Privacy and On-Device Permissions on iPhone

Groupthink on iPhone is built to keep your captures on your device. Recording and transcription run on your phone. Audio reaches Groupthink only when you tap Transcribe on Groupthink, and a transcript's text reaches it only for a Summary by Groupthink or when you file the capture to a person.

What stays on the device

When you record, the audio is transcribed on your phone using Apple's on-device speech models. Nothing is uploaded to transcribe it, and once the transcript is made, the audio recording is deleted. The one exception is a recording the phone couldn't transcribe: if you're signed in, Groupthink can transcribe recordings for your account, and you tap Transcribe on Groupthink on it, that recording's audio is sent to your Groupthink account to be transcribed there. Nothing is sent without that tap. The short summary above a transcript is generated on-device too, using Apple Intelligence. If your phone can't run Apple Intelligence and you're signed in to Groupthink, the transcript's text (never the audio) is sent to Groupthink, which passes it to its AI model provider to write the summary, labelled Summary by Groupthink. Groupthink doesn't keep the text or the summary; the summary is saved only on your phone.

Your captures and the people you keep on-device live in local storage and, if you're signed into iCloud, back up to your private iCloud. This sync goes from your phone to your private iCloud account, not through Groupthink. None of this reaches Groupthink's servers unless you sign in and then file a capture to a person, tap Transcribe on Groupthink, or get a Summary by Groupthink.

The iOS permissions Groupthink asks for

These are standard iOS permissions. Granting one lets the app read that piece of system data; you can change any of them later in Settings → On-device access (in the app) or in the iOS Settings app. Groupthink asks only when you first reach a feature that needs it:

• Microphone: to record in-person conversations from the Interactions tab. Asked the first time you tap Start recording.
• Speech Recognition (iOS 18 to 25 only): transcription on those versions needs it. Asked the first time you record, right after the microphone. Transcription still runs only on the phone. If you decline, turn it on in the iOS Settings app under Groupthink.
• Contacts: lets Groupthink match the numbers you text to names in your iPhone's Contacts, and add the phone numbers you pick to people in Groupthink. The match runs on the phone, and nothing is sent until you pick a name. Asked when you tap Allow access to Contacts under Who is this? on the Overview tab, or when you start Add phone numbers from Contacts from the People list's ⋯ menu or from Settings.
• Calendar: read on your phone when you make a plan, to find a free time; it is not uploaded. Asked when you tap Check this phone's calendar too while making a plan.

If you've denied one and want it back, tap its row in Settings → On-device access and the app sends you straight to its iOS Settings page, since iOS won't re-ask once you've declined. A row with a lock is restricted by Screen Time or a device profile, and can't be changed from the app.

What signing in sends

When you sign in with Apple, Google or email and file a capture to a person, the capture's text and who it's about are sent to Groupthink so it can log to that person's timeline. Your relationship list and history sync to the phone. Your on-device captures that you don't file to anyone stay on the device.

Optional: heart rate

Under Settings → Labs, there's an experimental toggle, Heart rate during recordings, to read your heart rate from Apple Health for the length of a recording, so you can see how a conversation landed. It's off by default and asks for Health access the first time you turn it on. Turn it off any time. Heart rate readings are saved with the capture on your phone, and back up to your private iCloud with it, but are not sent to Groupthink.

The full policy

This page covers how the iPhone app handles your data. For the complete policy, see the Groupthink Privacy Policy, also linked from Settings → Help → Privacy policy.

Questions about your data? Email support@groupthink.com.