Privacy Policy
1. Microphone: analysed on your phone, never recorded
Clapfy uses the microphone only to recognise claps and whistles, on your device. While listening is on, audio is read in 10-millisecond pieces, analysed in memory (loudness and frequency content) and immediately discarded. Clapfy never records, stores or sends audio, and we operate no servers that receive it. The microphone is active only after you tap “Start listening” (or the Quick Settings tile); Android then shows its green microphone indicator and Clapfy shows a persistent notification with Pause and Stop buttons. Calibration and Test mode work the same way: only numbers such as the noise floor and the loudness of your clap are kept, as settings on the phone.
Clapfy pauses listening by itself during phone calls, while music or video is playing and while another app is using the microphone. It never starts the microphone in the background on its own: after a restart it only shows a notification asking you to turn listening back on.
When it rings, Clapfy plays an alarm sound on the alarm channel at the volume you chose and restores your previous alarm volume when it stops, turns on the torch through the system torch control (no camera access, no photos) and vibrates. The motion sensor is read only to stop the alarm when you pick the phone up and, if you turn on the Pro “Only when set down” mode, to know whether the phone is lying still. If you choose your own alarm sound, you pick it with Android's file picker and Clapfy only keeps permission to play that one file; a talking alarm is generated offline by your phone's text-to-speech engine and stored in the app's cache. Settings stay in the app's private storage; cloud backup of that storage is disabled.
2. Permissions
- Microphone (RECORD_AUDIO) — asked after a short explanation in onboarding, before you first start listening. Used only to detect claps and whistles as described above. Required for the app to work.
- Foreground service (microphone) — lets listening continue after you close the app, always with a visible notification you can pause or stop.
- Notifications — the listening notification, the Stop button while ringing, a “tap to turn listening back on” note after a restart, and for free users at most one short reminder a day. Can be turned off in Android settings.
- Vibration, wake lock and start at boot — vibrate while ringing, keep the phone awake only while it rings (never just to listen), and post the restart note. No microphone is used at boot.
- Internet — ads, analytics, purchases and consent only. Audio and your settings are never sent.
Clapfy does not ask for camera, location, contacts, photos or storage permissions, and it does not request to be exempted from battery optimisation; its battery guide only opens the relevant Android settings screen for you.
3. Analytics and crash reports (Google Firebase)
With your consent where required, we use Google Analytics for Firebase and Firebase Crashlytics to understand how the app is used and to fix crashes. We log anonymous events such as “paywall viewed” or “purchase completed”, plus device model, OS and app version, approximate region and an app-instance identifier. We never log audio or anything you say; events carry only coarse values such as which detector fired or a rounded noise level. The app enforces this with an allow-list of event parameters. Crash reports contain the error type and stack trace only. Firebase Remote Config is used to tune paywall and ad settings.
4. Advertising (Google AdMob and Unity Ads)
The free version shows ads: a slim banner on the Settings and battery-guide screens, an occasional full-screen ad after you finish calibrating, and optional rewarded ads you choose to watch to unlock a Pro feature for 60 minutes. Ads never appear while the alarm is ringing, while calibrating or testing, during onboarding or on the paywall, and you never have to watch an ad to turn listening on. Clapfy Pro removes all ads.
Ads are served by Google AdMob, with Unity Ads competing through AdMob mediation. These partners may collect the advertising ID, device and usage information and approximate location derived from your IP address to serve and measure ads. See Google's and Unity's privacy policies.
5. Your choices (GDPR, UK GDPR, Swiss FADP, US state laws)
In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Clapfy asks for your consent through Google's consent message (IAB TCF) before personalised ads or analytics are used. If you decline, ads are non-personalised and analytics stays off. In US states with privacy laws (such as California, Virginia, Colorado), you can opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of personal information and targeted advertising. You can change your choice at any time in Settings → Privacy choices.
Legal bases (GDPR): consent for analytics and personalised ads; performance of a contract for the features you use and for purchases; legitimate interest for crash diagnostics where consent is not required. You may request access, deletion, correction or portability of data we control, object to processing, or lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. California residents (CCPA/CPRA): we do not sell personal information for money; ad partners may receive identifiers as described above, which you can opt out of in Privacy choices. We do not discriminate against users who exercise their rights.
6. Purchases
Subscriptions and the lifetime purchase are processed by Google Play. We never receive your payment details; Google tells the app whether Pro is active.
7. Retention and deletion
Audio is never kept. Your settings and calibration remain on your device until you clear them or uninstall the app. Analytics data is retained by Google for up to 14 months. See how to delete your data.
8. Children
Clapfy is not directed to children under 13 (under 16 in the EEA) and we do not knowingly collect their data.
9. Changes
We will update this page if our practices change and revise the date above.