Your voice stays
with your cat.

1. Authorship and contact

This Privacy Policy applies to Cat in Phone: Voice Finder (the “App”) and the website at catinphone.com. The App is authored and maintained under the private pseudonym Alex Ast. This name identifies the author and rights holder, not a company or organization. For privacy questions, contact catinphone@gmail.com.

2. Information we collect

The current version of the App does not require an account and does not collect names, email addresses, contacts, precise location, photographs, messages, advertising identifiers, or voice recordings.

The App does not sell personal information and does not share personal information with advertisers or data brokers.

3. Microphone and offline speech recognition

Microphone access is required for the core phone-finder feature. While Find Mode is active, microphone audio is analyzed locally to detect “Hey Cat Phone” or a Premium 2–4 word activation phrase selected from the App’s focused offline English vocabulary.

• Android uses the App’s embedded offline model; iOS requests Apple’s on-device recognition and refuses to start if the device cannot provide it.
• Audio is not sent to a cloud speech-recognition service.
• Audio is not retained as a voice recording by the App.
• Custom phrase and sensitivity choices are stored locally.
• Unsupported phrase words are rejected locally before saving.
• Audio is not used for advertising or user profiling.

Android displays a persistent foreground-service notification while background microphone listening is active. iOS displays its system microphone privacy indicator while the microphone is in use.

4. Find Mode and background operation

When enabled, Find Mode may continue operating while the App is in the background or the device is locked. This allows the App to respond when the user is searching for the phone. Android may use a partial wake lock. iOS uses its audio background mode and attempts to resume recognition after supported audio interruptions.

Operating-system policy, battery management, calls, and competing audio sessions may interrupt listening. Force-quitting the App on iOS stops Find Mode until the App is launched again. You can stop microphone processing at any time by disabling Find Mode. The App stores this preference locally so it can respect your choice when reopened.

5. Audio playback and device settings

On Android, the App uses the alarm audio channel after detecting the wake phrase. It may temporarily raise alarm volume and then restores the previous setting. On iPhone and iPad, the App uses an audible playback audio session that can play across the silent switch, but iOS does not allow the App to raise system volume. The user controls the response loudness with device volume. The App does not transmit these settings.

6. Information stored on your device

The App may store limited operational preferences locally, including Find Mode state, activation phrase, sensitivity, selected cat, sound pack, animation, and a cached Premium entitlement. These preferences remain on the device and can be removed by clearing the App’s data or uninstalling the App.

7. Permissions

Depending on platform version and device capabilities, the App may request:

• Microphone: to recognize the wake phrase locally on Android and iOS.
• Speech recognition on iOS: to use Apple’s on-device English speech recognizer.
• Notifications on Android: to show the required foreground-service indicator while active listening runs.
• Foreground service, wake lock, and audio settings on Android: to support user-enabled background recognition and an audible alarm-channel response.
• Background audio mode on iOS: to keep the user-enabled recording session active while locked or in the background where iOS permits it.

You can manage applicable permissions in Android or iOS system settings. Disabling a required permission may prevent Find Mode from working.

8. Purchases, internet access, and app stores

The core voice-finder feature works without an internet connection. The App does not upload wake-phrase audio to us or to a third-party speech provider.

Optional Premium is a one-time in-app purchase processed by Google Play on Android or the Apple App Store on iOS. The applicable store may process account, payment, transaction, tax, country/region, and purchase-status information under its own privacy policy. Alex Ast does not receive full payment-card details. The App receives product, purchase-state, and entitlement information needed to complete or restore the purchase.

An internet connection is normally required to load store pricing, purchase Premium, restore an entitlement, or allow the store to confirm transaction status. Finder recognition remains offline.

9. Data retention and deletion

Because the App does not collect or store microphone recordings on our servers, there are no cloud voice recordings for us to retain or delete. Locally stored preferences can be deleted by clearing application storage or uninstalling the App. App-store transaction records are retained and managed by the relevant store under its own policies and legal obligations.

10. Children’s privacy

The App is a general-purpose utility and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children through the App.

11. Security

Keeping speech recognition on the device reduces exposure associated with transmitting microphone audio. No method of software operation is completely risk-free, and users should keep their operating system and the App updated.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the App’s functionality, legal requirements, or privacy practices change. The current version will be published on this page with a revised effective date.