Privacy
Last updated: 2026-09-17
This describes Rubiyomi v1.0.0 as implemented. Privacy should match the shipping app.
Rubiyomi is a menu-bar Mac app that helps you read Japanese text you select on screen. Ordinary lookups run on your Mac. Optional AI is off by default.
Screen Recording
Rubiyomi needs Screen Recording to freeze the display you peek at and crop the rectangle you draw.
- It does not continuously record your screen.
- It does not capture microphone audio.
- The full still stays on your Mac. Rubiyomi never uploads the whole display.
Ordinary peeks stay on your Mac
For a normal peek without optional AI (or with AI on but Use AI by default off, before you click Use AI):
- Rubiyomi freezes the display under your cursor.
- You draw a rectangle on that still.
- Only that crop is processed on your Mac with local OCR.
- Readings come from local analysis. Word help uses a curated list plus JMdict/EDICT (EDRDG, CC BY-SA 4.0) when bundled. Sentence Meaning uses Apple’s on-device Translation on macOS 15+ when the Japanese↔English language packs are installed; otherwise Meaning falls back to local glosses. This does not require the internet for ordinary peeks.
- Speak uses a Japanese system voice on your Mac when optional AI is off. No internet required for that path.
The ordinary lookup works offline: capture, text recognition, readings, basic word help, and pronunciation.
What may leave your Mac
Only if you turn on Allow optional AI in Settings → AI:
| Feature | What is sent | When |
|---|---|---|
| Use AI by default | The cropped image you drew, then recognized Japanese text | On each Peek while the setting is on |
| Use AI | Only the cropped image you drew, then recognized Japanese text | Only when you click Use AI |
| Speak (optional AI on) | The Japanese text to synthesize | When you tap Speak |
Meaning is a local reveal and does not call the cloud by itself.
Those requests go over HTTPS to Rubiyomi’s Cloudflare Worker (/v1/ocr, /v1/analyze, /v1/tts). Each request includes entitlement proof: a StoreKit App Store transaction token, or a Rubiyomi-issued license stored in this Mac’s Keychain. The Worker applies rate limits and size caps, then calls OpenAI (Help with AI / OCR) or ElevenLabs (Speak) with keys that never leave Rubiyomi’s server. Those providers may process the text or crop under their terms.
Rubiyomi does not ask for or store an OpenAI or ElevenLabs API key on your Mac.
The same optional help is used whether you bought on rubiyomi.com or the Mac App Store. Direct buyers paste an order license (shown after checkout and emailed). Direct also uses that license for seat activation and periodic verification (7-day offline grace, up to 3 Macs). Mac App Store buyers prove ownership with their Apple purchase (no pasteable Rubiyomi key).
Preferences
- Preferences (hotkey, romaji, overlay position, onboarding flag, AI toggles, diagnostics toggles) stay in local UserDefaults.
- No OpenAI or ElevenLabs API keys are stored in Keychain or in the app package.
- An optional Rubiyomi license (issued by Rubiyomi, not OpenAI or ElevenLabs) may be stored in Keychain. That key is sent to Rubiyomi’s Worker for Direct activation/verification and with AI requests.
Marketing email (optional)
At Direct checkout a short prompt asks whether Rubiyomi may email you about feature updates and future releases. Yes or No — checkout continues either way. Opt-in is only recorded if you choose Yes. Order and license emails are separate and are always sent after purchase.
License recovery
If you bought on rubiyomi.com and lose your license key, Recover your license lets you confirm the purchase email with a one-time code, then resends existing key(s) to that address. Recovery does not create a new license.
Diagnostics
OCR diagnostics and research capture are off by default.
- Show OCR diagnostics may write the last selected crop to a temporary folder on your Mac so you can inspect recognition quality.
- Save research captures writes the selected crop plus local diagnostics under
~/Library/Application Support/Rubiyomi/OCR Research/. Nothing is uploaded automatically.
Ordinary play should leave both off. You can clear those files from Settings → Recovery.
What Rubiyomi does not collect
- No Rubiyomi account
- No analytics SDK in the Mac app
- No crash-reporting service in v1.0.0
- No sync of ordinary peeks to Rubiyomi servers
The public website does not embed an analytics SDK.
Third parties
When you use optional AI, Help with AI and OCR send a crop or text to OpenAI, and Speak sends Japanese text to ElevenLabs, each under that provider’s terms and privacy policy after entitlement checks on Rubiyomi’s Worker. Local text recognition runs on the Mac.
Website Help assistant
This section is only about the optional AI assistant on the public Help page (Support). It is separate from optional in-app Use AI and Speak.
When you use that assistant:
- The text you type is sent to Rubiyomi’s Help backend.
- Answers are generated from Rubiyomi support documentation.
- Prefer email or phone for anything important.
Contact
support@rubiyomi.com
Rubiyomi is operated by Nodifyr LLC.