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Privacy Policy

Last updated: May 12, 2026

VibeDial is a web-based radio discovery app. This page explains, in plain language, what data the app touches, where it goes, and what I do (or don't do) with it.

What VibeDial stores on your device

When you use VibeDial, certain settings and lists are saved in your browser's local storage so they're there next time you open the app. None of this leaves your device. Specifically:

• Favorite stations — the stations you've starred.
• Saved dials — custom collections you've built.
• Recently played — a small list of recent stations for quick re-tuning.
• Settings — your color mood, startup preference, comfort controls toggle, and similar choices.
• Station health notes — the app remembers when a station you tuned didn't play, so it can warn you next time. This is a count and timestamp per station, nothing else.

This data lives in your browser's localStorage. The active keys are vibedial.v2 and vibedial.stationHealth.v2. If you used VibeDial before it was renamed, you may also see legacy keys starting with littleMiniRadioPro — these are kept as a temporary backup and will be cleared by any of the methods below.

The app also caches its own files (HTML, JavaScript, CSS, station logos) using a service worker so VibeDial loads quickly and continues to work briefly if you lose connectivity. These are app files, not personal information, and they're managed by your browser like any other cached web resource.

You can clear all of this any time by:

• Tapping Clear favorites or Clear all memory in VibeDial Studio.
• Clearing your browser's site data for vibedial.app.
• Uninstalling the app (if you installed it from a store or added it to your home screen).

What VibeDial sends to external services

To find and play radio stations, VibeDial talks to a small number of external services. I've kept this list deliberately short.

radio-browser.info

VibeDial uses the public radio-browser.info directory to find stations and tags. Searches you type and the dials you browse result in requests to their API servers (in Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria). Their servers see your IP address, your search query, and the time of the request. I don't add an account ID, device ID, or any other identifier to these requests — they only see what any anonymous web visitor would. Their privacy policy applies to the data they receive on their end.

The radio stations you listen to

When you tune a station, your device connects directly to that station's streaming server. This is the same as if you opened the station's URL in a browser tab. The streaming server sees your IP address and a standard browser request. VibeDial doesn't add identifying information to these connections. Each station operator has their own privacy practices, which apply to that direct connection.

vibedial.app server

VibeDial uses a small server-side helper at vibedial.app for three reasons:

• Track metadata lookups — when a station is playing, the helper checks for "now playing" track information from the station's own metadata feed, so the app can show the current song. The helper caches recent results to reduce load on radio stations.
• Stream URL resolution — some radio streams redirect across servers in ways browsers can't follow directly. The helper resolves the redirect server-side and tells your browser the final URL.
• Station logo proxy — to derive the soft background color that matches the station you're tuned to, VibeDial reads the colors from the station's logo image. Browsers won't allow that read directly when the logo is hosted on a different domain, so the helper fetches the logo server-side and serves it back to your browser. The logo bytes are cached for a week so the same logo isn't re-fetched repeatedly.

These helpers receive standard web request information (your IP address, the station you're asking about, and the time). The hosting provider keeps a standard access log for security and abuse prevention. The server also enforces per-IP rate limits and refuses requests that point at private or non-public network addresses — these are routine hardening measures that apply to every visitor equally. I don't run analytics on this data, I don't share it with third parties, and I don't combine it with anything else to identify you.

What VibeDial does not do

• No accounts. No sign-up, no login, no email collection.
• No analytics. No Google Analytics, no Facebook Pixel, no Mixpanel, no first-party event tracking, no behavioral analytics of any kind.
• No advertising. No ads, no advertising IDs, no remarketing pixels, no SDKs.
• No selling or sharing of personal data. Your usage isn't a product. There is no data broker relationship.
• No cookies that track you. VibeDial doesn't set tracking cookies. Your browser may keep a session cookie for cache-control purposes; nothing identifying.
• No location collection. VibeDial doesn't ask for or use your geographic location.
• No microphone, camera, or contacts access. VibeDial doesn't request any of these permissions.

Children's privacy

VibeDial is not directed at children under 13. The app does not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has provided personal information through VibeDial, contact me and I will respond.

VibeDial includes an optional "kids" content mode that filters the catalog to family-appropriate stations. This mode is a content filter only — it doesn't change what data the app stores or sends, and it doesn't activate any additional data collection.

Mature content

VibeDial filters mature and explicit stations out of the catalog. There is no user-facing toggle to enable them, and the filter cannot be disabled at runtime. This keeps the experience appropriate for general audiences and supports VibeDial's Teen content rating on app stores. The filtering is built into the app and cannot be turned off through the user interface.

How VibeDial reaches your device

VibeDial is available three ways: as a website at vibedial.app, as an installable Progressive Web App you can add to your home screen, and on Google Play as a Trusted Web Activity. The Google Play version is a thin wrapper around the same vibedial.app website — no additional data collection happens through the wrapper, and no third-party SDKs or trackers are added. Whichever way you install it, you're running the same code described in this policy.

Permissions VibeDial may request

Depending on how you've installed VibeDial (web browser, home-screen install, or store install), the app may request:

• Audio playback — required to play radio streams.
• Persistent storage — for the favorites and settings described above.
• Notification / media controls — so you can control playback from your device's lock screen, notification shade, Bluetooth headphones, or car stereo.

VibeDial does not request location, microphone, camera, contacts, calendar, file system, or any other sensitive permissions.

Security

Connections between your device and vibedial.app are encrypted with HTTPS. I can't speak for the security of every external radio stream — many use HTTPS, some don't, depending on each operator. VibeDial filters out stations that fail basic safety checks but cannot guarantee third-party stream security.

Your rights

Because VibeDial doesn't collect personal information beyond what every web request contains (IP address, browser user-agent, the time of the request), there's very little to "request access to" or "delete." Standard web server logs are retained briefly for abuse prevention and rotated automatically.

If you're in a region with specific data rights (GDPR, CCPA, etc.), those rights apply to the limited information I receive. To exercise them, contact me at the address below.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes meaningfully, the "Last updated" date at the top of the page will reflect the change. For material changes that affect what data is collected or how it's used, I'll surface a notice in the app for a reasonable period.

Contact

Questions, concerns, or requests about privacy: VibeDial@DonShappelle.com.