Privacy policy
Yona is a product of Yonasoft. Last updated November 5, 2026.
The short version: Yona works on your device. Your words and the text it reads are not sent to us or anyone else.
- Your words, sentences, lists, review history and settings
- Stored on your device (in your browser, the extension or the desktop app). We never receive them. Clearing your browser data or uninstalling removes them, so export a backup if you want to keep them.
- Text Yona reads from your screen
- The extension and desktop app take pictures of the tab, window or screen you start the reader in, read the text on your device and discard the pictures. Pictures and text are not uploaded or stored by us.
- Words you point at on a web page
- When you hold Shift and point at a word, the extension reads the few words under the pointer from the page and looks them up on your device. Nothing is read unless you hold Shift, and nothing is stored or sent.
- Dictionary packs
- Downloaded once from this site (getyona.app) and kept on your device so Yona works offline. Downloading a pack tells our host that your device asked for that file, like any web request. The desktop app comes with its packs.
- Reader models
- The extension downloads the model that reads text in pictures for a language once from this site (getyona.app), when you choose that language or first read in it, and keeps it on your device. The desktop app comes with these models, so it does not download them.
- Translation
- Off unless you turn it on. In Chrome and Edge it uses the translator built into the browser, so Yona downloads nothing. If you switch on the offline backup translator in Settings, or allow it in the Windows app (which has no built-in translator), it downloads a translator (about 110 MB per language) once from Hugging Face (huggingface.co) and runs it on your computer. The text you translate is not sent anywhere.
- Read aloud
- Uses the voices installed on your device. Yona does not use online voices, so the words it reads aloud are not sent anywhere. If no voice for the language is installed, Yona does not read aloud.
- Accounts
- There are none. If an account for syncing is added later, it will be optional and described here before it ships.
- Analytics, ads and cookies
- None. Yona does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies. Your theme and language choice are kept in your device’s local storage.
- Server logs
- This site is served by Cloudflare, which processes standard request data (such as your IP address) to deliver pages and protect against abuse. We do not use it to identify you.
Browser extension permissions
When you add the extension, Chrome says it can “read and change all your data on all websites”. This is what it does with that access:
- All websites: a small script runs on every page and frame so that Shift and point works anywhere. It reads only the few words under the pointer, only while you hold Shift, and looks them up on your device. Nothing is stored or sent.
- Pictures of a tab: the reader takes pictures of a tab only after you start it in that tab, and stops when you turn it off.
- Storage: keeps your words, lists, settings and downloaded packs on your device.
- Offscreen: runs the dictionary and the reader in a hidden page of the extension, so they keep working while you switch tabs.
- Scripting: adds the reader to the tab you start it in.
- Read the desktop: reading another app or the whole screen uses Chrome’s own screen-share picker. You choose what to share, and Chrome shows that it is being shared.
The extension connects only to this site (getyona.app) for dictionary packs and reader models, and to Hugging Face (huggingface.co) if you turn on the backup translator.
Children
Yona collects no personal information from anyone, including children.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the date above changes and the new version is published here. Questions: support@yonasoft.net.