What stays private, and how
- Transcribed on the device — speech recognition and speaker labelling run on your iPhone, iPad or Mac. Turn on Airplane Mode and Lucy still records and transcribes.
- Never sent to us — Lucy has no server that receives audio, transcripts or notes. We could not hand them over, because we never have them.
- iCloud only if you choose — iCloud sync is off by default. Turn it on and sessions go only to your own private iCloud.
- No account — no sign-up, no email, nothing that names you or your clients.
- Diagnostics carry no content — the only thing Lucy sends is anonymous crash, performance and usage diagnostics, stripped of file paths, session names and transcript text.
- Lock a session — its transcript and audio are encrypted at rest and open only with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode on that device. There is no recovery key.
From the session to your notes
- Who said what. Lucy labels each voice. Give a speaker a name from its speaker chip and every line by that speaker shows it.
- Jump to the moment. Every line has a timestamp you can tap to hear it, and search jumps straight to the words.
- Check before you rely on it. Low-confidence lines are flagged so you review the parts most likely to be wrong.
- Summaries you approve. Optional on-device summaries link every line back to the transcript, and nothing is saved until you accept it.
- Therapist mode. Labels a session as a clinical session and turns Apple Intelligence summaries off for it. Transcription is the same in every mode. Free.
- Export is free. TXT, Markdown or PDF with speaker labels and timestamps, before and after you buy.
Compliance: what Lucy can and can’t tell you
Because Lucy transcribes on the device and we never receive your audio, no BAA is required for Lucy — confirm your own obligations with your practice, your professional body or your adviser. Lucy does not make a practice compliant on its own: consent, device security and where you keep exported notes are still yours to manage.
Questions worth asking any transcription app:
- Where is the audio processed — on my device, or on the company’s servers?
- Does the company ever receive my audio, transcripts or notes? Can its staff access them?
- Do I need an account, and what does it link to me?
- What does the app send in the background, and does any of it contain session content?
- Can I lock an individual session, and what happens if I lose access?
- Is my content used to train models?
Lucy’s answers: on the device; never; no account; anonymous diagnostics without content; yes, with no recovery key; we never receive it, so it cannot be. Where your local laws require it, get everyone’s consent before recording.
Questions therapists ask
Does it need the internet?
Only once, to download the speech models over Wi-Fi. After that it records, transcribes and summarises in Airplane Mode.
Can it record a video session?
Lucy records the room through the microphone, not other apps. You can also import an audio or video file, such as a call recording you are permitted to keep.
How accurate is it?
In English the highest-quality model measured a 5.3% word error rate on public test audio. Review flagged lines before relying on a transcript. See the accuracy report.
What does it cost?
The first 10 sessions are free with every feature. Then a one-time $19.99 unlock removes the limit, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Nothing renews.
Also see Lucy for lawyers, how Lucy compares, and the privacy policy.