This Privacy Policy describes how TRK Studios ("we," "us," or "our") handles information in connection with the BPM mobile application (the "App").
1. Information We Collect
The App does not require you to create an account, sign in, or provide any personal details. We do not operate any servers that receive your data. To do its job as a podcast, audiobook, music and radio player, the App connects to the following services:
- Ads. The free version shows an AdMob banner ad. Google's advertising SDK may collect and process your device's advertising identifier and related data as described in Google's Privacy Policy. Where required, a consent form (Google's User Messaging Platform) is shown before ads load, and you can change your choice later under Settings › General › Privacy settings. Ads are never shown on the car screen, and buying Remove ads turns them off entirely.
- Podcast search and charts. The words you search for are sent to Apple's iTunes Search API (itunes.apple.com) to find podcasts and load the charts.
- Podcast feeds and episodes. Feeds, artwork and episode audio are downloaded directly from each show's own servers (and any hosting, advertising or analytics services the show uses), as with any podcast app. Those servers receive your IP address and the request, under that show's own terms.
- Internet radio. Station lists come from the community directory at radio-browser.info. When you start a station, the App tells the directory which station was played, which is how it ranks popular stations; no personal information is included. The audio streams come directly from each station.
- Free audiobooks. LibriVox searches and book files are fetched from the Internet Archive (archive.org).
- Finding ads by listening (optional). If you turn this on, the App downloads an offline speech model once from alphacephei.com. After that, listening to episodes and making transcripts happens entirely on your device — episode audio and transcripts are never uploaded.
- Purchases. The one-time Remove ads purchase is handled by Google Play Billing. We do not receive your payment details.
- Casting. If you cast to a speaker or TV, the App uses Google Cast to send the audio to that device.
2. What Stays on Your Device
Your subscriptions, listening progress, bookmarks and notes, playlists, saved stations, listening statistics, transcripts, and the index of your own audiobook and music files are stored only on your device. Your audiobook and music folders are read through Android's folder picker, so the App does not need a storage permission and only sees the folders you choose.
3. How We Use Information
Search words, feed requests and station plays are used only to return results and audio to the App. Advertising data is used by Google to serve and measure ads as described in their policy. We do not collect analytics about how you use the App.
4. Sharing of Information
We do not sell your information. The third parties the App communicates with are those listed above — Google (ads, purchases and casting), Apple (podcast search), the podcasts and radio stations you play, radio-browser.info, the Internet Archive, and alphacephei.com (speech model download) — each acting under their own privacy terms.
5. Data Retention & Backups
Your data stays on your device until you delete it or uninstall the App. Backups you create are single files saved wherever you choose. The App also allows Android's own device backup, so if you have that turned on, your App data may be included in your Google account's device backup under Google's terms.
6. Permissions
The App uses these Android permissions: Internet access (to stream and download audio); notifications (to tell you about new episodes); foreground services (to keep playing in the background and to find ads); wake lock (so playback isn't interrupted when the screen turns off); and the advertising ID (for ads in the free version).
7. Children's Privacy
The App is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Because the App serves ads, it should not be used by children without a parent's or guardian's involvement.
8. Changes to This Policy
If this policy changes in the future (for example, if new features requiring data collection are added), this page will be updated and the "Last updated" date above will reflect the change.
9. Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact: contact.trkstudios@gmail.com.