Privacy
Last updated June 25, 2026
Whatsit helps you bring a name back to the tip of your tongue, reach the people who matter, and remember what's coming up. It's built to keep as much as possible on your own iPhone. This page explains what stays on your phone, the few things that use the internet, and how that information is handled.
What stays on your phone
These never leave your device. They're stored on your iPhone and aren't sent to us or to anyone else.
On your iPhoneWhat uses the internet
A few features need to look something up online. When they do, only the words needed for that one request are sent — never your contacts, your plans, or your saved list.
Uses the internetServices that help answer these requests
To answer the requests above, Whatsit's server relays them to a small number of trusted services. Each receives only the content of that specific request, and handles it under its own privacy policy:
- Cloudflare — runs the server that relays requests. (Privacy policy)
- Anthropic and OpenAI — the AI services that read your description and work out the answer. (Anthropic · OpenAI)
- Wikimedia Commons — public, freely licensed photos. (Privacy policy)
- YouTube — to find a trailer to watch. (Privacy policy)
Whatsit's server doesn't store the content of your requests. These services may process them transiently to do their job, and any retention is governed by their own policies linked above.
Permissions Whatsit asks for
Whatsit only asks for what a feature needs, and only when you use it. You can change any of these anytime in your iPhone's Settings.
Contacts
So you can bring people in from your address book to call. Importing is your choice, and the people you bring in are stored on your phone.
Microphone & Speech Recognition
So you can speak instead of type. Speech is turned into text by Apple's speech recognition, which is part of iOS and governed by Apple's privacy policy. You can turn voice off in Settings and type instead.
Photos
So you can add a picture to a person or place. Photos you choose stay on your iPhone.
Notifications
So Whatsit can remind you about a plan on the day it's due. Reminders are scheduled on your device.
Keeping and removing your information
Your people, places, plans, and photos live on your iPhone for as long as you keep them. You're in control:
- Remove a single person, place, or plan inside the app at any time.
- Deleting Whatsit from your iPhone removes everything it stored on your device.
- There's no account, so there's nothing separate to close.
No ads, no tracking, no selling
Whatsit doesn't show ads, doesn't track you across other apps or websites, and never sells your information. The app has no analytics or advertising tools built in.
This website
This site (whatsitnamed.com) is a simple set of pages with no sign-in. Like most websites, the host that serves it may keep basic technical logs (such as the type of device and the time of a visit) to keep the site running and secure. The site doesn't use advertising trackers.
Children
Whatsit is made for adults and isn't directed to children under 13. It doesn't knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with an updated date at the top. Meaningful changes will be noted in the app or on this site.
Contact
Questions about privacy, or anything else? Email support@whatsitnamed.com and a real person will get back to you.