This Privacy Policy explains how Tanuki Beats handles information when you use the app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV, or visit our website. Features that contact an online service are identified below. Your audio files are never uploaded to Tanuki Cloud.
Tanuki Beats indexes and plays music from locations you choose, including local storage, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, and SMB, FTP, NFS, or WebDAV servers. Library information such as song titles, artists, albums, artwork, file locations, playlists, favorites, and playback state is processed on your device unless you enable a feature that syncs it or sends a lookup to an external provider.
Music files remain on your device or in the storage account or server you connected. The app may cache or download files on your device for playback or offline use. It does not upload those files to Tanuki Cloud.
If you sign in with Apple, we receive an Apple-provided account identifier and, only when you choose to share them, your name or relay email address. We use this information to create and operate your Tanuki Cloud account. We also maintain session records and a random app installation identifier for account linking, playback allowance, device services, support, and abuse prevention. This identifier is created by Tanuki Beats; it is not Apple's advertising identifier or a hardware serial number. We never receive your Apple Account password.
Apple processes all payments. To activate or restore Tanuki Beats Membership, the app and Tanuki Cloud may process signed App Store transaction proofs, product identifiers, purchase status, purchase or renewal dates, offer-code evidence, and the verified Membership tier. We do not receive payment-card numbers or Apple billing details.
Signed transaction and renewal proofs are verified and may be processed in memory. They are not stored as raw proofs in our databases or application logs. We retain the resulting Membership state and a minimal verified transaction history, including the pseudonymous App Store account key, transaction and product identifiers, purchase and expiry dates, revocation status, receipt times, and available app version and country. These records are retained independently of ordinary telemetry age limits for purchase restoration, support, history and duplicate handling. Record retention does not extend a subscription or override a refund or revocation.
For free playback, Tanuki Cloud stores short playback leases, seconds used or reserved in the current UTC week, active-week counts, allowance configuration, and the account or installation link required to operate the allowance. Playback allowance ledgers and inactive links are retained for up to 90 days. This process does not receive song titles, artist names, file paths, listening positions, lyric text, or audio content.
Separately, we keep a minimal playback-eligibility record: a pseudonymous App Store account key, a random device-local identifier, an installation generation, and any recorded free-playback pause or Pro-required state. An actual denied free-playback request followed by a newer installation generation on the same device can require Pro before playback resumes. Inactivity, a first upgrade, a new device, and deleting a Tanuki Cloud account are not penalty triggers. This is an installation observation, not proof supplied by Apple that an uninstall occurred. Unrestricted inactive records expire after 90 days; an unresolved pause or Pro-required record remains until eligibility is restored or support resolves it. No music content, network history, or raw transaction proof is stored in this record. You can contact support to review, correct, or request deletion of it.
The device also retains a small, non-synchronized Keychain copy of the server's playback-eligibility decision and its installation generation. It can survive app deletion and is not part of library or CloudKit resets. A previous denied request followed by a newer installation requires an online check; the server, not the device, decides whether Pro is required. Verified Pro or a server-confirmed release updates this local record. It contains no music content or raw purchase proofs.
If Cloud Sync is enabled, Apple's private CloudKit database may store the library metadata and settings needed to keep your devices aligned. This can include source configurations and selected paths, song and album metadata, playlists and favorites, artwork references, lyrics references, themes, playback progress, and queue state. Audio files and lyric text are not copied into CloudKit by Cloud Sync.
Credentials are cached in the device Keychain. When cross-device access requires credential delivery, an encrypted credential payload may also be stored using CloudKit's encrypted-field API in your private iCloud database.
Playback Handoff uses Tanuki Cloud to connect eligible devices associated with the same verified App Store account. While devices are connected, the service may relay device identifiers, current track metadata, artwork references, queue and playback state, and an explicit transfer request. Receiving a handoff requires an action in the app.
When you connect OneDrive, Tanuki Beats uses Microsoft's authorization service and processes the account and folder information required to browse, index, and play selected files. The app may rename or delete a OneDrive item only after an action you confirm. It does not create folders, upload music, or move items in OneDrive.
When you connect an SMB, FTP, NFS, or WebDAV server, the app connects directly to the address you provide and processes server, account, and selected-path information needed for access. Supported sources may allow renaming or deletion only after confirmation. Optional lyrics handling may write a matching .lrc file beside an audio file when the source supports it.
Automatic metadata and artwork enhancement is optional and off by default under Settings → Metadata. Online enhancement uses Tanuki Atlas. The app sends source metadata such as titles, artists, albums, catalog identifiers, duration, language preferences, and available artwork dimensions to Atlas. Atlas manages matching, artwork selection, artist information, and result revisions on the server, using Apple Music as its current upstream service. Audio files are not sent for enhancement.
The app prefers embedded, sidecar, or previously saved lyrics. When online lyrics are enabled, Atlas may use the song's metadata to retrieve lyrics through its server-side Apple Music integration. Metadata, artwork and lyric assets are persisted by Atlas and delivered through caches; devices request artwork at their display size.
With Cloud Sync enabled, versioned Atlas result references may sync so another device can restore the same server-authoritative result. Biography bodies, image bytes, lyric text, and timed lyric payloads are not stored in CloudKit by this enhancement sync. Turning enhancement off prevents new lookups; it does not discard existing results or their synchronized references.
When verified App Store account proof is available, Tanuki Beats may send limited, account-scoped product information to Tanuki Cloud. This includes app activity even without sign-in, explicit sign-in observations, verified app version and distribution environment, request country, the type or protocol and count of configured music sources, verified Membership tier, current device-session state, and limited operational diagnostics. Atlas records enhancement outcomes on the server. Retired playback, Membership-funnel and client enhancement analytics are discarded.
A random installation identifier is retained only where device-scoped services require it, such as current source snapshots, the latest playback-network observation, or playback allowance administration. For playback support and network diagnostics, we retain only the latest Cloudflare-provided network observation for that installation, which may include its IP address, country code, network number, and Cloudflare data-center code. A newer observation replaces the previous one, and inactive installation links are removed after 90 days. We do not request device location permission, collect GPS location, or use this information for advertising.
Telemetry does not include music files, song titles, artist names, file paths, listening positions, search text, lyric text, artwork content, prices, or payment details. Ordinary app activity, sign-in history, daily source snapshots and dashboard Atlas operational summaries are reported and retained for the latest 90 UTC days. Older dashboard history is removed by scheduled maintenance. Latest observed country, app version and distribution channel, current source snapshots and device metadata remain until updated or explicitly deleted. The privately hosted Atlas service retains its daily aggregate operational statistics independently for recovery; delivery acknowledgement does not delete them. Verified transaction and Membership records follow the separate policy described above. Short-lived provider-admission records are retained only as needed to operate rate limits and allowances.
Our public website does not use advertising trackers or analytics cookies. Cloudflare processes ordinary request information, including network and security data, to deliver and protect the site.
We do not sell personal information, use it for third-party advertising, or share it for cross-app tracking. Information is disclosed only as needed to operate a feature you choose, comply with law, protect the service, or work with service providers acting on our behalf. Relevant providers include Apple (including Apple Music), Cloudflare, and Microsoft. Their handling of information is governed by their own terms and privacy policies.
Deleting a Tanuki Cloud account removes the server account, profile, device refresh sessions, and direct account links. It does not delete music files, the on-device library, data in your private iCloud database, connected-source credentials, App Store purchases, or independent playback-allowance records. It also does not cancel an App Store subscription. Subscriptions must be managed separately in Apple Account settings.
When Apple authorization is available, the app attempts to revoke Sign in with Apple during account deletion. If automatic revocation is unavailable, the app provides the path for removing authorization manually in Apple settings. You may also contact us to request access to, correction of, or deletion of account data.
We use technical and organizational safeguards appropriate to the information we process, including encrypted transport, verified Apple proofs, scoped access controls, device Keychain storage, and encrypted CloudKit fields for eligible credentials. No storage or transmission system can be guaranteed completely secure.
We retain information only for the period needed to provide the feature, meet the stated retention window, prevent fraud or duplicate reporting, resolve disputes, or satisfy legal obligations. Data stored by Apple, Microsoft, or another selected provider remains subject to that provider and your account settings.
We may update this policy when the app or its services change. The revised policy will be posted on this page with a new last-updated date.
For privacy questions or requests, email jie.mei.dev@icloud.com.