VoxdenVoxden is a dictation app for Windows, Mac and Android made by Sounak. This page says what it keeps, where, and what you can do about it. It is written to match what the software does; if the software changes, this page changes with it.
On your PC
Dictation on the Free plan runs entirely on your computer. Your voice is turned into text by a speech model installed on your PC and never leaves it.
Voxden keeps these on your PC, in its own data folder, and nowhere else:
- Your dictation history, so you can copy or review what you said.
- Your personal dictionary and the words it learns from your corrections.
- Audio recordings only if you turn on Keep recordings or Keep audio for training in Settings. Both are off by default, and you can delete the recordings from Settings at any time.
- Your settings.
On your Android phone
Voxden for Android keeps the same promises as the PC app: no ads, no selling data, no analytics. This section says what is different on a phone.
Dictating with your phone’s speech engine (Free plan)
Your voice is turned into text by the speech recognition service built into your phone, which is usually Google’s. Voxden receives the text, not the audio, and does not keep any audio. Whether your voice leaves the phone depends on your phone and language, and that service’s own privacy policy covers it.
What Voxden keeps on your phone
In its private storage, encrypted with a key held in the Android Keystore:
- Your dictation history: the text, the time, which engine was used, and the name of the app you dictated into. You can turn history off in Settings and delete entries.
- Your personal dictionary and your settings, including your Writing style.
- A counter of how many words you have dictated this week, for the free weekly limit.
- A sign-in session, if you are signed in.
Voxden turns off Android’s cloud backup and device-to-device transfer for this data, so it does not leave your phone through them.
The flow bar and Android’s accessibility service
The flow bar is the small bar that appears over other apps so you can dictate where you type. It works through Android’s accessibility service, which you turn on yourself in Android settings after Voxden explains what it does and asks you to agree. Voxden uses it for one purpose: to put your dictated words into the text field you are in. It does not use it to control other apps for you.
- What it receives: a notice when focus moves to a different field or a window opens or closes. It is set up not to receive what you type, your taps, or changes to what is on screen.
- What it looks at: which app is in front, whether the focused field is a text field or a password field, and the text around your cursor in that field. The text is used to put your dictation in the right place with the right spacing, and to replace your dictation when you use Polish.
- Password fields: the flow bar does not appear over them and Voxden does not dictate into them.
- What leaves your phone: none of this. The name of the app you dictated into stays in your history on your phone and is not sent to Voxden’s servers. The text around your cursor is never stored or sent.
- You can turn it off at any time in Android’s accessibility settings, and Voxden still works from its own screen.
The Voxden voice keyboard
Optional. It is a keyboard that only dictates. It reads up to 32 characters either side of your cursor to space and capitalise your dictation, does not read what you type, and does not work in password fields. Nothing it reads is stored or sent.
Microphone
Voxden listens only while you are dictating: after you tap the bar or hold it, until you stop. While it records, Android shows a notification, because Voxden runs a microphone service for that time. Voxden does not listen in the background.
Voxden Cloud on Android
Off unless you turn it on, and it needs an account. New accounts get a free trial of Voxden Cloud. When you use it, the audio of what you dictate is sent to the account service and forwarded to third-party speech recognition providers to be turned into text, along with the language and the words in your personal dictionary, so it can spell them right. The service records how many seconds were transcribed to count against your plan or trial. Audio is not stored by the account service after the text comes back. The same applies to the text you send to Polish.
Paying for Pro on Android
In the Android app from Google Play, you pay through Google Play. Google handles your card and payment details and Voxden never sees them. When you subscribe, the account service receives from Google a purchase token and the subscription’s status and renewal date, and asks Google to confirm them, so it can switch Pro on and off. To tie the purchase to your account, Voxden gives Google an identifier made from your account, which is not your email address. You manage, cancel and ask for refunds for a Google Play subscription in Google Play; Google’s rules decide refunds.
Permissions Voxden asks for on Android
- Microphone: to hear you dictate.
- Notifications: to show the recording notification.
- Accessibility service: the flow bar, described above.
- Internet: for sign-in and Voxden Cloud.
Deleting your data on Android
Open Voxden, then your account, and choose Delete account. That deletes your account and everything the account service holds about it, and cancels a Pro subscription first so you are not charged again. To delete what Voxden keeps on the phone itself, uninstall Voxden or clear its storage in Android settings. If you can no longer sign in, see Deleting your data.
Children
Voxden is not meant for children under 18.
Your account
Voxden asks you to sign in. You can sign in with an emailed code or with Google. Either way, the account service stores:
- Your email address.
- Which plan you are on and until when.
- A session token for each PC or phone you signed in on, stored as a hash.
- If you pay for Pro, the subscription’s provider, status and renewal date. Payments on Windows, Mac and the website are handled by Razorpay, and payments in the Android app by Google Play; Voxden never sees your card details.
Signing in with Google asks Google only for your email address and basic profile. Voxden stores the email address and nothing else from Google. It does not read your Gmail, contacts, calendar or files.
Voxden Cloud
If you turn on Voxden Cloud, audio of what you dictate is sent to the account service and forwarded to third-party speech recognition providers to be turned into text. The service records how many seconds were transcribed, to count against your plan. Audio is not stored by the account service after the text comes back. Voxden Cloud is off unless you turn it on.
If you use Polish, the text you ask it to polish is sent to the account service and forwarded to a third-party language model provider. The account service records only how many words were polished, not the text.
Feedback
If you send feedback from the Help menu, the message you wrote is stored by the account service and forwarded to a private Discord channel that only the developer can see. App details (version, engine, plan) are attached only if you leave that option on. Your email address is included only if you are signed in or type it in.
Supporting the signing goal
If you chip in on the support page, Razorpay handles the payment in its own checkout and asks for what it needs to take it. The account service keeps only the amount, the currency, the time and Razorpay’s reference for the payment: no name, email address or card details. The page shows amounts and times, never who paid. To stop one address making many payment attempts, the address a request came from is held in memory for up to an hour and never written down.
What Voxden does not do
- No advertising, and no data is sold or shared for advertising.
- No analytics or tracking of what you type or where you dictate.
- No reading of the apps you dictate into beyond placing the text there. On Android, the flow bar looks at which app and text field is in front, and at the text around your cursor, only to place your dictation; see On your Android phone.
Deleting your data
Sign out from Settings to remove the session from your PC or phone. Uninstalling Voxden and deleting its data folder removes everything it kept locally. To delete your account and everything the account service holds about it, use Delete account in Settings. A Pro subscription is cancelled first, so you are not charged again. The steps, and what is kept and for how long, are on the Delete your account page. If you can no longer sign in, send a request from the Help menu or open an issue at github.com/sounak1125/voxden/issues.
Contact
Questions about this policy: open an issue at github.com/sounak1125/voxden/issues.