Privacy Policy

What stays on your device

Forte keeps your play counts, last-played dates, skipped-song counts, resolved album genres, hidden genres, local-file scan index, playback position, and app settings in its own private storage on your device. None of it is transmitted anywhere. Deleting Forte deletes all of it.

Forte also keeps a new-releases cache: which artists in your library match which Apple Music artists, the most recent release it has seen from each, and the albums currently in your feed. This is what lets it check for new music without repeating the same lookups every time you open the app.

Your Apple Music library

Forte reads your library only after you grant permission, using Apple's MusicKit. Your listening is handled by Apple under Apple's privacy policy, exactly as it is in the Music app. Forte cannot see your Apple ID, your payment details, or your subscription information.

To find new releases, Forte asks Apple Music which artists in your library have released something recently.

Album artwork is loaded from Apple's servers, using the addresses MusicKit provides.

Your local files

Audio files you add to Forte's folder stay on your device. Forte reads their tags and file details to build your library and never uploads them.

Wikipedia and MusicBrainz

When Apple Music has no production credits or artist biography for something you're playing, Forte asks two public services for it: MusicBrainz for credits and Wikipedia for biographies.

Those requests contain only an artist's name or a recording's ISRC — never your identity, your library, or your listening history. As with any web request, those services can see the IP address it came from. They are independent organizations with their own privacy policies.

You can switch this off completely under Settings › Privacy. With it off, Forte makes no network requests to either service, and credits and biographies from them simply don't appear.

Exporting your data

Export Forte Data writes what Forte has tracked to a file you choose where to send. That file goes wherever you send it and nowhere else.

Children

Forte does not knowingly collect information from anyone, at any age, because it collects no personal information at all.

Changes

If this policy changes, the updated version will appear here and in the app under Settings › Privacy, with a new date at the top.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or about anything Forte does with your data, can go to stratum.cutout-6q@icloud.com.