Privacy Policy

Last updated July 12, 2026

Wakaru is built to keep your data on your device. There are no accounts, no analytics, and no tracking. We do not collect, store, or sell your personal information.

What stays on your device

These features work entirely on your iPhone and send nothing to us or anyone else:

• Japanese and kanji dictionary lookups, from a dictionary built into the app.
• Your saved vocabulary queue.
• Anki export files, which you share yourself through the iOS share sheet.
• Study-time totals from the calendar events you choose and from Screen Time, which are read and summarized on device.

The AI features

Four optional features use AI: grammar explanations, reply checks, manga text recognition, and the higher-quality audio voices. When you use one of them, the specific text or image you are working on, or the text you ask to have read aloud, is sent to OpenRouter using your own OpenRouter API key, so the AI model you chose can generate a result. Wakaru does not run its own servers and does not receive or store this content. OpenRouter and the model provider you select handle the request under their own terms, so please review the OpenRouter Privacy Policy.

These features stay off until you add an API key, so nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to use them.

Your API key

Your OpenRouter API key is stored securely in the iOS Keychain on your device. It is sent only to OpenRouter, to authenticate your own requests.

Camera

Wakaru uses the camera only when you capture a manga panel to scan. That image is used for the text-recognition request described above and is not stored by Wakaru.

Calendar and Screen Time

If you choose to track study time, Wakaru reads your calendar and Screen Time data on your device to total the time you spent. This information is not transmitted off your device.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new date above.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email wakaru@btcohen.com.