Privacy Policy — FretWise
Last updated 14 September 2026
Your microphone audio never leaves your device. The app has no accounts and no analytics. It is free and shows non-personalised ads from Google AdMob, which is the only thing in the app that uses the internet.
The microphone
FretWise listens through the microphone to work out which note or chord you are playing. That audio is analysed on your device, in memory, and discarded within a fraction of a second. It is never recorded, stored, or sent anywhere — not to us, not to the ad provider, not to anyone.
The microphone is only on while you are using the tuner or a lesson. The metronome does not use it.
What the app stores
Everything the app remembers stays on your device:
- Your chosen instrument, tuning and reference pitch
- Whether vibration and the in-tune chime are on
- Metronome tempo and beats per bar
- Which lessons you have finished, your points and your streak
We have no server and no copy of any of it. Deleting the app deletes all of it.
Advertising
FretWise is free and shows ads supplied by Google AdMob: a banner at the bottom of the lesson list and the metronome, and occasionally a full-screen ad after you finish a lesson. The tuner never shows an ad, and no ad appears while a lesson is listening to you.
Every ad request asks for non-personalised ads only. The app does not ask to track you across other companies' apps and websites, and does not build an advertising profile of you. To deliver an ad, AdMob still receives what any ad request carries:
- Your IP address, and an approximate location derived from it
- Device type, operating system and app version
- Device identifiers — the advertising ID on Android, or an app-specific identifier on iOS — used to limit how often an ad is shown, measure ads and prevent fraud, not to personalise them
Google processes this data under its own policies: How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services and Google Privacy Policy. On Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in the device's Google settings.
Consent in Europe, the UK and Switzerland
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, the app shows Google's consent form before any ad is requested, and your choice is respected. You can change it at any time under Settings → Ad privacy choices.
What the app does not do
- No user accounts, sign-in, email address or phone number
- No analytics or crash-reporting SDKs
- No personalised advertising and no cross-app tracking
- No location, contacts, photos or camera access
- No in-app purchases in this version
- No data sold by us
Permissions
- Microphone — to hear your instrument. Without it the tuner and lessons cannot work; the metronome still does.
- Internet (Android, granted automatically) — used only by the ad and consent services.
- Vibration (Android, granted automatically) — for the optional buzz when a string is in tune.
Children
FretWise is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from them.
Your choices
Everything the app stores is on your device, and uninstalling removes it. For the data AdMob receives, use Settings → Ad privacy choices where it is shown, your device's advertising settings, or Google's own controls described in the policies linked above.
Changes
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new date.
Contact
Questions about this policy: gchinthaka@gmail.com