BetterRead is a reading app for iPhone and iPad, made by ClumsyCode. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use it.
BetterRead does not collect your personal information. There are no accounts, no advertising and no tracking. Everything you read stays on your devices — and, if you use iCloud sync, in your own iCloud account, where ClumsyCode cannot see it. The one exception is buying BetterRead Pro: a record of that purchase, under an anonymous ID, is kept by RevenueCat, the service that handles subscriptions for us.
ClumsyCode never receives any of this. If you delete the app, all of it is deleted from that device.
iCloud sync is on unless you turn it off in BetterRead's Settings, and it works only when you are signed in to iCloud. It keeps your library — what you have added, your place in each item and the passages you capture — in a private database in your own iCloud account, so your other devices can show it too.
Listen speaks the text on your device, with the voices built into iOS or with BetterRead's natural voices. Nothing you listen to is sent anywhere.
The natural voices are a speech model that runs on your device. If you choose to download them, your device fetches the voice files once from Apple's App Store servers, as it would any other app content. Nothing about you or what you read is sent with that request, and ClumsyCode doesn't see it.
Translation is done on your device by Apple's translation, without sending the text anywhere. The first time you translate into a language, iOS may ask to download that language from Apple; after that it works offline.
When you scan printed pages, BetterRead uses the camera only while the scanner is open, or the photos you choose. The text is read from the pages on your device; the pictures and the text are not sent anywhere. Only the text is kept, as something to read; the pictures are discarded.
If you turn on "Block apps while reading", BetterRead uses Apple's Screen Time to pause the apps you choose while you read. You choose them in Apple's own picker; BetterRead receives only opaque tokens it can hand back to Screen Time, and never learns which apps or websites you picked. Nothing about your app use leaves your device.
The focus timer's reminders are notifications scheduled on your device. The "Keep reading" widget shows the title of what you are reading, the time left and the last sentence you read; BetterRead writes these to a small file on your device that only its widgets can read. While a focus block runs, the timer and the title can appear on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island; you can turn Live Activities off for BetterRead in the Settings app.
BetterRead Pro is bought through Apple's App Store, which handles the payment; ClumsyCode never sees your payment details, your Apple Account or your name.
BetterRead uses RevenueCat to check App Store purchases and to know whether you have Pro. RevenueCat receives the App Store's record of your BetterRead purchases — which plan, when it started and renews, and its price — together with an anonymous ID that BetterRead makes up on your device, and basic technical details, such as the app and iOS versions and your App Store country. It does not receive your name, your email, your Apple Account or anything you read. ClumsyCode uses this to see how many people subscribe, and never to identify you.
How many of the day's free AI tries you have used is counted on your device only. If you start a free trial and allow notifications, BetterRead schedules a reminder on your device before the trial ends.
BetterRead connects to the internet only when it needs to:
BetterRead sends nothing to anyone else.
Only the record of BetterRead Pro purchases described above, kept by RevenueCat under an anonymous ID and never linked to who you are. ClumsyCode does not receive any other information about you or how you use the app. BetterRead has no advertising and does not track you across apps or websites.
BetterRead does not collect personal information from anyone, including children. Purchases made through Family Sharing or Ask to Buy are handled as described in the BetterRead Pro section.
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new date.
Questions about this policy: hello@clumsycode.com