Privacy Policy
Bookworm, the read-aloud app from waterlilyhauling
Effective September 27, 2026 · Last updated September 27, 2026
Bookworm helps children read aloud. It listens as they read and colours each word to show whether it was read right, skipped or misread. This policy explains what information the app handles, where that information goes, and the choices you have. It applies to the Bookworm app for Android.
In short
- No accounts, no sign-in, no ads.
- No analytics, tracking or crash reporting.
- waterlilyhauling does not collect, receive, store, sell or share your information.
- Your books, recordings and results stay on your device.
- A few things can leave the device, and each is explained below: audio sent to your own computer or through your own live-sharing project, if you set those up, and what Android itself does (its speech recognition on some devices, and device backup).
What stays on your device
Books you add
EPUB books you import are copied into Bookworm's private storage on your device. They are not uploaded anywhere.
Microphone audio while reading aloud
Bookworm uses the microphone only after you tap Read aloud, and it stops when you tap Stop. The audio is used in two ways:
- Following the reading. The audio goes to your device's speech recognition service so Bookworm can tell where the reader is on the page. Bookworm asks for recognition that runs on the device itself. On a device that can't do that, Android's standard speech recognition service is used instead, and it may process the audio on its provider's servers (for example, Google's) under that provider's privacy policy.
- Checking each sentence. Each sentence's audio is turned into text by the speech model you choose in Settings. With This phone / tablet, this happens entirely on your device and the audio never leaves it. With My computer, see "Your own computer" below.
Each sentence's audio is kept briefly in the app's temporary storage while it is checked, then deleted.
Reading results
The colours on each page, and any words heard that aren't in the book, are saved on your device so you can see them later. They stay until you clear them in Settings.
Debug Recordings
To help with troubleshooting, the audio of the last five sentences checked, and the text heard for each, is kept on your device. Older recordings are deleted automatically. You can play them back or delete them all in Settings › Debug Recordings.
Settings
Your choices are saved on your device: the listening mode, your computer's address, the speech model, and your live-sharing details if you enter them.
Hearing a word
When you hold a word on the page, it is spoken by your device's own text-to-speech engine.
Optional features that connect elsewhere
Your own computer ("My computer")
If you choose My computer, each sentence's audio is sent over your home Wi-Fi to the Bookworm Server program running on your own computer, which sends back the text it heard. It goes only to the address you type in, and never to waterlilyhauling or across the internet. This connection uses plain HTTP on your local network, so only use it on a network you trust.
Live sharing
Live sharing lets someone in another place watch the page and listen as your child reads. It works only if you set it up with your own LiveKit Cloud project. While sharing is on, your microphone audio and the page being read (the book's title, the page's text and its colours) are sent through LiveKit's servers to the people you invite. If a watcher turns on their microphone, their voice comes back the same way. Nothing is shared when sharing is off. LiveKit handles this data under its own privacy policy. waterlilyhauling has no access to your LiveKit project. An invite contains a pass for that one room only, not your project's secret.
Downloading a speech model
When you download a speech model for This phone / tablet, it comes from Hugging Face (huggingface.co). As with any download, Hugging Face sees your device's internet address and ordinary request details. No reading data or personal information is sent.
Device backup
If backup is turned on for your device, Android may back up Bookworm's settings to your Google account, as it does for other apps. These settings can include your computer's address and your live-sharing details. You can turn backup off in your device's settings.
Links
Tapping a link in the app, such as waterlilyhauling.com, opens it in your web browser.
Permissions
- Microphone: to follow and check reading aloud, and for live sharing.
- Internet: to download speech models and for live sharing.
- Local network: to reach Bookworm Server on your own computer.
Children
Bookworm is made for children to use with a parent or teacher. It has no accounts and asks for no names, ages or contact details, and waterlilyhauling receives no information from it. The features that send data elsewhere, My computer and live sharing, have to be set up in Settings, which we suggest an adult does.
Your choices
- You can deny or withdraw microphone permission in Android's settings. Reading aloud won't work without it, but reading and holding words still will.
- Clear a page, a sentence, a chapter or a whole book's highlights in Settings.
- Delete recordings in Settings › Debug Recordings › Delete all, and remove downloaded speech models from the model list.
- Uninstalling Bookworm removes all of its data from your device.
Changes to this policy
If Bookworm starts handling information differently, this page will be updated and the date at the top changed.
Contact
Bookworm, developed by waterlilyhauling
Questions about this policy or your information: amin_tamam@icloud.com
© 2026 waterlilyhauling