Skimr
Privacy Policy
Effective October 12, 2026
In short: Skimr solves the worksheets you scan. Your scans stay on your iPhone, except the page images and text that are sent to be solved, and only after you allow it, and the answers of a scan you share, encrypted so our server can't read them. Every scan is deleted from your iPhone within 4 hours. We don't have accounts, ads, analytics or tracking, and we never sell data.
What Skimr does with your scans
When you scan a worksheet (with the camera, from Photos, by typing, or with a Bluetooth pen or camera you pair), Skimr reads the pages on your iPhone and finds the problems on them. To answer them, it uses an AI service.
What is sent to be solved
Nothing is sent until you allow AI solving on the Permissions screen. You can turn it off any time in Settings → Data → AI solving. When it's on, for each page that hasn't been solved yet, Skimr sends:
- the clearest image of the page (a JPEG, at most 2048 pixels on its longest side), and
- the text recognized on it, plus your answer settings (for example, how much work to show).
With Audio turned on (Menu → Features → Audio), the short text of each answer it reads to you (for example "1 A. B.") is also sent through the Skimr server to Google's Gemini text-to-speech, which returns the spoken audio. The server keeps that audio for up to 6 hours so the same answer isn't converted twice; your iPhone keeps it for up to a day.
Videos, pages already solved, your name, your contacts, your location, and Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA) are not sent. A random per-install ID is sent, as described below.
The request goes through the Skimr server (hosted by Vercel) to Google's Gemini API, which writes the answers. The Skimr server does not log what you send. It keeps the generated answers (not your images) for up to 5 hours, so a request interrupted by a bad connection can be finished without solving it again. Google processes the content under the Gemini API terms: it doesn't use it to train its models, and may keep it for a limited time to detect abuse.
To protect the service from misuse, the app sends a random per-install ID (a string created on your iPhone when you install the app; not your name, your Apple Account, or any Apple device identifier, and not linked to who you are) so the server can rate-limit abuse, and it uses Apple's App Attest to prove requests come from the real app. Like any website, the hosting provider receives your IP address with each request.
What stays on your iPhone
| Data | Kept |
|---|---|
| Your scan: page images, recognized text, answers | Deleted 4 hours after the scan starts, or earlier when you clear it or start a new scan. The last scan you clear can be recovered with Face ID or your passcode until its 4 hours are up (you can turn this off). |
| Original videos and photos | Deleted once the pages are read (or as you choose in Settings, within the scan's 4 hours). |
| Usage records: counts, sizes, costs, dates | 120 days. No scan content. |
| App lock PIN | Only a salted hash, in the Keychain, until you turn it off. |
| Paired Bluetooth pen or camera | Its name and identifier, until you forget it. |
| Purchases: scans left, semester dates, transaction IDs | In the Keychain, so what you bought isn't lost. |
Everything is stored encrypted by iOS. Face ID is handled by iOS: Skimr never receives your face data. Settings → Privacy & Data → Delete All Data removes your scans, cached answers, keys and settings from the device.
Purchases
Scans and semesters are bought through Apple's In-App Purchase. Apple handles payment; we never see your payment details or Apple Account. The app receives only what was bought, when, and a transaction ID, and keeps them on your iPhone.
Sharing a scan
When you share a scan, Skimr makes a link for one person, which you send by AirDrop, Messages or any other way you choose. Only the scan's answers, work and figures are shared: never your page images, the text read from your pages, or your name.
- Your iPhone encrypts the answers before uploading them to the Skimr server, with a key that is only in the links you send (after the "#", a part of a link that browsers and apps never send to a server). The server stores data it can't read.
- The server keeps a shared scan until the scan ends (at most 5 hours after it was last updated), or until you clear it, whichever comes first. It also keeps, for up to 9 hours, which links were made and, for each link that was opened, a one-way hash of a random key that the phone that opened it keeps (so the link works only on that phone). These aren't linked to you.
- Anyone with a link can open it until a phone has opened it; send each link only to the person it's for. The people you share with keep their copy for 4 hours from when they opened it, even if you clear yours.
What we don't do
- No accounts or sign-in.
- No advertising, analytics, or tracking across apps and websites.
- We don't sell or share personal information.
Children
Skimr is not directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has sent us personal information, contact us and we'll delete what we can.
Your choices
- Turn AI solving off in Settings → Data; nothing is sent while it's off.
- Clear a scan at any time, in the app or from the Lock Screen. Clearing a scan you shared also deletes it from the server; copies already opened on other phones stay on those phones for their own 4 hours.
- Delete all data in Settings → Privacy & Data.
- Content already sent to be solved is handled under Google's terms; the app can't delete it there.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new effective date.
Contact
Questions or requests about privacy: CONTACT_EMAIL