Privacy Policy
1. Your data stays on your phone
Pawtone plays tones and clicker sounds through your phone's speaker. It uses the microphone for two features only, and only after you start them: Speaker Check (it listens to the test tones your own speaker plays, to estimate how high your phone can reach) and Bark Alert (it listens for barking while the session you started is running). The microphone audio is analysed in real time on your device only — it is never recorded, never stored and never uploaded, and we operate no servers that receive it. Only the results are kept on the phone: your speaker's estimated range, and for Bark Alert the times barks were detected and which cue was played.
Your dog profiles, cues, presets and training log are stored in the app's private storage on your device; cloud backup of that storage is disabled. A dog photo is optional: you pick it with the Android Photo Picker, and Pawtone keeps a copy only inside the app — it never gets access to the rest of your photos. A training log you export as CSV only leaves the phone if you share it yourself.
2. Permissions
- Microphone (RECORD_AUDIO) — asked only when you tap Start in Speaker Check or Bark Alert, after a screen that explains why. Audio is analysed on the device and never recorded, stored or sent. If you decline, the whistle, cues and clicker still work.
- Foreground service – microphone (FOREGROUND_SERVICE, FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MICROPHONE) — lets a Bark Alert session you started keep listening while the screen is off. A notification with a Stop button is shown for the whole session, which ends automatically after the time you set.
- Foreground service – media playback (FOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PLAYBACK) — plays a cue once when you tap the Quick Settings tile or the home-screen widget, then stops.
- Notifications (POST_NOTIFICATIONS) — optional: the Bark Alert / playback notification and, for free users only, at most one short training reminder a day. You can turn them off.
- Vibration and wake lock — haptic feedback on the whistle and clicker buttons, and keeping a Bark Alert session running.
- Internet — ads, analytics, purchases and consent. Microphone audio and your dog data are never sent.
Pawtone does not request location, camera, contacts, phone or storage permissions.
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 your content; 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: one slim banner on the Tips screen, an occasional full-screen ad when you return to the home screen after saving a cue or ending a training session, and optional rewarded ads you choose to watch to unlock a Pro tool for a while. Ads never appear while a tone is playing, on the Whistle, Clicker, Frequency Finder or Speaker Check screens, during Bark Alert, on onboarding or the paywall, and never in the first two minutes of first use. Pawtone Pro removes all ads.
Ads are served by Google AdMob (with Google's User Messaging Platform for consent), with Unity Ads competing through AdMob mediation (bidding). 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, Pawtone 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 Billing. We never receive your payment details; Google tells the app whether Pro is active.
7. Retention and deletion
Your dog profiles, cues and training log remain on your device until you delete them or uninstall the app. Microphone audio is never retained. Analytics data is retained by Google for up to 14 months. See how to delete your data.
8. Children
Pawtone 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.