Slate FAQ and troubleshooting

Updated: September 7, 2026. Current App Store version: 0.0.28.

Questions

What is Slate?

A private voice journal. You talk, your iPhone writes it down, and Slate notices what keeps coming up and reads your week back to you on Sundays. There is no server and no account. Everything happens on the phone.

Does Slate need an account?

No. There is no sign-up, no email, no password, and no login of any kind. You install it and press record. Payment, if you choose to pay, goes through your Apple account like any App Store purchase, and Slate never sees who you are.

Does Slate work offline?

Yes, completely. The app makes no network calls. Turn on airplane mode, record an entry, and watch it transcribe and reflect. Transcription runs on the phone with Apple’s SpeechAnalyzer and reflections are written on the phone by Apple Intelligence. The only optional network use is iCloud backup, which is off by default and goes to your own iCloud account when you turn it on.

Is my voice sent to a server or used to train anything?

No. Audio never leaves the phone, not to us and not to anyone. There is no server to send it to. The App Store privacy label for Slate reads Data Not Collected, which Apple only allows when an app collects nothing. Nothing you say trains any model, ours or anyone else’s.

Which iPhones does Slate work on?

Recording works on any iPhone that runs iOS 26. Transcription runs on iPhone 12 and newer. Reflections are written by Apple Intelligence, which Apple supports on iPhone 15 Pro and newer. On earlier phones your recordings and transcripts work fully, and always will.

Which languages can Slate transcribe?

The current list lives in the app under Settings, Transcription. Set the language before you record. Slate transcribes in the language it is set to, so speaking a different one produces a poor transcript.

Since 0.0.27 the app itself, its reflections, and the weekly review are available in English, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian, and the App Store listing is written for each of those markets by people who speak the language.

Where is my journal stored?

On your iPhone. Audio never leaves it. If you turn on backup in Settings, your transcripts and reflections back up to your own iCloud account, encrypted. Audio stays on the phone even then.

Can you read or recover my journal?

No. There is no server copy, so we cannot read your journal, and we cannot recover it if it is deleted. Your iPhone and your own iPhone backup are the only places it exists. We consider this a feature, and it comes with that responsibility.

What does Slate cost?

One month free, then $7.99 a month or $59.99 a year, or a one-time lifetime purchase of $99.99. Pay once, yours forever, nothing renews. Payments go through your Apple account. If you are already subscribed or in the trial, the lifetime option lives in Slate’s Settings under Buy Slate.

How do I cancel or get a refund?

Apple handles both. Cancel under Settings, your name, Subscriptions. Request refunds at reportaproblem.apple.com. Canceling the trial before it ends means you are never charged.

I bought lifetime during my trial. Do I need to do anything?

Yes, one thing. Buying lifetime does not stop the trial subscription, Apple keeps it scheduled to renew. Cancel it under Settings, your name, Subscriptions, and you will never be charged for it. If it already charged you, request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple grants these, and either way lifetime is yours forever.

Can I start a recording without opening the app?

Yes, three ways, and each is one press from a new session.

Action button, on iPhone 15 Pro and later: in iPhone Settings choose Action Button, then Shortcut, then Record an entry under Slate. Pressing the button starts a session, even from the Lock Screen.

Lock Screen widget: hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, and add Slate. Home Screen widget: hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, and choose Slate. One tap on either opens a new recording.

Can I type an entry instead of speaking?

Yes, since 0.0.12. The record screen has a typing option for the moments speaking does not fit, a meeting or a train or a quiet room. A typed entry gets the same reflection a spoken one does.

Is Slate professional support of any kind?

No. Slate is a private place to think. It is not a medical, psychological, or crisis service. If you are in crisis, contact local emergency services or a crisis line.

Troubleshooting

How do I turn on Apple Intelligence for reflections?

Let the app tell you where you stand. Open Slate, go to Settings, and read the line next to Apple Intelligence under Reflection. It shows one of four states, and each one has a different answer.

Off in Settings. The switch lives at the top level of the Settings app, under Apple Intelligence & Siri, on the first screen. The similarly named row inside Slate’s own settings page is not it.

Getting ready. The switch is on and the phone is still downloading the model. The download is large, only runs on Wi-Fi while the phone charges, and needs about 7 GB free. Leave the phone plugged in overnight on Wi-Fi.

Unsupported device. Apple Intelligence needs an iPhone 15 Pro or newer. On an earlier iPhone there is nothing to turn on. Recording, transcripts, and playback all work fully.

Ready. Apple Intelligence is working. If reflections still do not appear, write to us, because that is a bug on our side.

Your entries never wait on any of this. They are recorded and transcribed regardless, and they reflect on their own the moment the model is ready.

The card says reflections are paused and Apple Intelligence is off, but I turned it on

The switch that matters is at the top level of the Settings app: Settings, Apple Intelligence & Siri, first screen. The similarly named row inside Slate’s own settings page controls Siri suggestions, not Apple Intelligence. If the switch is genuinely on, the model may still be downloading. The download is large and only runs on Wi-Fi while the phone charges, and it needs about 7 GB free. Both the phone language and the Siri language must be ones Apple Intelligence supports. A work-managed phone can have Apple Intelligence blocked by its profile.

Reflections aren’t available on this phone

Apple Intelligence needs an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, and Slate will not pretend otherwise on earlier hardware. Your recordings and transcripts work fully.

I press Start and nothing happens

You are probably on a call. iPhones do not allow any app to record the microphone while a call is active, including video calls. End the call and try again.

My transcript came out in the wrong language

Slate transcribes in the language set under Settings, Transcription. Pick the language you speak, then record again.

The recording sounds far away, or my AirPods didn’t record

Since 0.0.4, Slate records from AirPods and from wired headphones when you are wearing them. On earlier versions it records from the iPhone microphone only, so keep the phone near you while you talk. If your AirPods are also paired to a laptop, the laptop can hold their microphone while iOS reports them as connected, and the recording stays silent. Glance at the waveform when you start. If it is not moving, disconnect the AirPods from the other device or record from the iPhone microphone.

The widget stopped opening the app

Remove the widget from your screen and add it again. iOS occasionally keeps a stale copy of a widget after an app update, and a fresh add clears it.

An entry says it didn’t go through

The banner on the timeline says what happened and offers the next step. Dismissing the banner deletes the entry, so dismiss only what you do not want. Since 0.0.4, the banner names the reason it failed, and an entry that can still be recovered keeps your recording when you try again.

An entry is stuck on Transcribing or Reflecting

Open Slate and leave it in the foreground for a minute. Interrupted work resumes on its own when the app comes forward.

Something else? Write to e@hsla0001.com. A person reads it.