Mollu (“the app”) is an iPhone and iPad app that recognizes and translates text in screenshots, photos, and scenes you capture with the camera. The app has no accounts and no advertising, analytics, or tracking tools. Except for problem reports you send and diagnostics you choose to send automatically, the developer does not collect or receive your information.
1. Information processed on your device
- Screenshots, photos, and camera: Text in a screenshot passed from Shortcuts, a photo you pick, or a photo taken with the app’s “Translate with Camera” is read with the on-device text recognition model built into the app (PP-OCR, or Apple’s Vision for some languages) and, by default, translated with Apple’s on-device Translation framework. This happens on your device. Camera photos are not saved to your photo library; they are kept in your translation history only if history is turned on.
- Read Aloud: when you tap Read Aloud in the translation list, iOS’s on-device speech synthesis reads the text.
- Translation history: Translated screens (translated image, original image, recognized text and translations) are kept on your device only for the period you choose. The default is 7 days; you can choose Off, 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, or Forever in Settings. Expired items are deleted automatically, and you can delete them at any time. Up to 200 items are kept (including with Forever); beyond that, the oldest are deleted first. History is excluded from iCloud backups.
- Settings: App settings such as the target language, engine, and glossary (terms and translations you add) are stored on your device.
- API keys: API keys you enter for AI translation services are stored only in your device’s Keychain and are not synced to other devices.
2. Information sent off your device (optional)
Only if you choose AI translation (Claude, GPT, or Gemini) in Settings and consent to sending text to that service:
- What is sent: the recognized text and the target language, plus any glossary terms that appear in that text. Images are never sent.
- Recipient: the provider you selected (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google). The app sends requests directly to that service with your own API key; nothing passes through the developer’s servers.
- Processing: the text is processed under your API account according to the provider’s policies: Anthropic · OpenAI · Google
- You can withdraw consent in Settings at any time; after that, no text is sent to that service.
Problem reports: Only when you tap Send in Settings → Report a Problem, your description and diagnostic information are sent to the developer’s report server (mollu.nyabi.me). Diagnostics include the app version, device model, iOS version, language and translation settings, whether recent translations succeeded along with their durations and error messages, and crash/hang diagnostics provided by iOS (MetricKit). They never include the translated text, images, or API keys, and you can review everything before sending. Your device keeps only the latest 50 translation results and 10 crash diagnostics, which you can delete from the Report a Problem screen.
Automatic diagnostics: Only if you turn this on during setup or in Settings → Diagnostics, the same diagnostic information is sent to the report server automatically when a translation fails completely (at most once an hour) or when iOS delivers crash/hang diagnostics. It is off by default.
The report server does not store your IP address (it is held briefly in memory for rate limiting only). To notify the developer that a report arrived, only the app version, device model and iOS version, error message, the length of your description, and the report file name are passed to the notification service ntfy.sh; your written description is not. Reports are used only to fix problems, are deleted once resolved, and are automatically deleted after 90 days at the latest. After you send a problem report, the app shows a report number. To have a report you sent deleted, contact us below with the report number (or the date you sent it and your device model).
Apple Translation language packs are downloaded by iOS from Apple, subject to Apple’s Privacy Policy.
3. Permissions
- Camera: the camera is on only while the “Translate with Camera” screen is open, and only the single photo you take is used for translation. No video or audio is recorded.
- Photo picker: only the photos you select are given to the app. The app does not read your whole library.
- Add to Photos: a translated image is saved only when you choose to save it from the share sheet.
- Face ID: if you lock your history, iOS handles authentication; the app never accesses biometric data.
4. Retention and deletion
Everything the app stores stays on your device. Delete it in Settings → History → Delete All History, or by deleting the app. API keys are an exception: because of how the iOS Keychain works, they may remain on the device after the app is deleted, and are removed the first time the app is launched after reinstalling. To remove them right away, clear your API keys in Settings before deleting the app.
5. Children
The app is not directed to children and does not collect children’s personal information.
6. Changes
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new effective date.
7. Contact
For privacy questions, email nyabi@tb.pro or open an issue on GitHub Issues.