Overview
SongRecog is a song identification app for iPhone. When you tap to recognize, the app records up to 8 seconds of the sound around you and sends it to our recognition service, which matches it against a music catalog and returns the title, artist and artwork. You don’t need an account to use SongRecog.
The free version shows ads and offers an optional subscription. While you use the app, it also sends product usage events to PostHog so we can see which screens and features people use.
Information we collect
Depending on the features you use, SongRecog processes:
- A short audio clip (up to 8 seconds) from your microphone, only while you are actively recognizing a song
- The audio from a video you choose from your photo library, if you use video recognition. SongRecog only gets the video you pick, not the rest of your library
- Recognition results such as song title, artist, album, artwork and preview links
- Your History and Saved songs, with the time each song was found
- Product usage events and basic device details, described under Product analytics
- Advertising data collected by Google AdMob when ads are shown, described under Ads
- Subscription status and an anonymous purchase identifier, described under Subscriptions
- Access tokens for Spotify, YouTube or Apple Music, only if you connect one of them
We do not collect:
- Your name, email address or phone number, unless you contact us
- Your contacts or the rest of your photo library
- Precise GPS location
- Continuous or background microphone audio. Listening starts only when you tap to recognize, including from the Control Center button
- Your Apple ID, name or email attached to analytics events
How we use it
- Identify the song you asked about and show its details
- Keep your History and Saved lists, and sync them across your devices if you turn on iCloud sync
- Add recognized songs to your playlist on a music service you connected
- Show ads in the free version and manage subscriptions
- Understand which screens and features people use, and improve SongRecog
- Fix errors and keep the service reliable
- Comply with legal obligations
We do not sell your personal information.
Song recognition
Each time you tap to recognize, SongRecog records up to 8 seconds of audio and sends it over an encrypted connection to our recognition server. The server uses third-party recognition APIs, humfind and Shazam API on RapidAPI, to match the clip against a music catalog. To fill in missing artwork or previews, the app may look up the song’s title and artist with Apple’s iTunes Search API.
Your recording is used only for that recognition request. We delete it after each attempt, whether a song is found or not, and we don’t keep recordings as playable files.
If you are offline, the clip is kept on your device in a pending queue and sent once you are back online. You can delete pending recordings in the app, and they are removed from your device once they have been recognized.
SongRecog asks for microphone permission before it can listen. You can deny or revoke it in iOS Settings; without it, recognition from the microphone won’t work.
Ads
The free version of SongRecog shows ads served by Google AdMob. To show and measure ads, Google may collect your IP address, device and app information, and how you interact with ads.
SongRecog does not ask for permission to track you across other companies’ apps and websites, so your device’s advertising identifier (IDFA) is not shared with Google through SongRecog. Your recordings, recognized songs and History are never shared with advertisers. You can read how Google uses this data in Google’s partner sites policy.
Product analytics
SongRecog uses PostHog (PostHog, Inc.) to collect product usage events while you use the app. We use them to see how SongRecog is used and to improve it, not to advertise to you. The events include:
- Screen views, such as Recognize, History, onboarding, Settings and the subscription screen, with the previous screen and why the screen opened
- How long a screen was visible and where you went next
- Button taps and onboarding actions, such as skipping onboarding
- App lifecycle events sent by the PostHog SDK by default, such as install, update, open and moving to the background
- That a notification was opened. The notification text, including any song title, is not included
- Answers you submit if PostHog shows an in-app survey
- An anonymous identifier stored on your device (not your Apple ID), plus app version, iOS version, device model, screen size, locale, timezone and connection type
These events do not include your recordings, song titles, artists, recognition results or the contents of History and Saved. We don’t record session replays.
Events are sent to PostHog’s United States cloud. PostHog receives the IP address of each request and may use it to estimate a coarse location such as country or city. See PostHog’s privacy policy.
Subscriptions
Subscriptions and purchases are processed by Apple. We never see your payment details. We use RevenueCat to check whether your subscription is active and to restore purchases. RevenueCat receives an anonymous app user identifier and your purchase history from the App Store. See RevenueCat’s privacy policy.
iCloud sync
If you turn on iCloud sync, your History and Saved songs are stored in your private iCloud database so they appear on your other devices. That data lives in your own iCloud account under Apple’s terms. We can’t read it.
Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music
You can connect Spotify, YouTube or Apple Music so SongRecog adds the songs you recognize to a playlist in your account. When you connect a service:
- You sign in on that service’s own page. SongRecog never sees your password
- The access token is stored on your device, not on our servers
- SongRecog sends the song title, artist and, where available, the ISRC code to search for each track and add it to your playlist
- You can turn playlist sync off or disconnect the service in Settings at any time
Tapping a link to open a song in another app or website takes you to that service, under its own terms and privacy policy.
Storage and retention
- Recordings are deleted after each recognition attempt. Pending offline recordings stay on your device until they are sent or you delete them
- History and Saved songs stay on your device, and in your iCloud if you turn on sync, until you delete them or uninstall the app
- Product analytics events stay with PostHog for as long as we need them to improve SongRecog, or until you ask us to delete them
- Third-party providers keep the data they receive under their own retention policies
- iCloud Backup may include app data, depending on your device settings
Children
SongRecog is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
Your choices and rights
- Turn microphone access on or off in iOS Settings
- Delete individual History items or Saved songs in the app, or uninstall to remove local data
- Turn iCloud sync and playlist sync on or off in the app’s Settings
- Remove the ads by subscribing
- Ask us to delete the analytics data linked to your device’s anonymous identifier
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete your personal information, or to object to how it is used. Email us and we will help.
International users
Recognition requests, analytics and ads may be processed on servers outside your country, including in the United States. By using SongRecog you understand that your information may be transferred there under the protections described in this policy.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this page.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data:
- Developer
- Eurika
- eurijhoeka@gmail.com