248 Broadway Ste 1128, New York, NY 10024.

Changes

If the app ever starts handling your information differently, we will update this page and its date before that version ships.