Short answer
BBNotes runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision, but every feature does not have the same requirements.
The core app requires iOS or iPadOS 17, macOS 14, or visionOS 1. On-device captions require iOS/iPadOS 26 and a supported device. Cloud captions require internet access and available preview or Premium translation time. PDF translation and AI tutoring require an internet connection, AI Data Sharing permission, and available AI points or an eligible plan.
At a glance
Published compatibility
| Area | Current published support | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision. | Some interaction patterns, including Apple Pencil features, are specific to compatible iPads. |
| Minimum OS | iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+, macOS 14+, visionOS 1+. | On-device captions require iOS/iPadOS 26 and a supported device. Cloud captions require internet access and available preview or Premium translation time. |
| Published version | Version 1.69 on the UK App Store, released 9 September 2026 and checked 11 September 2026. | The App Store version may differ by region or during a staged release. |
| App interface languages | English, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Norwegian Bokmål, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese (15 total). | Translation and transcription language availability is separate and depends on the feature, OS, device, and downloaded language assets. |
| Imported study files | PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX, and BBNote packages. | Word and PowerPoint files are converted to PDF for use inside BBNotes; complex layouts may not convert perfectly. |
| Pricing model | Free download with in-app purchases. Eligible new users receive a 14-day Pro trial; monthly, semester, and yearly plans are offered. | Price, currency, trial eligibility, and product availability are controlled by the local App Store. |
Feature requirements
What each study tool needs
PDF translation
BBNotes can translate the current page, selected text, or a selected region. It first reads the PDF text layer and can use on-device Vision OCR when a page is scanned or image-heavy.
Limit: OCR and translation quality depend on scan clarity, page layout, handwriting, language pair, and model output. Internet and AI permission are required for the translation request.
Circle-to-ask AI tutor
The tutor can use the selected page region, visible working, or document context to answer without requiring the student to retype the source.
Limit: AI answers can be incomplete or wrong. Handwriting and dense formulas may be misread, so important academic work should be checked against the course source.
On-device bilingual captions
With Pro access, speech recognition and translation run on supported devices using Apple’s speech and translation language packs. Once the required packs are downloaded, this mode can work offline.
Limit: availability varies by device, spoken language, accent model, target language, and installed assets. Recording can continue when live captions are unavailable.
Cloud bilingual captions
Precision cloud translation streams audio to Soniox after AI Data Sharing consent, with automatic spoken-language detection. It does not depend on Apple’s on-device speech language packs.
Requirements: internet access, sign-in, and available preview or Premium translation time. Available languages and remaining time are shown in the app.
Cloud sync
For Pro users, document packages may be uploaded when a document is saved or closed. Cloud files use Cloudflare R2 and account-linked metadata uses Supabase.
Limit: cloud sync is encrypted in transit and protected by provider controls at rest, but it is not end-to-end encrypted.
Privacy choices
What leaves the device
Notes can be created and edited locally. AI content is sent only after the user enables Settings → AI Data Sharing and uses an AI feature. Tutoring, PDF translation, image analysis, and outline requests pass through the BBNotes Supabase backend and OpenRouter to a selected model provider such as Google, OpenAI, or Anthropic.
- On-device speech recognition and caption translation stay on the device. In cloud caption mode, audio is streamed to Soniox after consent.
- BBNotes does not intentionally add a name or email address to a model request.
- BBNotes does not use user content to train its own models.
- External AI providers apply their own current retention and service terms.
- Structured AI request metadata may be retained for up to 90 days.
- Pro cloud documents may contain notes, PDFs, images, conversations, recordings, transcripts, and translations.
- Word and PowerPoint conversion may use a server service before returning a PDF.
The authoritative legal description, provider list, retention rules, account deletion process, website analytics consent, and Chinese translation are in the BBNotes Privacy Policy, last updated 11 August 2026.
Known limitations
When BBNotes may not be the right tool
AI translation and tutoring are not offline features
Use Apple’s downloaded Translate languages when a fully offline translation workflow matters more than keeping the source and answer inside the note.
OCR cannot recover every page
Blur, unusual fonts, marginal notes, complex diagrams, and low contrast can reduce recognition accuracy. A selectable-text PDF is more reliable.
AI output needs verification
Do not treat an AI explanation as an authoritative answer for assessed, legal, medical, or safety-critical work. Return to the original source and instructor guidance.
Cloud sync is not end-to-end encrypted
Keep sensitive material local and avoid optional AI/cloud features when provider processing or cloud storage is not appropriate for the document.
Verification sources
Where these facts come from
- BBNotes on the UK App Store — published version, compatibility, languages, pricing model, privacy labels, and release notes.
- BBNotes Privacy Policy — AI processing, analytics, cloud storage, providers, retention, and user choices.
- BBNotes Terms of Service — subscriptions, acceptable use, and service conditions.
If a fact on this page conflicts with the current App Store listing or legal policy, the current official listing or policy takes precedence. Report an outdated claim to [email protected].