Privacy Policy

1. Overview

At Learn Chinese ("we", "us", or "our"), accessible via our mobile applications on iOS and Android and our website, we take your personal privacy seriously. This Privacy Policy details what information we collect, how it is stored, and your rights regarding your personal data when using our educational services.

2. Information We Collect

The Learn Chinese app works offline for learning and does not require an account. Without an account, your study progress stays on your device. What the app handles:

• Study Progress: Your review schedule (SRS), quiz and mock test scores, streak, XP, lesson stars, starred words, mistakes, badges, focus timer sessions and settings are stored on your device. Without an account they are not sent to us or to any third party.
• Optional Account: In Profile, under "Save your progress", you can sign in with Apple, with Google or with an email address and password. We then receive your email address (with Apple you may choose a private relay address), your name if Apple or Google shares it, and an account ID. Passwords are handled by Google Firebase Authentication; we never see them. You can use every feature of the app without signing in.
• Synced Progress: When you are signed in, the app saves a copy of the study progress and settings listed above to your account, so you can continue on another device. It is stored in Google Cloud Firestore (part of Google Firebase) in a data center in Singapore, and the security rules let only your signed-in account read or change it. It syncs after you sign in, when a lesson or mock test ends or the app goes to the background (at most every few minutes), and when you tap "Sync now". Your Pro status, reminder permissions and the app's own bookkeeping are not synced.
• Crash Reports: If the app crashes, Firebase Crashlytics sends us a report with the error, the app version, the device model and operating system version, and a random installation ID. It contains no name, email address or study content.
• Usage Analytics: The app sends a few anonymous usage events to Google Analytics for Firebase, such as a lesson started or finished, a mock test finished (with its HSK level and a score range, not the exact score), the Pro offer shown, a Pro purchase (plan and price), flashcards or speaking practice opened, and a language change. Google Analytics also records basic details such as the app version, device type, country and a random app-instance ID. Events never include your name, email address, account ID or your answers. The app does not collect the advertising ID (Android) or the IDFA (iOS) and does not use this data for advertising.
• Your Choice: Crash reports and usage analytics are on by default. Turn off "Share anonymous usage data" in Profile to stop both on that device.
• Voice Recordings: On iPhone and iPad, the speaking test can keep a recording of each answer so you can listen back and compare it with the model answer. This is on by default and you can turn it off in the speaking test. Recordings stay on your device: the app never uploads them, syncs them to your account or adds them to backups. Deleting a speaking test result deletes its recordings. Handwriting practice is processed on your device.
• Speaking Practice: When you use speaking practice, the app uses your microphone and the speech recognition of your device (Apple speech recognition on iPhone and iPad, the system speech recognizer on Android) to turn what you say into text and score it. Depending on your device, Apple or Google may process the audio on their servers under their privacy policies. In speaking practice the app keeps only the score. In the speaking test it also keeps the text of each answer, on your device only, so you can review your results.
• Notifications: Study reminders and focus timer alerts are scheduled on your device and do not pass through our servers. They contain no personal data, and you can turn them off in the app or in your device settings.
• Device Permissions: The app asks for permission to send notifications where your device requires it. On Android, you may also allow "Alarms & reminders" so a focus timer alert rings exactly when a focus or break session ends; this is optional, and without it the alert may arrive a few minutes late. On iPhone and iPad, focus timer alerts are marked Time Sensitive so a Focus mode does not hold back the end of a session you started; you can turn this off in Settings, Notifications, Learn Chinese. Speaking practice and the speaking test ask for the microphone (and, on iPhone and iPad, speech recognition) the first time you use them. If you save a mock test score report to Photos, the app asks to add that image; it cannot see your other photos. The app does not use your camera, contacts or location.
• Purchases: If you buy Learn Chinese Pro, the purchase is made through the App Store or Google Play. Apple or Google handles the payment and your payment details; the app never sees them. To confirm and restore Pro, the app uses RevenueCat, a purchase service that works for us. The app sends RevenueCat the store's record of your Pro purchases, a random ID made on your device (or, while you are signed in, your account ID, so your Pro plan follows your account to your other devices), basic technical details such as the app version, the platform and the store country, and, as with any internet request, your IP address. It does not send your name, email address or study progress. RevenueCat uses this to tell the app which Pro plan is active and to give us sales reports, such as the number of purchases per plan and country. It is not used for advertising or tracking.
• Diagnostics: Apple and Google may also share anonymous crash reports with us through App Store Connect and Google Play Console if you have allowed this in your device settings.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your data only to run the app: to schedule your reviews, to keep your progress in your account and sync it between your devices, to keep Pro working, to fix crashes, and to see which parts of the app are used so we can improve them. We do not sell, rent, or trade any information, the app contains no ads or ad trackers, and we do not track you across other apps or websites. Our service providers (Google Firebase, RevenueCat) process the data only on our behalf.

4. Backups and Retention

If you export a backup or a word list, it goes only where you choose to save or send it. We never receive a copy.

Your phone's own backup service (such as iCloud Backup on iOS or device backup on Android) may include the app's local study progress. Those backups are handled by Apple or Google under your account and controlled by your device settings. We cannot see or access them.

Your account and its synced progress are kept until you delete the account. Crash reports are kept for 90 days. Usage analytics events are kept for up to 14 months and then deleted automatically. Purchase records are kept by RevenueCat as described below.

5. Website

This website has no accounts. What it handles:

• Contact Form: If you send us a message, the name, email address, topic and message you enter are delivered to our support inbox through our email service provider. We use them only to reply to you and keep them only as long as needed to answer your request.
• Hosting Logs: The website's hosting provider keeps standard request logs (such as IP address, browser user agent and the page requested) for security and to keep the site running.
• Fonts: The website loads its fonts from a third-party font service, so your browser requests the font files from that service's servers.
• No Tracking: The website does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies.
• Language Choice: The website remembers the language you choose in your browser's local storage and uses it only for that.

7. Children's Privacy

Our service provides general educational language material and does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. If you believe a minor has submitted personal data to us, please notify us immediately so we can remove it.

8. Contact and Inquiries

If you have any questions, concerns, or privacy requests regarding this policy, please reach out to our dedicated support team: