Frequently asked questions
Straight answers, no hedging. If something isn't covered here, emailhello@talpatra.com.
Is it really free?+
Yes. Talpatra Scan is free right now, with no ads. Later — roughly 3 to 6 months after public launch — a one-time lifetime "Pro" unlock is planned to gate some extras like book-dewarp extras, batch export, and export profiles. It isn't available yet. Anyone using the app before that unlock ships keeps full access, permanently, for free.
Does it work with no internet connection at all, even on first launch?+
Yes. There's nothing to connect to — no account to create, no activation step, no server check on first launch. The app doesn't hold the Android INTERNET permission, so it physically cannot make a network request, on first launch or any launch after.
How does OCR work without the cloud?+
Text recognition runs on-device using ML Kit, Google's on-device text recognition library. It processes the scanned page locally and writes the recognized text into the exported PDF as a searchable layer — none of the image or the extracted text is sent anywhere.
What data do you collect?+
None, automatically. No analytics SDK, no account, no cloud sync. Full details are in the privacy policy.
How is this different from Adobe Scan?+
Adobe Scan uploads your scans to Adobe Document Cloud with no documented way to turn that off, and its free OCR is capped at 5 pages per scan. Talpatra Scan never uploads anything — it can't, since it has no INTERNET permission — and OCR has no page cap because it runs on-device. See the full sourced comparison at /compare.
How is this different from Kaagaz?+
Kaagaz markets itself as offline-scanning, but the app itself is networked — it ships ads and analytics SDKs (Branch, Firebase, Google Analytics) and has a subscription/IAP model. Talpatra Scan has no INTERNET permission at all, so there is no app-side network traffic to disclose, and there is no subscription. Full sourced comparison at /compare.
Is there a subscription?+
No. The app is free right now with no subscription. The planned future Pro unlock will be a one-time purchase, not a recurring subscription.
What happens to my scans if I uninstall the app?+
Your scans are stored in the app's local storage on your device, not in any cloud account — so uninstalling the app removes them along with it. If you have documents you care about, export or back them up (PDF, share sheet, copy to another folder) before you uninstall.
Is the source code public?+
No, Talpatra Scan is closed-source. What you can verify instead is the APK itself: the signed build published on GitHub Releases, and the no-INTERNET-permission guarantee, which you can check yourself against the manifest. See /verify for how.