Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 18, 2026

What Aloud does

Aloud is a macOS dictation app. You hold a key, speak, and your words are transcribed and typed into the active app. All transcription happens locally on your Mac using on-device machine learning models.

Audio and transcripts

Audio recorded through your microphone is processed entirely on your device. It is never uploaded to any server, never stored on disk after transcription completes, and never shared with any third party. The transcribed text is delivered directly to your active app.

Usage statistics

Aloud tracks basic usage stats locally on your device (words dictated, sessions, streaks). This data is stored only in your Mac's local preferences and is never transmitted anywhere.

Google Drive backup (optional)

If you choose to connect your Google account, Aloud uses the drive.appdata scope to store a backup of your local settings in a private, hidden app folder in your Google Drive. This folder is not visible in your normal Drive files and can only be accessed by Aloud. No transcripts or audio are ever written to Drive.

Connecting Google is entirely optional. You can disconnect at any time from the Account pane in Settings, which immediately revokes access and removes stored tokens from your Mac's Keychain.

How your Google data is stored

The only Google data Aloud handles is the settings backup it writes to your private drive.appdata folder and the OAuth access token used to reach it. The backup lives only in your own Google Drive, never on any Aloud server, and Aloud operates no backend that receives, stores, or processes your Google user data. The access and refresh tokens are kept solely in your Mac's Keychain. When you disconnect Google from the Account pane in Settings, those tokens are deleted from your Mac and access is revoked immediately; you can also delete the backup at any time by removing Aloud's app data from your Google account.

How we share your Google data

Aloud does not transfer, sell, rent, or share your Google user data with any third party. Your Google data stays between your device and your own Google Drive account and is used only to provide the optional settings-backup feature described above. Aloud's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Permissions

Aloud requests the following macOS permissions:

• Microphone - to record your speech for transcription.
• Accessibility - to detect which app and text field is focused so your transcript is delivered to the right place, and to simulate the paste keystroke.

Neither permission is used for any purpose beyond the dictation flow described above.

Data sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share your data with any third party. Aloud does not include any analytics SDKs, advertising libraries, or crash reporting services.

Children

Aloud is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect any information from them.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of Aloud after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email us at himanshugupta0033@gmail.com.