Privacy Policy

1-bit ("the app") is an iOS audio player developed by Arsenie Coseac. This policy explains what data the app handles and how. The short version: 1-bit is designed to work without collecting personal data. There is no analytics, no advertising, no tracking, and no user account. The only first-party server is the optional Atlas metadata service (off by default); it serves public music information and, purely to prevent abuse, keeps your install's attestation key and the IP address it was last seen from — not your identity, never used for tracking, and with no record of what you look up. Details below.

Regulatory note

In its default configuration 1-bit collects no personal data. If you turn on the optional Atlas metadata service (off by default — see below), a server operated by the developer records, for fraud-prevention and rate-limiting only, your install's attestation key and the IP address it was last seen from — not linked to your identity and never used for tracking, stored as a most-recent value rather than accumulated into a history, and deleted when the device's access is revoked or expires. Aside from that, 1-bit collects no personal data. This minimal-data design aligns with the GDPR (EU), the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), and the CCPA (California); the lawful basis for the Atlas anti-abuse data is the developer's legitimate interest in preventing abuse, and you can request its deletion (see Your rights).

Data stored only on your device

• SMB credentials (server address, username, password) are saved in the iOS Keychain so you don't have to re-enter them. They never leave your device.
• Bridge tokens and TLS fingerprints for any 1-bit Bridge servers you have paired live in the iOS Keychain alongside the SMB credentials. They never leave your device.
• Music library metadata (track, album, artist, playback state, playlists) is kept in a local database on your device.
• Cached artwork and artist images are kept in the app's local Caches directory.
• Local files source (v1.1): files you place in the app's Documents folder play through the app's built-in local source. Nothing about them leaves your device.
• Offline downloads (v1.4): tracks you choose to download for offline playback are stored in the app's private Application Support folder. These files are hidden from the Files app, excluded from iCloud backup so they don't consume your iCloud quota, and removed when you delete the download, delete the share, or uninstall the app. They never leave your device.
• Diagnostic logs (v1.4): a small rolling buffer of recent diagnostic log lines is kept in memory and can be viewed in Settings → Logs. The logs stay on your device unless you explicitly choose to share them from that screen (for example, to attach to a support email).
• Device backup identifier (v1.5): if you turn on playlist backup or playback-history upload for a bridge (both off by default), the app generates a random identifier so the bridge can keep each device's backups separate. It is stored in the iOS Keychain, not linked to your Apple ID or any advertising identifier, not shared with anyone other than the bridge you run, and sent only to that bridge.
• On-device performance metrics (v1.5): the app keeps a small daily summary of its own performance (CPU/energy, memory, playback runtime) from Apple's on-device MetricKit for the in-app diagnostics screen. This summary never leaves your device.
• Atlas attestation key (v1.7): if you turn on Atlas metadata enrichment (off by default — see below), the app creates an Apple App Attest key in your device's Secure Enclave so it can prove to Atlas that requests come from a genuine, unmodified copy of the app. The key's identifier is stored in the iOS Keychain. By Apple's design this key cannot be used to track you across apps and is not linked to your Apple ID or any advertising identifier.
• CarPlay recent searches and recently-played (v1.7): a short list of your recent searches and recently-played albums and playlists is kept on your device so CarPlay can show them again. It never leaves your device.
• Your own music folders (v1.8): you can now point 1-bit at music folders anywhere on your device or on an attached drive, instead of copying files into the app. When you pick a folder, iOS grants the app access to it and the app saves a bookmark — a reference iOS issues so it can reopen that same folder after a restart — alongside the source's other settings. The bookmark identifies a location on your device; it is not a copy of your files, and it never leaves your device. Removing the source removes the bookmark. Nothing about the folder or its contents is sent anywhere.
• Automatic offline cache (v1.8, off unless you enable a caching feature): if you turn on either of the optional offline features described below, the app keeps a temporary copy of recently-played or upcoming tracks in its private storage so playback starts instantly and survives a network drop. The cache is size-capped, reclaims itself oldest-first, is kept separate from the downloads you choose explicitly (so it can never delete those), and is removed when you uninstall the app. It never leaves your device. With both features off — the default — nothing is written to it.

Network requests the app makes

• SMB connections to the servers you configure. These are used to browse and stream your own music files. Requests only go to the servers you specify.
• 1-bit Bridge connections (optional, v1.1): if you pair a 1-bit Bridge server (a companion server you run on your own machine), the app talks to it over HTTPS with a bearer token and a pinned TLS certificate fingerprint captured at pairing time. On the wire the app sends relative paths, byte ranges, and MusicBrainz IDs — never your account info, device ID, or any third-party identifier. When the bridge handles enrichment, the artist-name lookups described below happen on your bridge server, not from your iOS device. See the bridge's own privacy policy at 1-bit.app/bridge/privacy.
• Local-network discovery (Bonjour + SSDP): the app browses for SMB servers and 1-bit Bridge instances (Bonjour) and, since v1.5, DLNA renderers such as a Chord 2Go (SSDP multicast on your LAN). v1.6 extends the same SSDP discovery to UPnP/DLNA media servers so they can be added as music sources. No data leaves your network.
• UPnP/DLNA media server sources (v1.6): if you add a UPnP/DLNA media server (such as a NAS media server or a Chord 2Go's built-in library) as a music source, the app sends standard UPnP browse requests to that server and streams your music from it over your local network. Requests go only to the server you added; nothing leaves your network and nothing is sent to us or any third party.
• DLNA renderer playback (v1.5): when you play to a DLNA renderer on your network, the app sends it a standard UPnP control message with the track's tag metadata (title, artist, album, etc.) and a link to the audio file on your own bridge — or, from v1.6, on the UPnP/DLNA media server the track came from. The renderer fetches the audio directly from that server over your LAN — the audio does not pass through any server we operate, and nothing is sent to a third party.
• Playlist backup to your bridge (optional, v1.5, OFF by default): uploads playlists (names and the tracks they contain) to the bridge you run so they survive a reinstall. Goes only to your bridge, never to us or a third party. Per-bridge toggle in Settings.
• Playback history to your bridge (optional, v1.5, OFF by default): uploads what you played (track, listen duration, audio format, output device) to the bridge you run. No account or identity info; goes only to your bridge. Per-bridge toggle in Settings.
• Deezer artist-image lookup (SMB shares only, optional, OFF by default): if you turn on "Fetch artist images (SMB shares)" in Settings, the app sends the artist name from your music library to Deezer's public API (api.deezer.com) to retrieve a public artist photo — but only for SMB shares. 1-bit bridge sources are unaffected by this toggle: their artist images come from the bridge server itself, and the iOS app never contacts Deezer for bridge content. No user identifier, account info, device ID, or other personal data is sent — only the artist's name. You can disable this at any time in Settings. Deezer's own privacy policy: https://www.deezer.com/legal/personal-datas
• Atlas metadata enrichment (optional, v1.7, OFF by default): if you turn on "Enrich with Atlas metadata" for a paired bridge — and, separately, the "Enrich non-square artwork via Atlas" option in Settings — the app contacts Atlas, a music-information service operated by the developer, to fetch public artist and album information (biographies, descriptions, genres) and higher-quality cover art for the item you are viewing. On the wire the app sends the MusicBrainz identifier of that item and an Apple App Attest assertion proving the app is a genuine, unmodified install; it sends no account, no name, no device identifier linked to your Apple ID or any advertising identifier, and nothing about the rest of your library. To prevent abuse and apply rate limits, Atlas keeps a record of your install's attestation key and the IP address and app version it was last seen from; this is not linked to your identity, is stored as a most-recent value (not accumulated into a history), is never used for tracking or advertising, and is deleted when the device's access is revoked or expires. Atlas does not keep any record of which artists or albums you looked up. What comes back is public music metadata, and a copy is cached on your own bridge so your other devices can reuse it without contacting Atlas again. Atlas has no user account. You can turn this off per bridge, and turn the artwork option off in Settings. How Atlas handles requests on the server side is described in the companion policy at 1-bit.app/bridge/privacy.
• Automatic mixes on the Home screen (v1.7): the Home screen can show automatic mixes (such as "Drive Mix" and "Heavy Rotation") generated by your own paired bridge from the playback history you chose to share with it (the optional, off-by-default feature added in v1.5). Fetching these mixes is a standard request to the bridge you run; nothing is sent to us or any third party.
• Waveforms and album booklets (v1.8): if the bridge you run has audio analysis or booklets enabled, the app fetches the waveform drawn behind the progress bar, and the PDF booklet shown on an album, from that bridge. These are ordinary requests to the same paired bridge the app already streams your music from — a new kind of content over a connection you already had, not a new destination. Nothing is sent to us or any third party. If your bridge doesn't offer them, the app simply doesn't ask.
• Preloading the next tracks (optional, v1.8, OFF by default): if you turn on "Prefetch upcoming tracks on Wi-Fi" in Settings, the app downloads the next few tracks in your queue ahead of time so playback doesn't stall. It only does this on Wi-Fi while the device is charging, never on cellular, and it fetches from the same source the track came from. Nothing new is sent anywhere — this changes when the app downloads, not what or to whom.
• Caching your smart mixes overnight (optional, v1.8, OFF by default): if you turn on "Cache smart mixes overnight", the app asks iOS to wake it while the device is charging on Wi-Fi so it can download the tracks in your smart mixes for offline listening. iOS decides whether and when to run it; the app may go days without being woken. The downloads come from your own paired bridge over the connection already described above, and nothing is sent to us or any third party. You can turn it off at any time in Settings.

What we do not do

• We do not collect analytics.
• We do not track you across apps or websites.
• We do not use advertising identifiers.
• We do not sell, share, or disclose your data to third parties.
• We do not run an account, analytics, advertising, or tracking server. The optional Atlas metadata service described above is the only first-party server; it serves public music information, has no user account, keeps only anti-abuse data (your install's attestation key and last-seen IP) that is not linked to your identity, and keeps no record of what you look up. There is no user account for 1-bit.
• We do not knowingly collect data from children.

iOS permissions the app requests

• Local Network: required to discover SMB servers, 1-bit Bridge instances, DLNA renderers (v1.5), and UPnP/DLNA media servers (v1.6) on your network and connect to them. v1.5 added the multicast networking capability to this permission so the app can perform SSDP discovery of DLNA devices.
• Background audio: required to continue playback when the app is in the background or the screen is locked.
• CarPlay (v1.4): the app uses Apple's CarPlay Audio entitlement so it can display your library and Now Playing controls on a CarPlay-equipped vehicle's head unit. The CarPlay surface reads the same on-device library used in the iOS app; no additional information is sent over the network for CarPlay, and what's shown on the head unit (track titles, artists, albums, playlists, artwork) is the same content already shown on your phone.
• Siri & voice (v1.7): the app requests permission to handle Siri media requests so you can say "play [album / artist / playlist] on 1-bit" — at home, on the Lock Screen, and in CarPlay. Apple's Siri processes your voice under Apple's own terms; the app receives only the resolved request (which album, artist, or playlist you asked for) and plays it from your on-device library. No voice data and no new personal data is sent to us or any third party for this feature.
• Choosing your own music folders (v1.8): picking a music folder uses the standard iOS file picker, which asks for no permission and grants the app access only to the folder you chose — not to the rest of your files. v1.8 adds no new iOS permission prompts.

Third-party components

• Deezer public API: used only if you enable the optional artist-image lookup described above.
• AMSMB2 (open-source SMB2 client library embedded in the app): does not transmit data to its developers.
• 1-bit Bridge (optional companion server you run on your own machine, not operated by us): see its separate privacy policy at 1-bit.app/bridge/privacy.
• Apple App Attest (DeviceCheck): used only if you enable Atlas metadata enrichment, to prove the app is a genuine, unmodified install. This is Apple's own anti-fraud service and is governed by Apple's privacy terms; the attestation key it creates is not a cross-app tracking identifier and is not linked to your Apple ID or any advertising identifier.

Your rights

If you enabled Atlas, the anti-abuse data tied to your install (its attestation key and last-seen IP address) is deleted when that device's access is revoked or when it expires; to request revocation, contact us at the address below. Otherwise, because the app does not collect personal data, there is nothing for us to access, correct, or delete. To remove locally-stored credentials, metadata, and caches, delete the app from your device.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this URL with a new "Last updated" date, and the in-app copy will be updated in the next app release.

Version history

Contact

support@ars.md