Privacy policy

Updated 20 October 2026

Watashi is an English and Japanese travel app for iPhone. No account creation required, and no data collection: nothing you type, say or scan is sent to us, and the app has no analytics, crash reporting, ads or tracking. The app has the same text in Settings › Privacy.

What stays on your phone

• History: what you translated, in both languages, when, and the place you had open, such as Hotel.
• Favourites and Learn: the phrases you starred and how your practice cards are going.
• Saved translations: up to 2,000 of the translator's results, so a repeated sentence is instant.
• Allergy card: the allergies, diet and medical needs you pick, to show staff in Japanese.
• Your settings, the currency rate you type in, and your last picks in the places.
• Your pass: which pass you bought and when it started. It sits in your iPhone's keychain, so it stays if you delete and reinstall the app.
• When Sync with iCloud is on (Settings › Your things; on by default when you are signed in to iCloud), History, conversations, favourites, Learn progress and your Allergy card are stored in your own iCloud account through Apple's CloudKit. We cannot read them, and turning sync off leaves the copy already there. Your iPhone backup includes them, as it does for any app's data.

What stays on your phone, and the one copy you choose

• What you type, and every translation: the translator, the phrasebook and the voices run on your iPhone. A copy goes only to your own iCloud, in History, while Sync with iCloud is on.
• What you say. The microphone listens only while you tap the mic and it listens, or while Live is on, from a hold on the mic until you end it. Speech becomes text on your iPhone, and no audio is kept.
• What you scan. The camera runs only while the camera is open; the text is read on your iPhone and the photo is not kept unless you choose Save Image.
• Share sends your card, a menu card or a photo only where you choose.

The network

• Watashi itself uses the network only for Sync with iCloud, which goes through Apple to your own iCloud account.
• Buying or restoring a pass goes through Apple's App Store, not through us. We receive no payment or personal details.
• When Watashi cannot translate a sentence well, Literal translation opens Apple's translation panel, which is part of iOS. If Japanese is not on your iPhone yet, that panel may offer to download it from Apple. Nothing downloads unless you accept.

Permissions

• Microphone: to hear what you want to translate, only while you tap the mic and it listens, or while Live is on.
• Camera: to read a menu or sign, only while the camera is open.
• Photos, add only: to save a photo with its translation, only when you choose Save Image. Watashi cannot see your library.
• You can turn each one off at any time in the iPhone's Settings app.

Clearing your data

• History › Clear all removes your history, favourites, Learn progress and saved translations.
• History › hold a line › Delete removes that line and its Learn progress.
• Settings › Home currency › clearing the field removes your currency rate.
• Allergy card › Edit changes your card.
• Deleting the app removes everything on the phone except your pass.

This website

• watashiapp.com sets no cookies, runs no analytics, has no scripts that track you and loads nothing from other sites. It uses your device's own fonts.
• The site is served by Cloudflare, which handles each request to deliver the page, as any web host does. We do not use its analytics and keep no visitor logs of our own.

Children

Watashi collects no data from anyone, children included.

Changes and questions

If this policy changes, we update this page and the date above. For questions, write to support@watashiapp.com.