Subly is a browser extension (and a companion desktop app) that lets you click a word in a video subtitle to see its meaning, pronunciation, part of speech, and a short explanation of the word in that scene. When you click a word, Subly sends that word — along with the subtitle line it appeared in and the immediately adjacent lines — to our backend, which returns the answer. That is the entire function.
No accounts, no personal data. Subly has no sign-up, login, email, password, or user profile. We do not ask for or collect your name, contact details, or any identifier that personally identifies you.
An anonymous, device-local identifier. On first use, the extension generates a random string and stores it on your device. It is sent with lookups only so we can count active installations and prevent abuse of our service (rate limiting). It is not linked to you, your browser account, or any personal information, and it does not track you across websites.
Lookup content — used, not stored. To produce an answer, the word you click and the surrounding subtitle line(s) are sent to our backend and the third-party services listed below. We do not store the subtitle text. For basic product analytics we keep only the individual looked-up word, its language, and the platform (e.g. netflix) — never the sentence, and never anything tied to your identity.
Technical data. As with any internet service, our backend momentarily sees your device's IP address to return the response and apply rate limits. We do not keep your IP address in any lasting record.
Local settings. Your preferences (and, in the desktop app, your VLC/backend settings) are stored locally on your device via the browser's storage. They do not leave your device except as needed to make a lookup.
To generate answers, Subly sends only the necessary lookup content to:
We send these services only what is needed to answer your lookup. We do not send them your identity (we hold none) or your device identifier.
The extension activates only on the streaming sites it supports (currently YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, and Hotstar) and only sends data when you click a subtitle word. The desktop companion works with locally played video (VLC) and subtitle files you choose to open.
All communication between Subly and our backend uses encrypted HTTPS connections.
Subly is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from them.
Because Subly stores no personal data and has no account, there is no personal profile to access or delete. You can remove all of Subly's local data at any time by uninstalling the extension or clearing its storage in your browser. For any question or request, contact us below.
We may update this policy from time to time. We'll post the new version on this page and update the effective date above.
Questions about privacy? Email privacy@sublyapp.in.