Last updated October 21, 2026
Readwalk reads text to you. It has no accounts, no ads, and no tracking. This page explains the little data the app does handle.
Everything you add to Readwalk — pasted text, imported files, scans, web pages you open — is stored only on your device. Web pages are downloaded directly by your phone. Scanned pages are read with Apple's on-device text recognition.
When you listen with Studio voices, the text being read is sent in small pieces over an encrypted connection to our server, which forwards it to Cartesia to generate the audio. We don't store your text; it's used only to create the audio and then discarded. Cartesia processes it under its own privacy policy. The generated audio is saved on your phone so replaying doesn't require sending it again.
To check your subscription and how many of your monthly Studio-voice hours you've used, the app sends our server the subscription receipt Apple provides (and, if you buy extra hours, that purchase's receipt). From them we keep only anonymous transaction numbers, renewal dates, and a count of characters read. We never receive your name, email address, Apple Account, or payment details — Apple handles all payments.
The Standard voice is generated entirely on your iPhone. Text read with it never leaves your device. The first time you use it, the app downloads the voice model (about 120 MB) from Hugging Face; that download doesn't include anything about you or what you read.
When you first open Readwalk, it asks a few optional questions: what you'd like to listen to, how much is waiting in your reading list, when and how long you'd listen, and why. Your answers are sent to our server with a random identifier that isn't connected to your name, your device, or your Apple Account. If you start a trial or subscription, we note that this identifier did. We use these answers only to understand who Readwalk is for and to improve it. We never sell them or share them with advertisers.
Before you subscribe, Readwalk lets you hear a short sample of your own text. That text is sent to our server and Cartesia only to create the clip, and isn't kept. To limit how many free samples can be made each day, we keep a scrambled (hashed) version of your network address for that day only, then delete it.
If you add your own ElevenLabs or Cartesia API key, it's stored only in your iPhone's Keychain, on that device alone: it isn't included in backups or moved to a new phone. The key and the text being read are sent only to the service you chose (ElevenLabs or Cartesia), directly from your phone. Readwalk never receives your key. You can remove it anytime in Voice Settings.
Readwalk isn't directed at children under 13 and doesn't knowingly collect their information.
If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date above. Questions? Email trevornrichardson@gmail.com.