Privacy Policy
Effective date: July 5, 2026
Orb is built so that your data stays yours. The app developer runs no server, keeps no accounts, and collects no personal information. Everything Orb processes happens either on your own device or on infrastructure you choose and control.
The short version
- The developer operates no server and collects nothing about you.
- There is no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking of any kind.
- Your voice, your text, and anything Orb reads from your device go only to your own backend and/or the AI provider you configure under your own account — never to the developer.
What Orb processes, and where it goes
Microphone audio. Audio is captured only while you are actively using Orb. If you have connected your own self-hosted Orb backend, that audio is transcribed to text by a speech model (Whisper) running on your own machine. Otherwise, transcription is handled by Apple’s speech recognition (see below). Audio is never sent to, or stored by, the developer.
Speech recognition. Orb uses Apple’s on-device speech recognition wherever your device supports it. When on-device recognition is unavailable, Apple may process the audio on Apple’s servers to return the transcript — this is Apple’s standard speech service, governed by Apple’s privacy policy, not the developer’s.
Conversation text. What you say and type is sent to the AI model you choose in Settings: an on-device model, an API provider you configure with your own key/account, or a model running on your own self-hosted backend. The developer never sees or stores your conversations. Each provider you enable handles that text under its own privacy policy.
Calendar, reminders, and contacts (optional). If you grant access, Orb reads these on your device, and only when a request you make needs them (for example, “what’s on my calendar today”). This information is used to answer you and is never transmitted to the developer.
Notifications (optional). If you enable push notifications, Apple issues a device token so your own backend can send you alerts through Apple’s Push Notification service. The token and notification content transit Apple’s servers, as they do for every iOS app; the developer runs no push server of their own for the public app.
What Orb does not do
- No account, no login. Orb pairs with your server using a token you generate, not a personal profile.
- No analytics, no crash-tracking, no advertising SDKs, no third-party trackers.
- No selling or sharing of your data — there is no collected data to sell.
Your control and data deletion
Because nothing is collected centrally, there is no account to close and no developer-held data to request or delete. To remove everything:
- Delete the app to clear all on-device data (settings, pairing token, cached state).
- Wipe or shut down your own backend to remove anything stored there — it is your machine, entirely under your control.
- Revoke microphone, speech, calendar, reminders, or contacts access at any time in iOS Settings.
Third parties
Orb only ever communicates with services you choose: the AI provider(s) you configure and your own backend. Apple provides on-device speech recognition and push delivery as part of iOS. Each of these operates under its own privacy policy. The developer has no server in this path and receives none of your data.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Open an issue on the project’s GitHub: github.com/ninjahawk/Orb-Wiki/issues.
Changes
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted here with a new effective date.