Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 23, 2026

This policy covers the Steve app for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, this website (stevelibrary.com) and the Steve community forum (community.stevelibrary.com). "We" means the developer of Steve.

The Steve app

What stays on your device

Steve plays music files you add yourself. Your music files, artwork, lyrics, playlists, favorites, listening history and Listening Stats are stored on your device and are never sent to us. Steve has no sign-up or login, and playing music doesn't need an internet connection.

Usage statistics (Firebase Analytics)

Steve uses Google Firebase Analytics to understand how the app is used, so we know what to improve. It collects:

• Which screens and features are opened (for example Listening Stats or the equalizer), and events like a track failing to play
• App version, device model, iOS version and language
• Approximate country or region, which Google derives from your IP address
• A random identifier for this installation of the app, which resets if you delete and reinstall Steve

It does not include your name, email, the names or contents of your music files, or your listening history. Steve doesn't use the advertising identifier (IDFA), doesn't show ads, and doesn't link this data to your identity or share it with data brokers. Google processes this data on our behalf under the Firebase privacy terms.

Online Info (optional, off by default)

If you turn on Online Info, Steve looks up artist pictures, album covers, release years and countries. To do that it sends the artist and album names from your library to these public music databases:

• MusicBrainz (artist and album details)
• Cover Art Archive (album covers)
• Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (artist pictures)

Like any website, these services see your IP address when your device contacts them. No other information about you or your library is sent. You can turn Online Info off at any time.

Other features

• Wi-Fi import runs a small transfer page on your device. Files go directly from your computer to your iPhone or iPad over your local network and never pass through our servers.
• Apple Watch talks directly to Steve on your iPhone.
• Notifications are created on your device.
• Tips are in-app purchases handled entirely by Apple. We never see your payment details.

This website

stevelibrary.com uses no cookies, no analytics and no tracking scripts. It's served by Cloudflare, which processes your IP address to deliver the page and protect the site from attacks, as any web host does.

The community forum

The forum at community.stevelibrary.com runs on Discourse, on our own server. If you create an account:

• What we store: your email address, username, profile, posts, likes and votes, and the IP addresses you use (to fight spam and abuse).
• What's public: your username, profile and posts. Public posts can be read by anyone and may appear in search engines and AI assistants.
• Who helps us run it: Hetzner hosts the server in Germany; Cloudflare delivers the site; Brevo sends the forum's emails; hCaptcha checks sign-ups for bots; Backblaze stores encrypted backups in the EU.
• Cookies: the forum uses cookies only to keep you signed in and to protect your session.
• Deleting your account: you can delete it from your forum preferences, or message us and we'll do it for you.

The forum isn't intended for children under 13.

Children

Steve is suitable for all ages and has no accounts. The only data it sends is the anonymous usage statistics described above.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct or delete your data, or to object to how it's used. Because the app doesn't know who you are, we can't link usage statistics to you. For forum data, or any question about this policy, contact us below.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top. Significant changes will also be announced in the forum.

Contact

Send us a private message on the forum: message the Steve team. Only the team can read it.