Last updated: 10 September 2026
Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
Dog Translator ("the app") is developed and published by heyisoft ("we", "us"). For any privacy matter, write to heyisoft@gmail.com.
2. What this policy covers
This policy covers the Dog Translator mobile application for iOS and Android, and this website. It explains what the app handles, where it is processed, and the choices you have.
3. Information the app handles
| Data | Where it lives | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Dog sound recordings (the audio you capture with the microphone) | On your device only. Analysed locally; never transmitted | Working out what the bark sounds like and letting you replay it in the diary |
| Dog profiles (name, age, breed, sex, weight, notes) and photos | On your device only | Personalising the app and showing your dog’s profile |
| Diary entries and chat history | On your device only | Building a picture of your dog’s voice over time |
| App settings (language, theme, colour) | On your device only | Remembering your preferences |
| Anonymous usage events (which screens open, whether an analysis succeeded or was rejected and why, which phrase category was used) plus basic technical data (device model, OS version, app version, language, coarse region) | Processed by Google Firebase Analytics | Seeing, in aggregate, where the app trips people up so we can fix it |
| Crash reports (stack traces, device state at the time of a crash) | Processed by Google Firebase Crashlytics | Finding and fixing crashes |
| Advertising identifier (Android advertising ID / Apple IDFA), IP address, device and app information, and whether an ad was requested, shown or completed | Processed by Google AdMob — only when you choose to watch a rewarded video | Showing that video, limiting how often ads appear, measuring them and preventing fraud |
| Purchase receipt for the optional subscription (product, purchase and renewal dates, store country) and an anonymous identifier generated for your install | Processed by RevenueCat; the payment itself is handled by Apple or Google | Checking that a subscription is valid and restoring it when you change phone |
4. What we do not collect
- No audio ever leaves your phone. The sound model runs on the device; there is no server to send it to.
- No photos, no notes, no dog names, no diary content.
- No account, e-mail address, name or phone number — the app has no sign-up.
- No contacts, files or precise location.
- No ads in the recording, the analysis or the translation — that part is free and is never behind an ad or a paywall.
- No banner, interstitial or launch ads anywhere in the app; the only ad is a rewarded video you choose to watch.
- No card details — a subscription is paid to Apple or Google, and we never receive your payment data.
5. How the sound analysis works
When you record your dog, the app measures acoustic properties of the sound — duration, pitch, how the pitch moves, roughness, harmonic structure — and compares them against a model that ships inside the app. All of this happens on your phone, offline. Nothing is streamed, queued or uploaded. If you delete a recording, it is gone.
Dog Translator is not a veterinary device and does not diagnose. Its "health radar" only points out when your dog’s own pattern shifts from its usual. If something feels off with your dog, talk to your vet.
6. Analytics and crash reporting
To keep improving the app we use Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics. They record anonymous events — for example that an analysis was attempted and whether it succeeded — together with basic technical data such as device model, operating-system version and app version. This is used in aggregate; it is not tied to your name or an account (there is none), it is never sold, and it never carries the content of your recordings, photos or notes. Both services are covered by Firebase's privacy terms and Google's Privacy Policy.
7. Advertising
Dog Translator shows one kind of ad, and only when you ask for it: a rewarded video you can choose to watch to open the extra chat phrases for three hours. There are no banners, no interstitials and no ads on launch. Watching is always optional — recording, analysis and translation are free and are never placed behind an ad.
Rewarded videos are served by Google AdMob (the Google Mobile Ads SDK). To deliver, cap and measure an ad, and to detect fraud, Google receives your device's advertising identifier (Android advertising ID / Apple IDFA), your IP address — from which an approximate region is derived — device and app information, and the fact that an ad was requested, shown or completed. Google's use of this data is described in How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services. We never pass an ad network your recordings, photos, notes or your dog’s name.
Your choices. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland you are asked for consent before any ad is requested, through Google's own consent form; you can change that answer at any time from Settings → Ad privacy choices in the app. On iOS you are also asked for App Tracking Transparency permission — if you decline, ads become non-personalised and everything else keeps working. On Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in the system settings; on iOS you can switch tracking off for all apps.
8. Purchases and subscriptions
There is one optional subscription — Dog Translator Pro, US$1.99 per month, shown in your own currency in the app — which keeps the extra phrases open for as long as it is active. Payment is taken by Apple or Google, never by us: we never see your card, your billing address or your name.
We use RevenueCat to check that a subscription is valid and to restore it when you reinstall or change phone. RevenueCat receives the store's purchase receipt — product, purchase and renewal dates, store country — together with an anonymous identifier the app generates for your install. It is not tied to your name or an e-mail address, because the app has neither. See RevenueCat's privacy policy. The three-hour pass earned from a video never leaves your device.
9. Permissions the app asks for
- Microphone — required. It is the whole point of the app: recording your dog’s bark. Audio is analysed locally and never uploaded.
- Camera — optional. Only to take a profile photo of your dog.
- Photo library — optional. Only to pick a profile photo of your dog.
- App Tracking Transparency (iOS only) — optional. Asked in connection with advertising; declining keeps everything working, with non-personalised ads.
You can refuse or withdraw any of these in your system settings. Without the microphone the analysis cannot run, but the rest of the app still works.
10. Device backups
Because your data lives on the device, it may be included in the backup you control (Google One / iCloud), encrypted by Google or Apple. We never receive that backup. On Android we go a step further and exclude sound recordings and photos from cloud backup; they are still carried over on a direct phone-to-phone transfer, which does not pass through anyone's cloud.
11. Legal bases (GDPR / KVKK)
- Performance of contract — running the app you installed and processing recordings on your device to give you the result you asked for.
- Legitimate interests — anonymous analytics and crash reporting to keep the app working and improve it.
12. Retention
- Everything on your device stays until you delete it — per item, or all at once with Settings → Your data → Erase all my data — or until you uninstall the app.
- Analytics and crash data are retained by Google under Firebase's own retention settings.
13. Your rights
Depending on your jurisdiction (including GDPR and Turkish KVKK) you may have the right to access, correct, delete or object to the processing of your personal data. Because essentially everything lives on your device, the most direct tool is the in-app Erase all my data action, which removes profiles, diary, chat, recordings and photos for good. For anything else, write to heyisoft@gmail.com and we will respond within 30 days.
14. Children
Dog Translator is a general-audience app about pets and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly process children's data.
15. Credits
The dog sounds bundled with the app are real field recordings, not synthesis. Every clip comes from Freesound: 34 are CC0 (public domain) and 16 are Creative Commons Attribution (BY 3.0 / BY 4.0). Attribution licences require credit, so the full clip-by-clip credit list — title, author, licence and a link back to the recording — ships inside the app, under Settings → Sound sources. We read each licence off its own source page rather than trusting a search filter, and we discarded every recording whose page carried any trace of another species. What we changed in each recording: a single vocalisation window was trimmed, everything below 80 Hz was filtered out, and the level was normalised.
The sound model was trained on the openly licensed subset of FSD50K — Fonseca, Favory, Pons, Font and Serra (IEEE/ACM TASLP, 2022) — restricted to clips released under CC0 or CC BY 3.0, plus additional CC0 Freesound recordings. Datasets carrying a NonCommercial clause were deliberately excluded.
16. Changes
We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected here with a new "last updated" date. Continuing to use the app after a change means you accept the updated policy.
17. Contact
heyisoft · heyisoft@gmail.com · Contact & Support