What BookWords collects
BookWords uses your device's camera to read words from physical books via on-device text recognition. Photos captured for this purpose are processed on your phone and are not uploaded to any server. Once a flashcard is created and approved, the photo is discarded — it is not stored, backed up, or retained.
Words and flashcards
Words you capture, along with their definitions, kid-friendly explanations, pronunciations, and synonyms, are stored locally on your device (via Apple's SwiftData framework). This library is not uploaded to a cloud service in the current version of the app.
Account & sign-in
Sign in with Apple is available and optional. If used, Apple provides BookWords only the minimal identity information you approve at sign-in. BookWords does not receive or store your Apple ID password.
Third-party services
To build flashcards, BookWords sends the captured word (not your photo, not your name) to the Free Dictionary API for definitions and to the Datamuse API as a fallback for synonyms. These lookups are limited to the word itself.
Children's privacy
BookWords is designed to be operated by a parent or caregiver, not directly by a child. The app does not knowingly collect personal information from children, does not include ads, and does not include any social or messaging features.
Data sharing & sale
BookWords does not sell your data. It does not share your library, photos, or account information with advertisers or data brokers.
Your choices
You can delete any word or your entire library at any time from within the app. Because data is stored locally, uninstalling the app removes it from your device.
Changes to this policy
As BookWords adds features like cloud sync, this policy will be updated to reflect them before those features ship. We'll update the date at the top of this page whenever that happens.