Privacy policy
Last updated: 20 October 2026. This policy covers snapdic.com, the SnapDic Chrome extension (version 2.5.0 and later) and the SnapDic Mac app (version 1.0.0 and later). SnapDic is made by Amiplay.
In short
SnapDic has no accounts and does not collect your name, email or browsing history. Most words are answered from dictionary data built into the app, on your device. When a word isn’t built in, only that single word is sent to a public online dictionary.
Three things do leave your device: the word being looked up (only when it isn’t built in), the request for the sponsored banner in the free version (our ad server sees your IP address and a country code), and — only if you buy SnapDic Plus — your licence key and a random device ID when you activate, check or remove the licence. We do not sell your data.
What we do not collect
Unless you choose to email us or join the website mailing list, SnapDic does not collect:
- Your name, email address, postal address or phone number (the apps have no sign-up)
- The pages you visit, the text on them, or the documents and apps you read on your Mac
- A history of the words you look up (there is no SnapDic lookup database in the cloud; saved history in SnapDic Plus stays on your device)
- Precise GPS location or street-level address
- Payment card details (SnapDic Plus payments are handled by the checkout provider when you buy, not by the apps)
Looking up words
- SnapDic reads only the word or short phrase under your mouse (or the text you highlight), and only while hovering is turned on. The rest of the page is not stored or sent anywhere.
- Built-in data first: most words are answered on your device from data packaged inside the app — an offline dictionary built from Open English WordNet, plus SnapDic’s own learner, exam, core-vocabulary, idiom, legal and tech glossaries. No network request is made for these.
- Online only when needed: when a word isn’t in the built-in data (new words, slang, many names), that single word is sent to Wiktionary, Wikipedia, Wikidata or the Free Dictionary API (dictionaryapi.dev). These services receive the word and, like any website, your IP address; SnapDic sends nothing that identifies you. Their own privacy policies apply.
- Each answer says where it came from (for example via SnapDic, via Open English WordNet, via Wiktionary).
Sponsored banner ads (free version)
The free version of SnapDic shows a small banner labelled Sponsored in the SnapDic panel. It comes from our own ad server, adserv.amiplay.net, run by Amiplay:
- What is sent: SnapDic’s app ID, the banner size, and a country code taken from your language/region setting (in Chrome, the browser’s UI language, for example en-GB → GB; on the Mac, the macOS region). As with any web request, the ad server also sees your IP address. We use these only to choose an ad suitable for your country and to count ads served — not to identify or profile you, and never combined with your lookups.
- How it is shown: the banner image is loaded from the address the ad server returns each time the panel shows an ad (it is not stored on your device); some ads are shown as an ad page from adserv.amiplay.net inside a frame in the panel.
- Counting impressions: after an ad is shown, SnapDic sends back the one-time impression token the ad server gave it, so the ad can be counted once.
- Clicking an ad opens the advertiser’s website, whose own privacy policy applies.
- When there is no ad, the banner area stays hidden.
- SnapDic Plus has no ads: with an active licence, SnapDic does not contact the ad server at all.
SnapDic Plus licence
SnapDic Plus is a one-time licence sold by Amiplay directly (not through the Chrome Web Store). It removes ads and adds saved word history. When you enter a licence key, SnapDic contacts our licence server, api.amiplay.net:
- What is sent: your licence key, a random device ID (created on your device when you first activate; it is not derived from your hardware or personal details), and a short device label naming the app and platform (for example chrome-…-win32 or macos-…-darwin).
- When: only when you click Activate (the key is checked, then this device is activated) or Remove licence (this device is deactivated). SnapDic does not check in with the server in the background.
- What comes back: whether the key is valid and the customer name on the licence, which is shown in the app.
- Where it is kept: in Chrome, the key, customer name and device ID are kept in the extension’s local storage on your device. On the Mac, the key and customer name are kept in the macOS Keychain.
- The licence server keeps the licence and the list of devices activated with it, so seat limits can be enforced and you can move your licence to another device.
What is stored on your device
- Settings (hover on/off, how many common words to skip, panel position and size) — Chrome local storage, or the Mac app’s preferences.
- Lookups list for the current session — kept only while the browser or app is running.
- Saved history (SnapDic Plus): the words you look up are saved by day so you can review them later. In Chrome this is the extension’s local storage; on the Mac it is the file
~/Library/Application Support/SnapDic/saved-history.json. It is never uploaded, and you can remove entries in the panel. Uninstalling the extension deletes it; on the Mac, deleting that file deletes it. - A random session identifier in Chrome session storage, used only inside the extension to tell browsing sessions apart. It is never sent anywhere.
Mac app — reading the word under the mouse
- Accessibility permission: the Mac app uses macOS Accessibility to read the word under your mouse in the app you are using. It does not record keystrokes, read whole documents, or keep what other apps display.
- Screen text recognition (optional): for apps that don’t expose their text (images, some PDFs), you can allow the Screen Recording permission. SnapDic then captures a small strip of the screen around the mouse and reads it with Apple’s on-device text recognition. The capture is processed on your Mac, used only to find that word, and is never saved or uploaded.
- Lookups, ads and the SnapDic Plus licence work as described above and use the same servers.
Website (snapdic.com)
- Mailing list: if you submit your email on the home page, it is emailed to the SnapDic team from our own website so we can send you SnapDic news. We do not sell these emails.
- This website: we do not run advertising or analytics on snapdic.com at this time. If we add analytics later, we will update this policy.
- Images: photos are original images created for SnapDic and hosted on our server.
Dictionary data and credits
- Offline dictionary from Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0), derived from Princeton WordNet.
- Estimated word levels from wordfreq frequency data (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Legal glossaries from Public.Law (CC BY 4.0).
- Online results from Wiktionary and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), Wikidata (CC0) and the Free Dictionary API.
Children
SnapDic is intended for general audiences learning English. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
Changes
We may update this policy when SnapDic’s features change (for example new ad formats or platforms). The “Last updated” date at the top will change when we do.