Tapedeck
Privacy policy
The short version. Your recordings, their transcripts and their titles never leave your device. There is no account and we never learn who you are. The only thing sent off the device is an anonymous count of which screens are opened, which is not linked to you and is never used to identify anyone.
Who is responsible
Tapedeck is made and operated by İrfan Behiç Tırpancı, an independent developer based in Türkiye. For the purposes of the GDPR and similar laws, that is the data controller for the small amount of data described below. You can reach us at irfanbehic@gmail.com.
What stays on your device
Everything you make with Tapedeck is stored only on your device, inside the app's own storage:
- Audio recordings, including ones still in progress
- Transcripts and every word in them
- Recording titles, folders and markers
- Anything you type into the search field
- Your settings, including the theme and the appearance
None of it is uploaded to us or to anyone else. Recording, playback and transcription make no network requests at all. Transcription uses Apple's on-device speech engine, which runs locally on your iPhone.
If you make an encrypted iPhone or iCloud backup, your recordings are included in that backup, the same as any other app's files. That copy is between you and Apple, and we have no access to it. Deleting the app deletes every recording with it, and Settings inside the app has an Erase everything action that removes them without uninstalling.
What we do collect
Two things, both anonymous, neither of them linked to your identity, and neither used for tracking or advertising.
| What | Why | What it is not |
|---|---|---|
| Anonymous product interaction. The name of a screen when it opens, and a handful of plain events such as a recording being started or the pricing screen being shown. Sent with a randomly generated identifier that is not connected to your Apple Account, your name, your email or your device's advertising identifier. | To see which parts of the app people actually use, and which ones they get stuck on. | Not a profile. There is no identifier that follows you, no advertising identifier, and nothing that could be traced back to a person, a device or an Apple Account. |
| Purchase state. Whether a Pro subscription or a lifetime purchase is active, checked against Apple's receipt for your Apple Account through RevenueCat, under an anonymous identifier. | To unlock the features you paid for, and to restore them on a new device. | Not a record of you. It carries no name, no email and no payment detail, only whether an anonymous identifier is entitled to Pro. |
Apple also gives us the usual App Store reporting: aggregate download, sales and crash figures. That comes from Apple in summary form and never identifies an individual buyer. Apple's own handling of your purchase is covered by Apple's privacy policy.
What we never collect
- Your audio, in whole or in part
- Transcript text, recording titles, folder names or marker labels
- Anything you type into search
- Your name, email address, phone number or Apple Account
- Contacts, photos, location, or your device's advertising identifier
There is no account to create, no login, and no password. We sell nothing to anyone, we run no advertising, and there is no third party advertising or attribution SDK in the app.
Permissions the app asks for
| Permission | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| Microphone | Recording audio. That is the only thing it is used for, and recording only happens when you start it. |
| Speech recognition | Turning a recording into text on the device. Asked for only when you first transcribe something, and the audio is not uploaded. |
| Notifications | Optional. Telling you that a long recording is still running, that a transcript has finished, or that a recording was recovered after a crash. |
Every one of these can be refused or withdrawn in the iOS Settings app. Refusing notifications costs you nothing but the reminders. Refusing the microphone means the app cannot record.
Who processes data for us
- PostHog receives the anonymous product interaction events described above. Our project is hosted in PostHog's European Union region, so those events are stored in the EU. See PostHog's privacy policy.
- RevenueCat checks and caches your purchase state against Apple's receipt, under an anonymous identifier. See RevenueCat's privacy policy.
- Apple processes the purchase itself, distributes the app, and gives us aggregate sales and crash reporting. We never see your payment details.
That is the complete list. No one else receives anything.
Legal basis and your rights
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, the analytics described above rest on our legitimate interest in understanding how the app is used, kept narrow by collecting only screen names and by keeping the data anonymous, so it is not personal data about you. Purchase state rests on performing the contract you entered into when you bought Pro.
Because none of what we hold identifies you, we cannot look up "your" data, and there is nothing for us to hand over or delete on request. In practice your rights are exercised directly:
- To erase everything the app holds: use Erase everything in Settings, or delete the app. Your recordings and transcripts live only on your device, so this is complete.
- To stop the app reaching the network at all: turn on Airplane Mode. Recording, playback, transcription and everything else except checking a purchase work exactly the same.
- To ask a question about any of this: write to irfanbehic@gmail.com and you will get an answer.
If you are in California, the same applies: we do not sell or share personal information, and we do not use it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
How long anything is kept
Your recordings and transcripts stay on your device until you delete them. Nothing expires them and nothing removes them but you. Anonymous analytics events are retained by PostHog for up to 12 months and then dropped. Purchase state is kept for as long as the purchase is valid, because that is what makes Restore purchase work.
Children
Tapedeck is not directed at children under 13, and it asks for no personal information from anyone. If you believe a child has somehow provided us with personal information, write to us and we will remove it.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it, and a material change will also be described in the app's release notes. We will not start collecting something new and quietly leave this page as it was.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or anything that reads wrong to you: irfanbehic@gmail.com, or open an issue at github.com/irfanbehic/tapedeck/issues.