Safety

What cally does in hard moments

cally is an AI

cally, your AI food coach, is software run by AI. It isn’t a person, a doctor, a dietitian or a therapist. It can help with food, and it knows when a moment needs a person instead.

What cally watches for

cally looks out for messages that sound like:

• thoughts of suicide or self-harm;
• signs of an eating disorder, like eating very little on purpose, making yourself sick, or using laxatives to control weight;
• a medical emergency, like chest pain, trouble breathing, or swelling of the lips or throat;
• someone under 18 using cally.

It checks in two places. Your phone checks each message first, against a list of words in English and Arabic, and this works without a connection. Then cally’s server checks the message with the two before it, so a message your phone wasn’t sure about still gets the right reply.

What cally does

When a message sounds like one of these, cally stops. Instead of an AI answer, it shows a short reply written and checked by people, in English or Arabic. The reply:

• is kind and doesn’t judge;
• shows helplines for where you are, which you can call or text, and the emergency number;
• offers to hide the numbers in cally for a while;
• where it fits, says cally is still here for anything else about food.

cally never makes up these replies, never types a helpline number of its own, and never sends your words to a helpline. If someone under 18 is using cally, it explains that cally is for adults, and its AI features pause until the person confirms their age.

What happens to the message

• If your phone spots a crisis, the message doesn’t leave your phone. cally shows the reply at once and sends only a count that one of these replies was shown, and in which language, never your words.
• For the other kinds, when you’re online, the message goes to cally as usual, so its server can answer with the right reply. Offline, your phone answers by itself and later sends only the count.
• To show the right helplines, your phone sends cally only your country.
• Those chats stay on your phone for 30 days, then they are deleted.
• cally never remembers anything from them.
• For 30 days after a hard moment, cally stops showing picks and calorie fits on food apps.
• A safety reply never counts toward your daily limit.

Helplines

The app shows the helplines for your country. These are the same lines.

United Arab Emirates

• 800 SAKINA mental health support

  Call 800 725462. Any time, in Arabic and English.

• Itma’en mental wellbeing line

  Call 800 506. Every day, 9 am to midnight, in Arabic and English.

• Police

  Call 999. Any time.

• Ambulance

  Call 998. Any time.

United States

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

  Call or text 988. Any time.

• Crisis Text Line

  Text HOME to 741741. Any time.

• ANAD eating disorders helpline

  Call 1 888 375 7767. Monday to Friday, 9 am to 9 pm Central time.

• Emergency

  Call 911. Any time.

Numbers last checked on 12 October 2026.

How to reach a person at cally

Email support@askcally.com. We can’t offer crisis support. If you need help now, use a helpline above.