Introduction
Welcome to Tarteela ("we", "our", or "us"). Tarteela is a Qur'an reading, listening, and memorization application for iPhone and iPad ("the App"). This Privacy Policy explains how the App handles information when you use it. We are committed to protecting your privacy and to being transparent about our data practices. Tarteela is designed to be a fully private, offline-first experience: most features work without any network connection at all.
Information We Collect
Tarteela does not require account creation, login, sign-up, or any form of personal identification to use any feature of the App.
Information we do NOT collect:
- Personal identification information (name, email, phone number, date of birth)
- Location data of any kind
- Contacts or address book data
- Photos, videos, or files from your device
- Health or fitness data
- Browsing history or activity outside the App
- Voice recordings (see "Microphone & Voice Recognition" below)
- Analytics, telemetry, advertising identifiers, or behavioral tracking
Information stored locally on your device:
- Reading state: the current mushaf page, last-opened position, and bookmarks.
- Preferences: selected reciter, language (Arabic / English), mushaf layout version, audio settings, and other in-app preferences.
- Memorization progress: session history and progress for the memorize / drill features.
- Downloaded audio cache: reciter MP3 files you have explicitly downloaded for offline use (see "Audio Playback & Reciter Downloads").
All of the above is stored exclusively on your device. None of it is transmitted to any server we operate, because we do not operate any servers that store user data.
Microphone & Voice Recognition
Tarteela includes a memorization drill feature that listens to your recitation and compares it with the expected Qur'anic text to give you visual feedback (which words you recited correctly, which were missed, etc.).
How the microphone is used:
- The microphone is activated only while a drill session is active and you have explicitly started recording.
- The App will request your permission the first time the microphone is needed; you may revoke this permission at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Microphone → Tarteela.
- Audio captured during a drill is used only for real-time speech recognition and word-by-word comparison with the on-screen ayah.
Where the speech recognition happens:
- Whisper engine (default for memorization): recognition runs fully on-device using a bundled open-source model. Your voice never leaves your device.
- Apple Speech Recognition (optional alternate engine): when you choose this engine, the App requests on-device recognition where supported by your iOS version and device. In rare cases Apple may process audio on its own servers as part of its Speech Recognition framework, governed by Apple's Privacy Policy. The App never transmits your voice to our servers.
What happens to your voice data:
- Audio is processed in-memory during the drill and is not saved to disk.
- Audio is not transmitted to us, ever.
- Audio is not used for training, analytics, or any secondary purpose.
- When the drill ends, the audio buffer is discarded.
Audio Playback & Reciter Downloads
Tarteela plays recitations from well-known reciters (e.g., Mishary Rashid Alafasy) to support listening and memorization. Audio files are streamed or downloaded on demand from third-party Qur'an-audio hosting services (such as EveryAyah and similar public Qur'an-audio repositories).
- You may explicitly download a reciter's full audio in Settings for offline use. Downloaded files are cached locally on your device.
- When the App fetches an audio file from a third-party host, that host may receive standard network information (your IP address, request headers) as part of the normal HTTP request. We do not control these third-party hosts and have no access to their logs.
- You can delete the downloaded audio cache at any time from the App's Settings or by uninstalling the App.
Network Use
Tarteela is designed to be usable fully offline once installed. Network access is used only for:
- Downloading reciter audio files that you have explicitly requested.
- Streaming a reciter you have not yet downloaded.
- Downloading the on-device speech recognition model on first use of the memorization drill (one-time download from a public model host).
The App does not contact any analytics, advertising, or tracking services.
Data Storage
All app data — preferences, bookmarks, memorization progress, and downloaded audio — is stored locally on your device only. We do not operate servers that store your data. If you uninstall the App, all locally stored data is removed by iOS along with the App.
Advertising
Tarteela does not display advertisements and does not integrate any advertising SDKs. No advertising identifiers, IP addresses, or behavioral signals are collected for ad-targeting purposes.
In-App Purchases
The App currently offers no in-app purchases and no subscriptions. If this changes in a future version, payment processing would be handled securely through Apple's App Store; we would not collect, store, or have access to your payment information.
Children's Privacy
Tarteela is a family-friendly Qur'an application suitable for users of all ages, including children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children of any age. The App does not require any personal information to function and does not include social features, chat, advertising, or external links to user-generated content.
Third-Party Services
Tarteela relies on the following third-party services only for the specific, narrow purposes described:
- Apple Speech Recognition framework — optional alternate engine for the memorization drill (Apple Privacy Policy).
- Public Qur'an-audio hosts (e.g., EveryAyah, similar repositories) — for downloading reciter audio files you have requested.
- Public model hosts (e.g., Hugging Face) — for the one-time download of the on-device speech recognition model.
Apart from standard HTTP request metadata, no personal data is shared with these services by the App.
Permissions Summary
iOS may ask you to grant the following permissions while using Tarteela:
- Microphone — required to use the memorization drill (recitation feedback). Voice is processed on-device and never stored or transmitted to us.
- Speech Recognition — required only if you select Apple's recognition engine as an alternate to the default on-device Whisper engine.
- Notifications (future version) — if you opt in, used only to remind you of memorization-cycle tasks. Notifications are scheduled locally on your device.
All permissions can be reviewed or revoked at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → [permission] → Tarteela.
Your Rights
Because we do not collect personal data, there is typically no personal information stored on our side to access, correct, or delete. On your device you can:
- Revoke microphone or speech-recognition permission in iOS Settings.
- Delete downloaded reciter audio from the App's Settings.
- Reset all app preferences and progress by uninstalling the App.
- Opt out of any future iCloud sync features, which (if introduced) will use only your private iCloud container and remain off by default until you opt in.
Open-Source Components
Tarteela uses open-source components (such as the Whisper speech-recognition library, GRDB SQLite library, and publicly licensed Qur'an text and mushaf fonts from the King Fahd Glorious Qur'an Printing Complex). These components run inside the App and do not transmit data on their own.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, for example when new features are added. Any changes will be reflected with a new "Effective Date" at the top of this page. Material changes will be highlighted in the App's release notes.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or about how Tarteela handles data, please contact us at:
Email: fayez@fayezam.com
Website: fayezam.com