Privacy, in plain language.

The short version

Accounts are optional. Without one, your learning progress, saved words, streak, preferences, and clip reports stay on your device, and Bamlu sends us only basic anonymous usage statistics (see “Usage statistics and where installs come from”). If you create an account, we store what is needed to sync your learning across devices and keep Bamlu Pro attached to you. Bamlu shows no advertising and Zolva Studios does not sell your personal information. We do advertise Bamlu on Meta (Facebook and Instagram), so from version 1.0.4 Bamlu shares a small set of app and purchase events with Meta to measure which of our ads lead to installs and subscriptions, and iOS asks whether Bamlu may track you for this (see “Advertising measurement with Meta”). If you choose to use the optional voice teacher, the text of what you say is sent to an AI provider to write replies, and the text of the replies is sent to another to be spoken (see “Voice teacher”).

Information stored on your device

Bamlu stores the information needed to remember your experience, including watched clips, saved words, streaks, achievements, your starting level, app preferences, and reports you make about clips. Bamlu’s home-screen widgets read your streak from this same on-device storage.

You can remove local Bamlu data by using any reset option provided in the app or by deleting the app. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription or erase transaction records held by Apple.

Accounts and sync

You can sign in with Apple or with an email address and password. If you do, we store your email address (with Sign in with Apple this may be a private relay address from Apple) and an account identifier; your saved words and their review progress, your streak days and study time, your onboarding answers, and your app preferences; and your Bamlu Pro subscription status, including the App Store transaction identifier and expiry date.

We use this only to run your account: to sign you in, sync your learning between devices, and unlock Pro on any device you sign in to. It is not used for advertising or tracking and is not sold or shared for those purposes.

Account data is stored with Supabase, our hosting and database provider, on servers in the European Union (Ireland). Supabase processes it on our behalf under a data processing agreement.

Usage statistics and where installs come from

Bamlu sends a small set of usage events to our own server so we can see where the app gets stuck and which of our links bring people to it. This happens whether or not you have an account. It includes a random install identifier created when you first open the app (it is not your name, email, or Apple identifier, and a reinstall creates a new one); the app version, iOS version, device model, language, and time zone; and events such as which onboarding screens you viewed, when you saw or interacted with the Pro offer and the plan, price, and outcome of a purchase attempt, and first-time milestones like finishing your first clip or saving your first word. If you are signed in, your account identifier is attached to these events.

When you open a Bamlu link on zolvastudios.com/tracking, we record the link’s name, the time, your device type, iOS version, country, and browser identification string. Your network (IP) address is used only to match that tap to an install that follows within 24 hours; we store a keyed one-way hash of it rather than the address itself, and we do not use it to identify you.

We use this to measure and improve Bamlu. These usage events are not used for advertising, are not sold, and are not sent to advertising networks or analytics services; the separate measurement described in “Advertising measurement with Meta” below is different. They are stored with Supabase on servers in the European Union (Ireland).

Advertising measurement with Meta

From version 1.0.4, Bamlu uses Meta’s software development kit (SDK) to measure which of our Meta ads, on Facebook and Instagram, lead to installs and subscriptions. Bamlu itself shows no ads.

What is shared. When you open Bamlu, Meta receives that the app was opened, an anonymous identifier created by Meta’s SDK, your IP address (as with any internet request), and technical details such as the app version, iOS version, device model, language, and time zone. When you start a free trial, subscribe, or renew, our purchase provider RevenueCat (see “Purchases”) sends Meta that event, its price and currency, the same anonymous identifier, and network details such as your IP address. We do not send Meta your name, email address, Bamlu account identifier, saved words, what you watch, or anything you say.

Your choice. After the Pro offer, at the end of onboarding, iOS asks whether Bamlu may track you across other companies’ apps and websites. If you allow it, your device’s advertising identifier may also be shared so Meta can match an install or purchase to an ad. If you choose “Ask App Not to Track”, Bamlu does not share your advertising identifier, and Meta’s measurement is limited to the app and purchase events described above, linked only to Meta’s anonymous identifier. You can change this at any time in iOS Settings under Privacy & Security, then Tracking. Bamlu works the same either way.

How Meta handles it. Meta receives this information as a provider of business tools and handles it under its own privacy policy and terms. Bamlu does not use it to build a profile of you, and it is not sold.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account at any time in the app under You → Account → Delete account. This permanently erases your account, all data synced to it, and the usage events linked to your account from our servers. Anonymous usage events recorded before you signed in are not linked to you and are not removed. Learning data already on your device stays there until you reset it or delete the app. Deleting your account does not cancel an App Store subscription; manage that in your Apple Account settings.

Video playback and third parties

Bamlu uses the official YouTube embedded player to show learning clips. When a video loads or plays, Google and YouTube may receive technical information such as your IP address, device information, and interaction with the player. Their handling of that information is governed by their own privacy policies and terms.

Pronunciation audio

When Bamlu reads a word or phrase aloud, it uses the speech voices built into iOS on your device. Outside the voice teacher described below, Bamlu does not use your microphone or record your voice.

Voice teacher

The Teacher tab is an optional spoken practice conversation with an AI tutor. It needs a signed-in Bamlu Pro account, it asks for microphone and speech-recognition permission, and it asks for your agreement the first time you use it. Bamlu listens only while a conversation is open on your screen.

What you say is turned into text on your device when your iPhone has the Chinese speech model installed. If it does not, Apple’s speech recognition may process the audio under Apple’s own terms. Bamlu does not record or store your audio, and the audio is never sent to us or to our AI providers.

The text of your recent turns in the conversation (up to the last 24), your starting level, and the lesson topic you chose are sent through our server to Anthropic (the maker of Claude), in the United States, which writes the teacher’s replies. Your name, email address, and account and device identifiers are not sent to Anthropic. Anthropic’s commercial terms do not allow it to train its models on this text, and it handles the text under its own privacy policy.

So that the teacher sounds natural, the text of each reply the teacher writes, and the sentence it suggests you could say next (not what you said), is then sent through our server to OpenAI, in the United States, which turns it into spoken audio that your phone plays. Your name, email address, and account and device identifiers are not sent to OpenAI either, and OpenAI handles the text under its own privacy policy. If that voice is unavailable, your phone’s built-in voice speaks instead.

We do not store your conversations. To enforce daily limits, we keep your account identifier and a timestamp for each reply the teacher gives you; entries older than two days are deleted, and all of them are deleted with your account.

Purchases

Bamlu Pro is purchased through Apple’s App Store using Apple’s in-app purchase system. Apple processes your payment and confirms your subscription status to the app so Bamlu can unlock and restore paid access. If you are signed in, the app sends the App Store’s signed transaction to our server, which verifies it with Apple and records your Pro status on your account. Bamlu also uses RevenueCat (RevenueCat, Inc., United States) to manage Bamlu Pro. RevenueCat receives your App Store purchase information (the product, price, dates, and signed transaction), a purchase identifier (your Bamlu account identifier if you are signed in, otherwise a random one), your IP address, and a device identifier for vendors, and also your advertising identifier if you allowed tracking. It uses this to confirm, restore, and unlock your subscription, and, as described in “Advertising measurement with Meta”, to pass subscription events to Meta. RevenueCat handles this under its own privacy policy. Zolva Studios does not receive your payment-card details.

Notifications

If you opt in, Bamlu can send local reminders, such as a nudge to keep your streak going. You can change notification permission at any time in iOS Settings.

Support and clip reports

If you choose to contact support or email a clip report, your email address and anything you include in the message are shared with Zolva Studios and handled by your email provider. We use that information only to respond, investigate the issue, protect the service, and keep necessary business records. Please do not include sensitive information that is not needed to solve your request.

Retention and security

Local learning data remains on your device until you reset it or remove the app. Account data is kept while your account exists and is deleted when you delete your account. Support correspondence is retained only as long as reasonably needed to resolve requests, prevent abuse, and meet legal obligations. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we use reasonable measures appropriate to the information we handle.

Your choices and rights

You can use Bamlu without an account, decline notifications, decline tracking in the iOS prompt or in Settings under Privacy & Security, then Tracking, stop video playback, reset local progress, delete your account, or delete Bamlu. Depending on where you live, you may also have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to certain processing of your personal information. Contact us to make a request. We may need enough information to verify and complete it.

Changes and contact

We may update this policy when Bamlu changes. The effective date above will show the latest revision. Questions or privacy requests can be sent to contact@zolvastudios.com, or through the Bamlu support page.