Type4U Privacy Policy
Last updated: 28 July 2026
Type4U has no accounts, no analytics, and no tracking. Nothing you dictate is stored on any server we run — we do not run one.
Two things can leave your device, and only in specific circumstances: your speech may be sent to Apple for transcription if your device cannot transcribe on its own, and your transcribed text may be sent to Groq for cleanup, but only if you have chosen to add your own Groq API key.
What Type4U is
Type4U is an iOS keyboard that types what you say. It has two parts: the keyboard itself, and a companion app. iOS does not allow a keyboard to use the microphone, so when you tap the microphone key the companion app records and transcribes in the background, and the keyboard inserts the result.
What leaves your device
| Data | Goes to | When |
|---|---|---|
| Your speech (audio) | Apple | Only if your device cannot transcribe on-device. Type4U requests on-device transcription wherever iOS supports it. Where it does not, iOS sends the audio to Apple's speech recognition service. |
| Transcribed text, and up to 400 characters of the text before your cursor and 100 after it | Groq | Only if you have added your own Groq API key. Without a key, no text is ever sent anywhere and your words are inserted exactly as spoken. |
About the surrounding text
When cleanup is enabled, Type4U sends a short window of the text around your cursor along with what you dictated. This is what lets it match your capitalisation, tense and punctuation instead of starting each dictation cold.
You should know what that means: that text comes from whatever app you are typing in. It is capped at 400 characters before the cursor and 100 after, it is used only as read-only context, and it is never sent when you have not configured a Groq API key.
What never leaves your device
- Audio recordings. Type4U never writes audio to disk and never uploads it anywhere itself. Audio exists only in memory while you are speaking.
- Your Groq API key. Stored in the iOS keychain on your device. It is sent to Groq to authenticate your own requests, and nowhere else.
- Your dictation history. Kept in a private container shared between the keyboard and the companion app so that follow-up dictations can refine earlier ones. It is deleted when the dictation session ends, and removed entirely when you delete the app.
- Anything you type on the keys. Typing on Type4U's keyboard is never recorded, transmitted or analysed.
Why Type4U asks for Full Access
iOS requires you to grant "Allow Full Access" before a keyboard can share data with its companion app. Type4U needs this for one reason: the companion app does the recording, and the finished text has to get back to the keyboard so it can be inserted. Without it, dictation cannot work at all.
Full Access is a broad permission, so it is worth stating plainly what Type4U does not use it for. It does not log your keystrokes, does not read your text except for the bounded context described above, and does not send anything anywhere beyond what this policy describes.
Third parties
Apple
Speech recognition uses Apple's Speech framework. Where your device supports on-device recognition, your audio stays on the device. Where it does not, Apple receives the audio and their privacy policy governs it.
Groq
Cleanup is optional and off until you add a key. When enabled, your transcribed text and the bounded surrounding context are sent to Groq's API under your own account and their terms and privacy policy govern that data. Type4U has no server in this path and never sees your text.
Children
Type4U is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.
Your choices
- Turn off cleanup by clearing the Groq API key in Settings. Dictation keeps working; your words are inserted exactly as spoken and nothing is sent to Groq.
- Keep speech on-device by using a device and language that support on-device recognition. Type4U always prefers it when available.
- Revoke Full Access at any time in iOS Settings. Dictation stops working, and the rest of the keyboard continues to type normally.
- Delete everything by deleting the app. That removes the shared container, your dictation history and your stored key.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that affects what leaves your device, the change will be reflected here with a new date above, and called out in the app's release notes.
Contact
Questions about this policy can be sent to glint76.tankard@icloud.com.