Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 29, 2026

Songtrail is developed by Grayforge Labs. This page explains what the app does and doesn't do with your information. The longer version is below.

Information we do not collect

Songtrail does not ask you to sign up, does not ask for your email address, and does not collect your name or contacts. There is no advertising in the app and no third-party analytics or tracking software. We do not build a profile of you and we do not sell data to anyone.

How bird identification works

Identifying a bird by its song (Listen) or by a photo (Spot) happens entirely on your device using Apple's on-device machine learning. The models are bundled inside the app. Your recordings and photos are not uploaded to us or to any identification service in order to name a bird.

Information stored on your device

Songtrail saves your collection (the birds you've found, where you found them, your badges, and your settings) on your device. This data does not leave your device unless you have iCloud backups enabled through iOS, in which case Apple may include it in your device backup. You can remove it all by deleting the app.

Device permissions

Songtrail asks for a few permissions so its core features can work. Each is used only for the purpose described, and only while you're using that feature:

• Microphone: to record a short clip so the on-device model can identify a singing bird.
• Camera: to photograph a bird for identification.
• Photo library: only if you choose to identify a bird from a photo you already have.
• Location: to improve accuracy by favoring birds that are plausible where you are, to work out which birds are likely nearby right now given the local weather, and to pin your finds on your personal map. Location is optional; if you deny it, identification still works and simply skips the location-based ranking.

When your location is used

To understand the habitat and region around a find, Songtrail may send your approximate coordinates to the OpenStreetMap Overpass service to look up nearby geographic features. This helps rank candidate species. If you deny location access, this lookup does not happen. OpenStreetMap's handling of requests is described in the OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy.

The map's "likely nearby" pins also take the current weather into account, since rain, wind, and cold change which birds are out and active. To get it, Songtrail sends your approximate coordinates to MET Norway's public weather service (api.met.no). Only the coordinates are sent, along with a line identifying the app; no account, device identifier, or anything about your finds goes with the request. The reading is reused for a while and shared across a roughly ten kilometre area, so moving around does not mean a new lookup for every step. If you deny location access, this lookup does not happen. MET Norway's use of API requests is described in their terms of service.

Maps

The in-app map displays your finds using map tiles served by Grayforge Labs and open map data. Loading map tiles involves standard network requests for the area you're viewing, which necessarily reveals the general region and your device's IP address to the tile server, as any web map does. Map data is © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Reference photos

On a bird's detail page, Songtrail may fetch reference photos and range information from iNaturalist so you can compare what you saw. These requests go to iNaturalist and are covered by their privacy policy.

Reporting a problem (optional)

If an identification looks wrong, you can choose to send us a report. Only when you tap to submit it, Songtrail uploads the capture in question (the photo or audio clip), the model's ranked guesses, your optional written note, a coarse region code, and basic technical details such as the app version, iOS version, and device model. This is entirely opt-in, and nothing is sent unless you decide to report a specific capture. We use these reports only to diagnose and improve the models. Reports are sent to a service we operate on Cloudflare and are protected against abuse with Cloudflare Turnstile; Cloudflare's processing is covered by the Cloudflare Privacy Policy.

Children

Songtrail is rated 4+ and is suitable for all ages. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. The app does not collect personal information from any user.

Changes to this policy

If the app changes in a way that affects privacy, this page will be updated and the date at the top will change. Material changes will also be mentioned in the release notes for that update.

Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent to hello@grayforgelabs.com.