Tilia.

Privacy policy

Last updated: 3 November 2026

Tilia is provided by ObscuraCode Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. This policy covers the Tilia app and heytilia.app. For privacy and data requests, contact legal@codeobscura.com.

Your conversations stay on your device

Voice, typed text and photos are processed on your device. Tilia does not send this content to us or to our servers. Translation, text recognition and voices run on the phone. On iOS, speech recognition is forced to run on-device.

Android exception: Tilia uses on-device speech recognition where your phone supports it. On phones without that support, Android’s system speech service may process audio. Offline speech is therefore dependent on your phone, its speech service and installed languages. This is separate from Tilia sending content to us: we do not receive it.

Downloads, without your content

An internet connection is needed to download language packs and required modules. These downloads do not send your voice, typed text or photos:

  • Apple and Google provide translation language packs and voices.
  • ML Kit text-recognition modules are delivered through Google Play services.
  • On Android, a Russian OCR model from GitHub’s tessdata_fast project is downloaded once over Wi-Fi. Tilia checks its SHA-256 hash before use.

After setup, supported languages work in airplane mode, subject to the Android speech limitation above. Download providers receive the network information needed to deliver files, such as an IP address.

What is stored on your phone

Conversation history, favourites and phrasebook stars are stored locally. So are your settings (app language, text size, language pair, voice speed and headphone mode) and daily usage counters. Free history shows the last 10 entries; starred entries are always kept.

On iOS, this local data may be included in your own device backups. Android app backup is disabled. Tilia does not operate a cloud copy of your history. You can remove local app data through your device’s controls; your own backups are managed in your device or backup account.

Advertising in the free version

The free version uses Google AdMob on the Phrasebook, History and Settings screens. Ads never appear during a conversation. Premium users see no ads.

AdMob may collect device identifiers and ad-interaction data under Google’s privacy policy and advertising policies. Your translation content is not sent to AdMob. Google’s User Messaging Platform presents the consent form in the EEA and UK. On iOS, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency prompt controls permission for tracking. You can manage permissions in device settings and consent through the app’s privacy choices where available.

Purchases

Purchases are made through Apple App Store or Google Play and managed with RevenueCat. RevenueCat uses an anonymous app user ID and purchase receipts to check and restore subscription access. Tilia does not require your name or email. Your store processes billing information under its own policies; we do not receive your card number.

See Apple’s privacy policy, Google’s privacy policy and RevenueCat’s privacy policy.

Permissions

  • Microphone and speech recognition: to hear and recognise what you say.
  • Camera: to read text in menus, signs and labels.
  • Photo picker: to choose a photo for translation. It needs no photo-library permission.
  • App Tracking Transparency on iOS: to request tracking permission for ads.

You control these permissions in your device settings. Refusing a permission may prevent the feature that needs it from working.

No account, analytics or crash reporting

Tilia has no account, login, analytics SDK, crash reporting or email collection. If you choose to email support, we receive your address and the information you include so we can answer. Please do not send private conversation content, passwords or card numbers.

This website

heytilia.app sets no cookies and runs no analytics or tracking scripts. Cloudflare Pages serves this static website and processes the network information needed to deliver it. This is separate from the app’s on-device translation. See Cloudflare’s privacy policy.

Children

Tilia is not directed at children under 13.

Questions and changes

Because translation data stays on the phone, we cannot retrieve it for you. For privacy questions or data requests, email legal@codeobscura.com. For help with the app, use support@heytilia.app. We will publish updates to this policy here with a new date.