Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2026-08-09
podcasts.so is a podcast discovery app operated by Iona, LLC
(support@podcasts.so). It is
local-first: the shows you follow, your queue, downloads, and
playback position live on your device. Only discovery, sign-in, sync, and
diagnostics involve our server. This page describes what we collect, why, and
how to delete it.
What we collect
- Account data: if you sign in, your email address — used to
authenticate you via a magic link. You can also use the app as a
guest, which creates an anonymous account id with no email.
- Sign-in metadata: when you sign in, the IP address and user
agent of the request. Used to help you spot unrecognized sessions and to
detect abuse.
- Library & listening (signed-in sync): the shows you follow
and your playback progress, so they sync across your devices and improve the
episodes we surface. Most of your library never leaves your device.
- Usage analytics: which screens and features you use (for
example, opening a topic or an episode). Used to improve discovery. Stored on
our own infrastructure — not sent to a third-party analytics vendor.
- Diagnostics: if the app hits an error, we send the error
message and a technical stack trace to our self-hosted error tracker so we can
fix crashes. These reports are about the software, not about you, and we don't
attach your email to them.
- Location (optional): if you grant location access, it is used
on your device to center the map on your area. We do not store or transmit your
precise location.
- Push tokens (optional): if you opt into notifications, your
APNs device token — used only to send notifications you asked for.
- Subscription status (if you buy Pro): which plan you are on,
whether it is active, and when it renews or lapses. Apple is the seller and
tells us only this — we never see your card, billing address, or Apple ID.
What we do not collect
- We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties.
- We do not run third-party advertising or analytics trackers.
- We do not record audio from your microphone or any other system input.
Third-party services
- Postmark delivers your magic-link sign-in emails. Postmark
sees your email address and the body of the sign-in email.
- Apple App Attest is used to confirm that requests come from the
genuine podcasts.so app. This verifies the app, not your identity.
- Apple Push Notification service delivers push notifications
if you opt in. It sees only the device token and the notification payload.
- Apple is the seller for Pro subscriptions and processes the
payment. We receive only your subscription status, never payment details.
- DigitalOcean hosts our website, database, and API. They see
encrypted traffic and data stored at rest. Our analytics and error tracking run
on our own infrastructure.
How long we keep it
Your data is retained while your account is active. Deleting your account removes
the account row and everything that cascades from it — follows, playback progress,
sessions, push tokens — immediately. Encrypted database backups may
still contain it for up to 30 days, after which it is gone entirely.
How to delete your data
In the app: Settings → Account → Delete account. It is
immediate and permanent — not a deactivation — and takes effect on every device
you were signed in on. If you cannot open the app, email
support@podcasts.so from the address on
the account. To remove on-device data, delete the app.
Deleting your account does not cancel a Pro subscription, because
that belongs to your Apple account rather than to us — cancel it first in
App Store → Subscriptions. Full detail on what is removed and
what is retained is on the
account deletion page.
Children
podcasts.so is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect
data from them.
Changes
If we materially change this policy, we'll update the date at the top and notify
logged-in users via the app on next sign-in.
Contact
support@podcasts.so