FAQ
Fair questions, straight answers.
If yours is missing, ask us via the contact page and we will answer personally.
Product
What is Kata, in one paragraph?
Kata is a personal health coach with a full system behind it. You talk: chat, voice, or a photo of your plate. The system does the rest: it logs weight, food, water, training, sleep and supplements, keeps your charts and streaks, remembers your decisions and plans your day around phase goals like Cut or Build. All of it lives on your device.
Do I still have to fill out forms and search food databases?
No. You say “weighed 101.6, whey shake after training” and Kata turns it into structured entries you confirm with one tap. With Kata Plus, photos work too: point the camera at a plate and get a calorie and macro estimate. Classic quick-log buttons exist for the days you would rather tap than talk.
Is Kata a medical product?
No. Kata organizes your own health routine and offers general, AI-assisted coaching. It does not diagnose, treat or replace a doctor, physiotherapist or dietitian. For medical questions, see a professional; Kata will tell you the same.
How does voice input work?
Tap the microphone and talk: Apple's speech recognition on iPhone, your phone's speech recognizer on Android, or your browser's on the web, turns your words into text, and Kata handles it exactly like a typed message, so “big glass of water and 20 minutes on the bike” becomes two entries to confirm. People use it while cooking, walking or driving. With Kata Plus and Kata Unlimited, replies can also be read aloud in a Kata voice, Mégane's or another you choose, in your language; Kata never uses your phone's own voice. For a whole spoken conversation, start Talk.
Does Kata replace my trainer or my doctor?
No, and it does not try to. Kata is the daily layer: it carries a plan through the week, keeps the numbers honest and answers at 22:00 when nobody else does. A good trainer, physio or doctor stays exactly as valuable; many users bring their trainer’s program into Kata and let it hold them to it. For anything medical, see a professional; Kata will tell you the same.
What are phases?
A phase is your current goal, stated plainly: Cut, Build, or your own variant. The phase sets the targets (protein, water, training focus, bedtime), and every module and every answer from Kata works toward it. Change the phase, and the whole system re-aims.
Does Kata work offline?
Partly, and it says so. Your data lives on the device, so you can log, look back at your day and open your charts without a connection: a small Offline label shows when you are, and what you log stays on the phone. Kata AI needs a connection, so Kata answers again once you are back online.
Privacy & data
Where does my data actually live?
On your device. Logs, chat history, Kata's memory of you, photos and integration tokens are written to your device, not into a content database of ours. Two things travel: your message and the context it needs go to the AI to generate a reply, where Kata's servers keep no copy and the AI provider deletes it within 30 days without training on it; and, in the web app and the Android app, one restore snapshot of your account, encrypted on your device with a key we never receive, so what we hold is ciphertext we cannot open. That is how Kata is built, not just a promise. Details in the data & privacy model.
What does the server see?
- Your account basics: email and sign-in timestamps.
- How often the app is opened and when it was last active.
- Aggregate AI usage numbers for fair use: never what was said.
- A pseudonymous picture of you the app computes on your device, tied to your account: an archetype word and coarse traits like activity level, sleep pattern or phase. Never names, numbers or content.
- Your invite status, your plan and its subscription state.
- Your push token and notification settings: categories, quiet hours, how often, language and time zone, plus a 21-day ledger of what was sent.
- The record of the Terms and Privacy versions you accepted.
- If you use them: the daily yes-or-no dot of a Duo or group, the sealed secure shares you create, and your membership and its history (when you were invited, joined or left) when a company covers your plan.
- If you give or receive a gift: its code, length and card, the names and note written on it, how it arrives (the recipient's email or a postal address), and who claimed it and when. The names, the note and the addresses go 90 days after the gift is claimed.
- In the web app and the Android app, one restore snapshot of your account: a sealed blob we hold no key for.
- Standard technical hosting logs (IP, request time) at Vercel.
Never readable to us: your chats, your logs, Kata’s memory of you, your decisions. Your photos are never stored on our servers. What the restore snapshot carries is ciphertext, sealed on your device with a key we never receive, so we can hold it but not open it. We never build an advertising profile from any of this and never sell it. The marketing website does use basic, aggregate visitor analytics you can decline, and it never touches any of this.
Can I export or wipe my data?
Yes. The app has a full JSON export, worth keeping as your own backup, and a wipe that clears everything from the device. Deleting your account removes the email record and, for the web app and the Android app, the encrypted snapshot with it. On the web and on Android, keep your recovery code: a snapshot opens only with your device key or that code, and not even we can open it for you.
What happens when I talk to Kata?
Your message, plus the minimum context needed to answer it, including the Apple Health, Health Connect or WHOOP values the question needs, is sent encrypted to our AI provider, Anthropic, which answers it, never trains on it and deletes it within 30 days. Kata's servers keep no copy. Your voice is turned into text by Apple's speech recognition on iPhone, your phone's speech recognizer on Android or your browser's on the web before anything reaches us, and photos go to the AI only when you send them.
Does Kata learn from my data?
Yes, in a way we are proud of. Kata learns from abstract patterns, things like “morning trainers with a steady sleep rhythm stick to their plans”, so the product gets better for everyone. What it learns from is a coarse, pseudonymous sketch (an archetype and traits like activity level or sleep pattern, tied to your account but never to your content), computed on your device. Never your chats, never your logs, never your photos, never anything that tells your story. Those stay with you, full stop.
What happens to my data if I delete my account?
Deleting your account removes your email and sign-in record from our systems, with everything tied to them: your plan, notification settings, Duo and group dots, shares and, for the web app and the Android app, the encrypted snapshot. What stays: billing records for their statutory period, the record of what you agreed to for ten years, and, for 24 months, one-way fingerprints of your email and sign-in, so that the free month and invite rewards go to each person once. Nothing readable about your health was ever there. Wiping the app clears your local data completely and instantly. Export first if you want a backup.
How do the physique photos stay private?
Progress photos are written to your device, like everything else personal. They are never stored on our servers: the sealed snapshot of the web app and the Android app leaves them out entirely, and they serve nothing but your own before/after view. On iPhone they are part of the backup file your phone's own iCloud backup carries, and on Android they are part of the backup files your Google backup can carry. If you ask Kata to analyze one, the image goes to the AI provider for that answer only: Kata's servers keep no copy, and the provider deletes it within 30 days.
Kata AI
Which AI model runs Kata?
Kata runs on our own coaching intelligence, Kata AI, included in every plan. Behind the scenes it uses several large language models and picks the right one for the moment. It reads your data on your device, can render charts from your own numbers in the chat, and checks the web when facts matter.
Do I need my own ChatGPT or Claude account?
No. Kata AI is built in: it is part of the product, there is nothing to connect, no key to manage and no separate AI bill. You open the app and talk.
Does Kata adapt to how I write and live?
Yes, and that is most of its value. It learns your shorthand (“the usual shake” means your shake), your schedule, your lifts, the way you talk about hard days. Decisions land in a memory you can read and edit, so Kata becomes more your own over time without ever guessing in the dark.
Which AI provider does Kata use, and how long is a message kept?
Anthropic runs the coach: your message and the context it needs go there to make the reply. Anthropic does not use it for training and deletes it within 30 days, and Kata's own servers keep no copy of the conversation. ElevenLabs turns what Kata says out loud into audio in a Kata voice, Mégane's or another you choose, on Kata Plus and Kata Unlimited, and receives only the text of that reply.
What is Talk?
Talk is a live, spoken conversation with Kata. Start it, speak, and Kata answers out loud in a Kata voice, Mégane's or another you choose, in your language. Your voice becomes text through Apple's speech recognition on iPhone, your phone's speech recognizer on Android or your browser's on the web, so Kata receives words, never a recording. Talk comes with Kata Plus and Kata Unlimited: every spoken reply counts toward the monthly voice allowance, 60 on Plus and 400 on Unlimited, fair use.
What are the voice notes in Mégane's voice?
Mégane is a founder of Kata, and Kata speaks in an AI voice made from hers, with her consent. Now and then, after a real milestone, after a thinner stretch or when you have been away a while, a short voice note from Kata lands in your chat: written by Kata and spoken in that voice, never a recording of her. They are rare by design, and the notification setting Voice notes in Mégane's voice decides whether they reach you. Like every Kata voice, they come with Kata Plus and Kata Unlimited.
Getting started, pricing & invites
How do I sign up and create my profile?
Kata is in early access, and the doors open soon. Join the waitlist with your email and confirm it: your place is held, and invites go out in order. Every friend who joins through your personal link moves you forward. When your invite arrives, creating your account and setting up your profile takes a few minutes.
What does Kata cost?
The core of Kata is free, forever. Above it sit two paid plans: Kata Plus, with Kata voices, photo logging, reminders set by Kata, the written weekly reading and 500 Kata AI interactions per month; and Kata Unlimited, with everything in Plus, plus the deep weekly reading, unlimited Kata AI on fair use and the earliest features first. Both are sold by the year, with the per-month figure shown beside it, and a monthly option if you prefer. From 16 November every account starts with 30 days of Kata Plus, no card. Prices are shown for your region, in CHF, EUR, USD or SEK: the numbers are on the pricing page.
How do I cancel or change my plan?
You change or cancel any time from your account settings in the app: no email, no phone call. Switching between Kata Plus and Kata Unlimited takes effect right away, and cancelling keeps your access until the end of the period you already paid for. A subscription bought in the App Store, from iPhone version 1.0.1, is changed or cancelled in your Apple Account settings instead. On the free core there is nothing to cancel.
What do the fair-use limits mean in practice?
Kata Plus includes 500 Kata AI interactions per month: that is 16 real exchanges a day, more than almost anyone uses, since one message often logs several things at once. Logging, charts, streaks and everything non-AI stay unlimited on every tier. If you genuinely talk more than that, Kata Unlimited lifts it, on fair use too: past about 1,500 messages a month, replies come from the fast model and new photo readings wait until the next month.
How does Invite a friend work?
Earn 3, give 1: 3 months of Kata Plus for you for every friend who joins, up to 12 months a year, and 1 free month of Kata Plus for each friend you invite. The months count once your friend has confirmed their email and really started using Kata. Invites are sent from the app. While the launch phase is free, your invites already count, and the months you earn are honored. Full mechanics in the invite docs.
Which languages does Kata speak, and where is it available?
Kata works worldwide, wherever you can reach the app. The app is in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Swedish, and so are its voices; Kata replies in the language you write in, and this site speaks the same six. Prices adapt to your region in CHF, EUR, USD or SEK.
How do I reach support?
Through the contact form, or by email to contact@yourkata.com. A human reads every message and replies personally, usually within a day or two.
What is the waitlist, and when do the doors open?
Kata opens in early access. Join the waitlist with your email and confirm the address: that holds your place, and invites go out in order. The doors open soon, with no date set yet, for the iPhone app, the Android app and the web app on the same day.
How long is the launch phase free, and when does billing start?
The launch phase is free for everyone until Sunday 15 November 2026, 23:59 Zurich time. Billing starts on Monday 16 November: from that day every account, existing ones included, gets 30 days of Kata Plus, with no card and no automatic conversion. After those 30 days you continue on the free core, and choose a paid plan only if you want one.
What is the founders’ offer?
Kata Plus, by the year, at the founders price: 99 a year in CHF, EUR or USD, or 990 kr in SEK. You buy it here on the website until Tuesday 1 December 2026, 23:59 Zurich time, and the price stays locked for as long as you stay subscribed. Your plan then works wherever you sign in to your Kata account: on your iPhone, your Apple Watch, your Android phone and the web. Every plan side by side is on the pricing page.
How do I delete my account?
In the app: open Profile, scroll to the bottom, choose Delete account and type DELETE to confirm. Your account and its server records go at once, apart from billing records, the record of what you agreed to and one-way fingerprints that keep free offers to one per person (see Delete your account), and the Kata data on that device is wiped with it. Export first if you want to keep a copy.
I forgot my password. What now?
On the sign-in screen, tap Forgot password? and enter your email: a link to set a new one arrives by email. A password is optional anyway: Apple, Google and a magic link to your inbox sign you in too.
Integrations & devices
Which integrations does Kata support?
WHOOP, Apple Health and Health Connect. From WHOOP: recovery, sleep, strain, HRV, resting heart rate, skin temperature and workouts, passed through Kata's proxy without being stored, on a connection bound to your account. From Apple Health, on iPhone: steps, energy, workouts, sleep, weight, heart rate, resting heart rate, HRV, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, VO2 max, height, body fat, lean mass, nutrition, water and wrist temperature. From Health Connect, on Android: steps, active energy, distance, workouts, heart rate, resting heart rate, HRV, sleep, weight and height. Kata only reads from both and never writes back. Your own entries always take priority and Kata's servers never keep a copy; when you ask Kata something, the values that question needs go to the AI provider with it. Details in the integration docs.
Is Kata a mobile app?
Yes, on iPhone and Android, and it is built for the phone first: notifications, nudges and your whole day where you expect them, plus the widgets and the Apple Watch app on iPhone. Kata will also open in your browser on any computer, on the same account; your logs live on the device you make them on, so phone and browser keep separate records.
How do I get Kata on my phone?
Not yet, and we will not pretend otherwise. The iPhone app, with its Apple Watch app included, and the Android app open with the doors, on the same day as the web app. Join the waitlist and we will tell you the moment yours lands. Step-by-step help lives in the docs.
How do I back up my data?
On iPhone, Kata writes a backup file to the app's own Documents folder, photos included and Apple Health values left out, and your phone's own iCloud backup carries it like any other app data. Nothing restores itself when you sign in on a new phone: you restore that file in the app. The built-in JSON export gives you one complete file any time, to keep wherever you like. On Android, Kata writes backup files to its own storage on your phone, photos included and Health Connect values left out, and your own Google backup can carry them. In the web app and the Android app, Kata also keeps one restore snapshot of your account, sealed on your device before it goes, and your recovery code opens it in a new browser or on a new phone, so keep that code somewhere safe.
Which devices and browsers work?
Kata is built for iPhone and Android, and for any computer in Chrome, Safari, Edge or Firefox. There is no live sync: your data lives on the device you are using, and two devices used side by side will not merge. On a new iPhone the backup file returns with your phone's own backup and you restore it in the app; on a new Android phone or in a new browser, the sealed snapshot opens with your recovery code. Proper sync is on the roadmap and will be announced honestly.
Does Kata work on Apple Watch?
Yes, with a native watch app that comes with the iPhone app. Tap the circle and ask: Kata answers in a line or two, reading the heart rate and HRV your watch measures. There is a Today glance, and complications for your score, protein, water, move and streak, a rectangular view of your day, your Duo and one tap to ask Kata. The watch takes over the session from your iPhone, with an email sign-in as the fallback. What you mention on the wrist waits on your iPhone as a card to lock in: the watch itself never saves anything.
Can I use Apple Health on the web or on Android?
No. Apple Health lives on the iPhone, so Kata reads it in the iPhone app only, never in the web app. On Android, Kata reads Health Connect, its Android counterpart, instead. When you ask Kata something, the Apple Health or Health Connect values that question needs go to the AI provider with it, and Kata never stores them.