Privacy policy

Last updated 19 October 2026

Cat Reader is an Android app that reads your ebooks aloud. It was built so that your reading stays private: the voices run on your phone, there's no account, and your books never leave your device. The app is free and shows a few ads; this policy explains what those ads, and the optional purchase that removes them, need.

The short version

• Your books, notes, highlights, reading positions, settings and the app's log stay on your phone. We never receive them.
• Reading aloud happens on your phone. No text is sent anywhere to be spoken.
• The ads come from Google AdMob, which collects some device data (below). In the EU, EEA, UK and other places where the law requires it, you're asked for consent first, and you can change your choice in the app's settings.
• If you buy "Remove ads", Google Play handles the payment. We never see your card details.
• No account, no analytics of our own, no selling of data.

What stays on your phone

Everything you put into Cat Reader is stored only in the app's private storage on your phone: the books you import, their covers, your notes and highlights, your place in each book, collections, pronunciation fixes, audio prepared ahead of time, and your settings. We don't have servers that receive any of it, and we have no way to see it.

It's removed when you delete a book in the app or uninstall the app. Android's own backup may copy app data to your Google account if you have backup turned on; that's between you and Google, and we can't read it.

The debug log

The app keeps a technical log on your phone (errors, crashes, what the narrator was doing) to help fix problems. It is never sent automatically. It only leaves your phone if you choose Share log in Settings and send it yourself, for example by email. If you send it to us, we use it only to fix the problem you reported, and we delete it when we're done.

Ads (Google AdMob)

The free version shows ads from Google AdMob, at natural breaks and never while you read or listen. To show ads, measure them and prevent fraud, Google's ads software in the app collects and sends to Google:

• your device's advertising ID,
• device information, such as the model, Android version, language and screen size,
• your IP address, which can show your approximate location,
• how you interact with the ads (for example, whether an ad was shown or tapped), and diagnostic data about the ads software.

The ads software never sees the content of your books, notes or highlights.

Consent. Where the law requires it (including the EU, EEA, UK and Switzerland), the app shows Google's consent form, made with Google's User Messaging Platform, before any ad loads. If you decline personalised ads, Google shows non-personalised ads, which still need the data above for delivery, frequency capping, fraud prevention and measurement. You can change your choice at any time in the app's Settings (Privacy options).

You can also reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings (Settings › Google › Ads, or Settings › Privacy › Ads, depending on your phone).

Google's use of this data is covered by Google's Privacy Policy and how Google uses information from apps that use its services.

Once you've bought "Remove ads", the app stops loading ads and the ads software stops collecting this data.

The "Remove ads" purchase (Google Play)

The one-time purchase is handled entirely by Google Play Billing. Google processes your payment details under its own privacy policy. The app only learns whether you've bought "Remove ads", so it can hide the ads and restore your purchase if you reinstall. We receive purchase records from Google (such as an order number, the country and the amount) for accounting and refunds, not your card details.

Downloads and the online dictionary

• Dictionary download. When you download the offline dictionary, the app fetches it from GitHub (a service of GitHub, Inc.). As with any download, GitHub receives your IP address and basic request data. After that, looking up words works offline.
• Online lookup (off unless you turn it on). If you turn on the online dictionary lookup, the word you look up is sent to Wiktionary (run by the Wikimedia Foundation) to fetch its definition. Wikimedia receives the word and your IP address under the Wikimedia Privacy Policy. Nothing else from your book is sent.

Permissions

• Internet: ads, the purchase, and the dictionary download and lookup above.
• Notifications and foreground service: so reading aloud and preparing audio keep going with the screen off, with controls in the notification.
• Advertising ID: used by the ads software, as described above.

The app opens files only when you pick them, through Android's file picker.

Children

Cat Reader is not designed for children and is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country). We don't knowingly collect personal data from children.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, laws such as the GDPR (EU), UK GDPR and the LGPD (Brazil) give you rights to access, correct, delete or move your personal data, to object to its use, and to withdraw consent. Because your reading data never leaves your phone, you control it directly: delete it in the app or uninstall the app. For ads data, use the Privacy options in the app's Settings and Google's tools above. For anything else, or to ask what we hold about you (usually nothing beyond an email you sent us), write to us. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

This website

catreader.app has no cookies, no analytics and no trackers, and loads nothing from other sites. It's hosted on Cloudflare Pages; Cloudflare processes the technical data needed to deliver pages (such as IP addresses) for security and reliability. If you email us to join the test, we use your address only for that.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update it here and change the date at the top. If a change matters, for example new data being collected, the app will tell you.

Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: support@catreader.app