Privacy and On-Device Permissions on iPhone

Groupthink on iPhone is built to keep your captures on your device. Recording, transcription, and summaries all run locally, and the parts that reach a server only do so when you sign in and choose to send them.

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 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, a database Groupthink can't read. None of this reaches Groupthink's servers unless you sign in and file a capture to a person.

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 recognize people you text and add the phone numbers you pick to them.
• Calendar: read on your phone when you make a plan, to find a free time; it is not uploaded.

If you've denied one and want it back, the app sends you straight to its iOS Settings page, since iOS won't re-ask once you've declined.

What signing in sends

When you sign in with Google 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 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.

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.