Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how SimpleLM ("we," "us," or "our") handles information when you use the SimpleLM mobile application for iOS and the pages at simplelm.co (together, the "Service").

SimpleLM is built around a simple idea: your conversations belong to you, not to an audience. The app runs artificial intelligence on your device. We do not ask you to create an account with us. We do not operate servers that receive your chats, your documents, or your prompts in readable form.

Please read this policy carefully. By using SimpleLM, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

Who we are

SimpleLM publishes this app and the pages at simplelm.co. For privacy questions or requests described in this policy, contact us at privacy@simplelm.co.

This policy applies to the SimpleLM app distributed on the Apple App Store and to the SimpleLM product pages at simplelm.co. It does not cover third party websites you may reach through links inside the app, such as Apple's subscription management pages.

Summary

Most of what SimpleLM knows about you stays on your iPhone or iPad. When you type, speak, attach a file, or ask a question, the app processes that material locally on your device. We do not send your message content to our servers. We do not use third party analytics SDKs, advertising networks, or cloud AI APIs to read your data.

If you subscribe to SimpleLM Pro, billing is handled entirely by Apple. We learn only whether your Apple ID currently has an active Pro entitlement, not your payment card details.

If you turn on iCloud Sync (a Pro feature), encrypted copies of selected data are stored in your personal iCloud account through Apple. We designed that sync so that we cannot read what is stored there. Apple holds the data under your Apple ID, subject to Apple's own terms and privacy policy.

That is the picture in brief. The sections below describe each part in detail.

We do not offer SimpleLM accounts

SimpleLM does not require registration with SimpleLM. There is no email and password login, no Sign in with Apple flow for a SimpleLM identity, and no user profile hosted on our servers.

You may enter a display name, an assistant name, personality preferences, and short custom instructions during onboarding or in Settings. These are local preferences that shape how the assistant talks to you. They are not an account record and they are not used to identify you to us across devices unless you separately enable iCloud Sync, in which case an encrypted copy of your profile preferences may be stored in your iCloud private database as described later in this policy.

Information the app handles

The following categories describe data that SimpleLM creates, stores, or processes on your device to provide its features. Unless this policy says otherwise, this information is not transmitted to us in a form we can read.

Profile and assistant preferences

You may provide a display name (up to fifty characters), a name for the assistant (up to thirty characters), selected personality presets, a short preferences string (up to two hundred characters), and custom instructions (up to three hundred characters). This information is stored locally on your device. It is used to personalize responses. It is not required for basic chat functionality beyond what the app chooses to ask during onboarding.

Conversations and messages

SimpleLM stores your chat history on device. Each conversation includes a title, creation and update times, an optional link to a project, and the messages inside it. Messages include the role (user or assistant), text content, timestamps, attachment references, and in some cases short technical metadata about a response or a text caption describing an attached image after on-device analysis.

Your conversations are encrypted at rest on your device, as described under Encryption below.

Projects and documents

You may create projects and add documents so the assistant can answer with reference to your own files. The app stores document metadata (name, type, size, project association), searchable text extracted from those files, indexes used to find relevant passages, and a copy of the original file on disk. Supported formats include PDF, plain text, Markdown, Word and Excel family formats, presentations, EPUB, HTML, JSON, XML, and similar types.

Most extracted text and indexes are encrypted by the app. Original imported files are protected by the operating system's own file protection in addition to living inside the app sandbox.

A small local file used only to list project documents in the interface is not synced to iCloud.

Photos, images, and video

You may attach photos using Apple's system photo picker or import video using the system file picker. Saved image files are stored locally, organized by conversation. When vision features are enabled (SimpleLM Pro), the app may analyze an image on device and store a text caption derived from that analysis. Image pixels are not synced to iCloud. If iCloud Sync is on, the text caption may be included inside encrypted message data that syncs.

Voice input and speech output

SimpleLM Pro includes voice features. When you use voice mode, the app accesses your microphone and uses Apple's speech recognition to convert speech to text. The resulting transcript is stored as an ordinary chat message. The app is designed to work from text rather than to keep permanent recordings of raw microphone audio on disk.

Spoken responses are generated on device using a local voice model.

Important note about speech recognition: In voice chat mode, the app may send audio to Apple's speech recognition service when on-device recognition is unavailable. Speech recognition is subject to Apple's privacy policy and terms. We do not receive a separate copy of that audio.

Optical character recognition

When you use OCR features (SimpleLM Pro), the app uses Apple's Vision framework on device to extract text from images or documents you provide. Extracted text is used inside the app and stored according to the same rules as other user content.

Roles and personas

The app lets you apply role personas during chat. Custom roles you create during a session are held in memory and are not persisted across app restarts in the current version. The app may record locally which role was associated with which message. That attribution is not synced to iCloud.

App settings

SimpleLM stores settings such as appearance mode, text size, whether you completed onboarding, whether iCloud Sync is enabled, and display preferences for widgets and assistant behavior. Some preferences are stored in encrypted local files. Context that is rebuilt automatically from your messages and search indexes built from your documents stay on device only and are not uploaded as separate sync items.

Subscription and purchase status

When you buy or restore SimpleLM Pro, Apple processes payment and tells the app whether you currently have an active Pro entitlement. We do not collect or store your payment card number, billing address, or Apple ID password.

Information we do not collect

SimpleLM does not access or collect location data, contact lists, health or medical data, calendar entries, Bluetooth peripherals, advertising identifiers, or cross-app tracking data.

We do not embed third party analytics, crash reporting, or advertising SDKs that collect usage data on our behalf.

We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information with data brokers. We do not use your chats, documents, or prompts to train our models or any third party model.

How we use information

We use the information described above only to operate and improve the SimpleLM experience on your device:

To generate assistant responses, to keep context within each conversation, to find relevant passages in documents you added to projects, to display formatted replies including mathematics and code, to import conversation exports you choose to bring from other assistants, and to honor your subscription status for Pro features.

Because we do not operate a backend that stores readable user content, we do not use your data for targeted advertising, email marketing lists, or profiling across unrelated services.

The app may write diagnostic information to Apple's on-device logging facilities. We do not operate a remote log collection service fed by your usage.

Legal bases for processing (EEA, UK, and similar jurisdictions)

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction that requires a stated legal basis, we rely on the following:

Performance of a contract. Processing necessary to provide the app you requested, including local storage of chats and documents and, if you subscribe, verification of Pro entitlements through Apple.

Legitimate interests. Maintaining app security and integrity on device, and responding to support or privacy requests you send us, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.

Consent. Where Apple system permissions are involved (microphone and speech recognition), processing relies on your permission through iOS. You may revoke permissions in Settings at any time, though some features will stop working without them.

Optional sync. iCloud Sync is off unless you enable it. Enabling sync is a choice you make in Settings while signed into iCloud on a Pro plan.

We do not require you to create an account to use SimpleLM.

Where information is stored

On your device

The majority of SimpleLM data lives in the app's private storage on your iPhone or iPad. This includes encrypted chat files, document indexes, search data derived from your projects, each chat's working context, locally saved image attachments, and your profile preferences.

Each chat keeps its own context on device. That context is not uploaded as a separate item when you sync. It can be rebuilt from your messages when needed.

Uninstalling SimpleLM removes app data from that device. Some data may remain in device backups according to your iOS backup settings.

In your iCloud account (optional, Pro only)

If you have SimpleLM Pro and turn on iCloud Sync in Settings → Privacy, the app writes encrypted records to your private iCloud database tied to your Apple ID. This is not a cloud we operate.

Synced categories include conversation metadata, individual messages, project document metadata and file contents, project metadata, and your profile preference data.

Not synced even when iCloud Sync is on: each chat's locally rebuilt context, document search indexes, locally stored image files, role attribution, certain app preferences, and in-memory custom roles.

You can turn off iCloud Sync at any time in Settings. Turning sync off stops new uploads. It does not by itself erase data already stored in iCloud.

Apple's iCloud terms and privacy policy govern Apple's handling of that storage: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/

We do not maintain a separate readable copy of your iCloud data on our servers.

Encryption and security

SimpleLM uses industry-standard protections appropriate to a local-first app.

Chat files, indexes, and most structured app data are encrypted at rest on your device. Encryption keys are stored in the iOS Keychain. When you enable iCloud Sync, data is encrypted before it leaves your device. We cannot read the contents of synced records. Keys needed to decrypt synced data on your other devices are distributed through Apple's iCloud Keychain under your Apple ID.

Imported project files rely on iOS file protection in addition to living inside the app sandbox.

No method of electronic storage is perfectly secure. We work to protect data on device and to ensure we cannot read your synced ciphertext, but you should also protect your device with a passcode or biometric lock and protect your Apple ID credentials.

The app uses standard encryption provided by Apple platforms and declares this to Apple for export compliance where required.

On-device artificial intelligence

SimpleLM's language, vision, speech, and document search features run on your device. Your prompts and the assistant's replies are processed locally. We do not send them to our servers or to third party cloud AI providers for inference.

ChatGPT and Claude are supported only as import sources: you may load an export file you obtained from those services, and the app parses it locally if you use Bring Your Chats (Pro).

We do not train machine learning models on your content. We do not build advertising profiles from your usage.

Assistant responses are generated automatically and may be inaccurate or incomplete. They are not professional, medical, legal, or financial advice.

Apple services we rely on

SimpleLM integrates with several Apple services that may process limited data under Apple's control:

App Store and in-app purchases. Purchases, restores, and subscription status.

iCloud. Optional encrypted sync and key distribution across your devices, as described above.

Speech recognition. Voice input, potentially including server-side processing by Apple in voice chat mode as noted above.

Vision and microphone. OCR, on-device image analysis, and audio capture when you use those features.

Each of these services is governed by Apple's agreements and privacy policy. We encourage you to review Apple's documentation if you use iCloud or speech features.

When you tap links inside SimpleLM to our website (including this policy and our Terms of Use), to a feedback page, or to Apple's subscription management URL, those navigations are initiated by you. Our website pages are separate from the on-device processing described above.

Device permissions

SimpleLM may request the following iOS permissions when you use related features:

Microphone, to capture voice input.

Speech recognition, to convert voice to text.

The app uses the system photo picker to attach images without requesting blanket photo library access. It uses the system document picker to import files, videos, and chat export archives.

You can manage permissions in iOS Settings → SimpleLM. Denying a permission disables the feature that requires it but does not delete existing local data.

Bring Your Chats (import)

SimpleLM Pro can import conversation exports from ChatGPT and Claude (ZIP archives or conversations.json files). You select the file through the system file picker. Parsing happens entirely on your device. The app extracts text turns, creates local conversations marked as imported, and adds that text to each conversation's on-device context.

Multimodal content, tool traces, and non-text blocks from third party exports are not imported in full. Nothing from that import is uploaded to our servers.

Previewing how many conversations an export contains is available without Pro. Performing the full import requires Pro.

Import formats for other assistants may be added in future versions. This policy will be updated if new import sources materially change data handling.

Subscriptions and free tier

SimpleLM offers a free tier and an optional Pro subscription sold through Apple's In-App Purchase system.

The free tier includes unlimited chats with a per-conversation context limit, limited numbers of projects and documents, and on-device document search and reasoning features.

Pro adds unlimited context per conversation, unlimited projects and documents, voice and vision features, iCloud Sync, and full chat import.

Payment processing is performed by Apple. We do not receive your full payment instrument details. Subscription management, cancellation, and refunds are handled through Apple's account settings unless applicable law provides otherwise. Active subscriptions may continue to bill through Apple even after you delete local app data unless you cancel the subscription separately.

Retention

We retain information only as long as needed to provide the Service on your device or, if you enable it, in your iCloud account.

Local data remains until you delete it through in-app controls, until you uninstall the app, or until you erase your device.

Synced data in iCloud remains until you delete it through in-app deletion actions, until you remove SimpleLM data from iCloud in iOS Settings, or until you delete your iCloud account according to Apple's processes.

If you contact us at our privacy email, we retain correspondence long enough to address your request and comply with law.

We do not operate long-term archival servers for readable user chats or documents.

How to delete your information

You stay in control. SimpleLM provides the following in-app actions under Settings → Privacy:

You can delete all chats, which removes local conversation files, indexes, associated context, and locally stored image attachments for those chats. You can delete all projects, which removes project files, search indexes, and chats linked to projects.

You can also delete individual conversations, projects, or documents from their respective screens.

Uninstalling SimpleLM from your device removes local app data from that device.

If you use iCloud Sync

Because synced data lives in your Apple iCloud private database, complete removal across devices may require more than one step:

First, turn off iCloud Sync in SimpleLM Settings if it is enabled.

Second, use the in-app deletion actions above for the categories you want removed.

Third, on each device where you used SimpleLM, open iOS Settings → [your name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage (or Manage Storage) and remove SimpleLM data if it appears there.

We designed sync so we cannot remotely wipe your iCloud on your behalf. Deletion is initiated by you on your devices and through your Apple account controls.

Please note: In the current app version, deleting all chats at once may not remove every related encrypted record from iCloud in the same way deleting a single chat does. After bulk local deletion, encrypted copies that no longer have a local counterpart may temporarily remain in your iCloud private database until a future app update improves this behavior or until you remove app data from iCloud through iOS Settings. We describe this openly so you can make an informed choice about sync.

There is no separate SimpleLM account to close. Profile preferences can be edited or cleared by resetting the fields in Settings or by deleting synced profile data as described above.

If you have an active Pro subscription and wish to stop billing, cancel through Apple at https://apps.apple.com/account/subscriptions or through iOS Settings → Apple ID → Subscriptions. Canceling a subscription does not automatically erase stored data.

Sharing and disclosure

We do not sell or rent personal information.

We do not share personal information with third parties for their independent marketing purposes.

Data you sync through iCloud is stored with Apple as your cloud provider under your Apple ID. Apple is not receiving data from us in readable form.

We may disclose information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or to protect the rights, safety, and integrity of SimpleLM, our users, or the public, to the extent we have such information and applicable law permits. Because SimpleLM does not centrally store readable user chats, our ability to produce user message content in response to legal process is inherently limited to what we actually hold.

If SimpleLM is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, we will update this policy and notify users as required by law before personal information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

International users and transfers

SimpleLM is available in multiple countries. Primary processing occurs on your device. If you enable iCloud Sync, Apple may store encrypted data in data centers according to your Apple ID region and Apple's policies. We do not control Apple's data center locations.

If you are in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you have rights described in the next section. If you are in California or other U.S. states with privacy laws, you may have additional rights regarding access, deletion, and opt-out of sale or sharing. SimpleLM does not sell personal information as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act.

If you are in Türkiye or other jurisdictions with local privacy laws, you may contact us to exercise applicable rights.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request access to personal information, correction of inaccurate information, deletion, restriction of processing, objection to processing, or portability of information you provided.

Because SimpleLM stores most data locally and does not maintain user accounts, the fastest way to access or delete your data is often through the app controls and iOS Settings described above. If you need help or wish to exercise privacy rights, email our privacy contact with the subject line "Privacy request" and describe your request. We may ask you to verify that you control the device or Apple ID associated with the request where reasonable.

We will respond within the time frame required by applicable law. We do not discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

If you are in the EEA or UK and believe we have not addressed your concern, you may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Children's privacy

SimpleLM is not directed to children under thirteen years of age, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under thirteen. Because the app does not require an account and does not ask for age during setup, parents and guardians should supervise minors' use of the device and Apple ID.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us through support email in violation of this policy, contact our privacy email and we will take appropriate steps to delete correspondence we control.

Tracking and the App Store privacy label

SimpleLM does not track you across other companies' apps and websites for advertising purposes. Apple's App Store privacy labels for SimpleLM are completed based on this policy. If you see a discrepancy between the label, this policy, and your experience, please contact us.

Third party software

SimpleLM includes embedded software libraries that run locally on your device. They are not used to transmit your content to their authors. License notices ship with the app as required.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect product changes, legal requirements, or improvements in clarity. When we make material changes, we will post the updated policy at /privacy and update the "Last updated" date at the top. For significant changes, we may also notify you through the app or App Store release notes where appropriate.

Continued use of SimpleLM after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

SimpleLM Email: privacy@simplelm.co Web: simplelm.co/privacy

For subscription billing questions, Apple is often the correct contact. For everything related to how SimpleLM handles information, start with the email above.

This Privacy Policy is intended to describe actual product behavior. It is not legal advice. Qualified attorney review is recommended before publication if your situation requires formal legal sign-off.