TextBridge, by Shiny Pig
TextBridge privacy policy
Last updated: 12 October 2026
TextBridge translates the messages on your phone so you can read them in your own language and reply in someone else's. This policy explains exactly what the app touches, what it keeps, and what it sends. It covers two apps:
- TextBridge Companion, the app on Google Play (on your phone it's simply called TextBridge): it reads messages from notifications (WhatsApp, your texting app) and replies through that app's own reply button.
- TextBridge, a full texting (SMS) app, shared directly rather than through Google Play.
Where the two differ, it says so.
The short version: nothing you type, receive, or translate ever leaves your phone. There is no account, no sign-in, and no server belonging to us. Translation happens on the phone itself, using language packs downloaded once. We cannot read your messages, because they never reach us. There is nothing for us to hand over, sell, or lose. The only thing that goes out is a little technical information that Google's translation engine reports to Google, never your messages (see What is sent over the internet).
Who we are
TextBridge is made by Shiny Pig ("we"). Questions about this policy or about what the app does: textbridge@shinypigcorp.com.
What the app reads
TextBridge Companion reads the contents of notifications from the messaging apps you choose to switch on. That is how it sees a message: Android shows the text in the notification, and the app translates it there. It only looks at apps you have explicitly enabled; nothing is watched by default.
It also reads a phone number or contact name when the notification includes one, so it can tell one conversation from another and remember which language that person writes in. The Companion does not ask for contacts permission. When you pick someone from your contacts, Android hands back only the one number you chose.
TextBridge (the texting app) reads your text messages and your contacts directly, because it works as your phone's messaging app. It needs to see incoming messages to translate them and send outgoing ones on your behalf.
What the app keeps, and where
Everything below is stored on your phone only. None of it is backed up to the cloud, synced, or transmitted.
| What | Why | How long |
|---|---|---|
| The text of messages you have received and sent, original and translated | So a translation survives after you swipe the notification away; the app cannot read your messaging app's own history | The most recent 300 messages. Older ones are deleted automatically |
| Which language each person writes in | So you do not have to set it again for every message | Until you clear it or uninstall |
| Names and numbers from conversations | To tell conversations apart and reply to the right thread | Until you clear it or uninstall |
| Your settings | Text size, which apps to watch, setup progress | Until you uninstall |
Message content is encrypted on your device. The keys are held in the Android Keystore, which is backed by dedicated hardware on most phones, so the stored text cannot be read without unlocking your phone.
This matters most for apps like WhatsApp that encrypt messages in transit. By the time a notification exists, the message has already been decrypted by WhatsApp on your phone, so reading it does not weaken WhatsApp's encryption. But storing it in the clear would leave it more exposed than WhatsApp ever did, so it is encrypted here too.
You can erase it at any time: in TextBridge Companion, open Settings, then Your data → Delete all TextBridge data. That removes every conversation, translation and remembered language from TextBridge; your real conversations in your messaging apps are never touched. Uninstalling removes everything.
What is sent over the internet
Almost nothing.
The app downloads language packs, one per language and around 30 MB, the first time you use a language. This request goes to Google's servers as part of Google's ML Kit. After that the app translates entirely offline.
Your messages are never part of that request. Translation runs on your phone. Nothing you write or receive is uploaded for translation, ever.
Diagnostics from Google's translation engine. ML Kit also sends Google a small amount of technical information so Google can keep it working: the phone's make and model, the Android and app versions, a random identifier created for this installation (not your name, number, or advertising ID), which languages are set up, and how long translations take and whether they fail. It never includes the text of your messages, it is sent encrypted, and it does not reach us. Google describes it in ML Kit's data disclosure and handles it under Google's privacy policy. This is the information listed in TextBridge's "Data safety" section on Google Play.
Updates. The Google Play copy is updated by Google Play. Copies of TextBridge Companion shared directly, outside Google Play, check GitHub (a Microsoft service, where new versions are posted) for a newer version about twice a day, and download it from there. That check carries no messages and nothing about you, only the app's version number; like any web request, GitHub sees your phone's internet address.
Apart from Google's diagnostics above, there is no analytics, no crash reporting, no advertising, and no tracking of any kind in either app, and nothing reaches us. We do not know how many people use it, what languages they use, or whether they use it at all.
Voice input and read-aloud
If you tap the microphone to say a reply instead of typing it, your phone's own speech service listens and turns your words into text; TextBridge receives only that text. TextBridge never records or handles audio, and it does not have microphone permission. On most phones that speech service is Google's, which may process the audio on its own servers under its own terms.
Reading a message aloud uses your phone's built-in text-to-speech.
Payment
TextBridge Companion on Google Play offers a free trial and a one-time purchase to unlock sending. Payment is handled entirely by Google Play Billing. We never see your card details, billing address, or any part of your payment information. Google processes it and tells the app only whether a purchase exists.
Receiving and reading translated messages is never gated. If the trial ends without a purchase, you continue to receive every message translated; only sending stops.
Copies shared directly, outside Google Play, contain no payment code at all.
Permissions, and why each is needed
TextBridge Companion
- Notification access: the core of how it works. It reads message text from the notifications of apps you enable, and nothing else.
- Notifications: to show you the translated message.
- Internet / network state: to download language packs once.
- Install updates (copies shared outside Google Play only): so the app can update itself.
It does not ask for contacts, location, microphone, or text-message permissions.
TextBridge (the texting app)
- Receive, read and send SMS/MMS: it acts as your messaging app, so it must receive incoming messages and send your replies.
- Contacts: to show names instead of bare phone numbers.
- Notifications: to tell you a message arrived.
- Internet / network state: to download language packs once.
Children
These apps are not directed at children, and we collect nothing from anyone, so we hold nothing about a user of any age.
Your rights
Because everything stays on your device, you already have complete control. You can delete TextBridge's data in the app, revoke any permission in Android's settings, or uninstall, which removes everything the app has stored. There is no copy on a server of ours to request, correct, or delete, because there is no server. The diagnostic information described above is held by Google, not by us; uninstalling the app retires its installation identifier.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the "last updated" date above changes with it, and any change that affects what the app collects or sends will be described here rather than quietly reworded.