Privacy, explained.

What you type

Like every keyboard, Likhi sees the text you type with it. It uses that text only to show it in the app you are typing in and to suggest words. What you type is never sent anywhere. The keyboard runs in its own part of the app, which contains no code that uses the internet, and I do not run a server for it. I never receive anything you type.

Android shows a standard warning when you turn on any keyboard that is not built into your phone. Likhi explains what it keeps, on its first screen, before you turn it on.

What is kept on your phone

To give you better suggestions, Likhi keeps the following in its own private storage on your phone:

• words you choose while typing, how often you use them, and which word you tend to write after another;
• words you add yourself and the shortcuts you create;
• your settings, chosen theme and recently used emoji;
• a scaled-down copy of a photo, only if you choose one as your keyboard background.

None of this leaves your phone, and it is not included in Android’s automatic backups. You can switch learning off, delete single words, or erase everything in the app under Settings, Privacy. Uninstalling the app removes it all.

Text typed in password boxes, and in fields that ask keyboards not to learn (such as incognito browser tabs), is never stored and gets no suggestions.

Clipboard

The clipboard button shows text you copied recently, so you can paste it again. It is kept in memory only and disappears when the keyboard stops; it is never saved to storage. Copies that apps mark as sensitive, such as passwords from a password manager, are skipped.

Voice typing

Likhi does not use the microphone. The voice button switches to the voice keyboard already on your phone, such as Google voice typing. That keyboard is a separate app with its own privacy policy.

Backups you make

The settings app can save your words, shortcuts and settings to a file you choose, and restore them from one. The file goes wherever you save it, for example your phone’s storage or Google Drive; Likhi never uploads it itself.

Advertising

The keyboard never shows adverts. The settings app shows adverts through Google AdMob (the Google Mobile Ads SDK): a banner on its Themes and Settings screens, and a video only when you tap “Watch video” to unlock a theme. Before any advert is requested, Google’s consent form asks for your choice where the law requires it, and you can change it later in the settings app.

To show adverts, limit how often they appear, measure them and prevent fraud, Google may collect your device’s advertising ID, your IP address (from which an approximate location can be worked out), information about the device such as model, operating system and language, how adverts are viewed and tapped, and diagnostic information. Depending on your choice and where you live, adverts may be personalised. This data goes directly from your phone to Google; I do not receive it in a form that identifies anyone. Nothing you type is ever given to the advert library.

You can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone’s settings.

How Google uses information from apps that use its services ↗ · Google’s privacy policy ↗

The optional purchase

Likhi Plus is an optional one-time purchase that opens every theme and removes the adverts. Payment is handled entirely by Google Play under Google’s terms; I never see card or payment details. The app only asks Google Play whether the purchase has been made, and remembers the answer on your phone.

Permissions

The app asks for internet access and network state, used by the advert library and Google Play in the settings app, and for the advertising ID permission used by AdMob. It does not ask for contacts, location, camera, microphone or storage. A photo for the keyboard background is chosen through Android’s photo picker, which shares only the one picture you pick.

Selling and sharing

I do not sell any data, and I do not share anything you type with anyone. The only data that leaves your phone is what the Google advert library and Google Play send to Google, as described above.

Children

Likhi is a general-purpose keyboard and is not made for children under 13. I do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think a child’s information has been collected, email me and I will help remove it.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the new version will be published on this page with a new date, and changes to what the keyboard keeps will also be shown in the app. For privacy questions or requests, email [email protected]. The policy for this website itself is the zubaer.com privacy policy.