Privacy Policy

AudioNest keeps your listening to yourself. Here is exactly what that means.

Effective October 14, 2026

In short

AudioNest doesn’t show ads, doesn’t track you and doesn’t sell anything about you. Your library, progress and listening history live on your iPhone or iPad, and backups go to your own iCloud Drive.

Two things do reach us:

Anonymous book totals. Once a week, AudioNest tells our server which books were listened to for 5 minutes or more, as scrambled codes, with no account, device or listening details. It helps us choose which books get character guides first.
An AudioNest Account, if you make one. It’s optional. With it your library and progress follow you to your other iPhones and iPads, locked so that only your devices can read it, and your listening numbers power your profile, streaks and leagues.

The main points

Without an account, everything you do in AudioNest is saved on your iPhone or iPad.
No ads, no analytics tools, no tracking, and we never sell data.
Anonymous weekly book totals are sent from every copy of AudioNest. They contain no account, no device ID and no listening amounts.
An AudioNest Account is optional. Its copy of your library is locked on your device before it leaves, and we can’t read it.
With an account, your name, your picture if you add one, and your listening numbers (never book titles) are stored with your account. Others see them only if you join a league.
You can delete your account, and everything stored with it, in the app.
Backups go to your iCloud, not to us.

What stays on your device

Everything you create in AudioNest is stored on your iPhone or iPad, in storage only AudioNest can use:

your library, collections and the book details you edit
listening progress, bookmarks and notes
listening history, statistics, goals and streaks
your profile name and settings
covers you choose, and audio you download or import

Without an account, none of it is sent to us, except the anonymous book totals described next. With an account, a locked copy of it is kept in your account so your other devices can use it (see Your AudioNest Account). The Home Screen widget reads from the same storage on your device.

Anonymous book totals

To decide which books get character guides first, AudioNest sends a short note to our server about once a week. It lists the books listened to for at least 5 minutes that week, each as a one-way code made from its title and author (a SHA-256 hash), never the title itself. The note has no account, no device or install ID, no times and no listening amounts, and each book is counted at most once a week from each device. As with any connection, our server can see the internet address it came from; we don’t store it with the totals.

This happens in every copy of AudioNest, with or without an account.

Your AudioNest Account

An AudioNest Account is optional. AudioNest works fully without one.

Signing in. You sign in with Apple, or (where offered) with a code sent to your email. Apple or your email gives us an account ID and an email address; with Sign in with Apple you can hide your real address. Your sign-in is kept in your device’s Keychain. We use Supabase to run accounts and store account data.

What’s stored with your account.

your account ID, email address, how you signed in and when you joined;
the name you show, and a profile picture if you add one (a small square photo you choose);
a random ID for each device you sign in on, and whether it’s an iPhone, iPad or Mac, so the account can count your devices;
your listening numbers: minutes listened per day for the last 35 days, total minutes, the number of books finished, your current and best streak, streak freezes, the number of characters met, and the badges you’ve earned, plus your time zone and the day your week starts, so days and weeks are counted in your local time. Never a title, a book, an author or a character’s name;
a locked copy of your library (see below);
reports you send about another listener’s name or picture, and the listeners you block.

The locked copy of your library. So your library, progress, history, collections and settings follow you, your account keeps one copy of them. It’s locked (AES-256 encryption) on your device before it leaves, with a key kept in your iCloud Keychain that only your own devices have. We store the locked file, its size and version; we can’t open it, and neither can Supabase. It includes cover photos you added from your device, but not audio, ebook files, or the keys and sign-ins for your libraries.

Profiles and leagues. Your profile is private until you join a league. Then other listeners in your league can see your name, picture, hours and other numbers on your profile, never what you listen to. You can leave a league at any time, which hides your profile again. Everyone signed in sees how their listening compares, counted anonymously.

Deleting your account. In AudioNest, go to Profile → Account → Delete Account. This deletes your account, the locked copy, your profile, picture, numbers, reports and blocks, and your sign-in, on every device. If you signed in with Apple, AudioNest is also removed from your Apple Account. Deleted account data can remain in our encrypted automatic backups for up to 7 days before it is overwritten. Your library stays on the device you’re holding. Signing out keeps your account and leaves your library on the device.

What we collect

Anonymous book totals from every copy of AudioNest, as described above.
Your account’s data, only if you make an AudioNest Account, as described above.
Messages you send us (see When you contact us).

AudioNest uses no analytics, advertising or tracking tools. It doesn’t use your advertising identifier, and we don’t share or sell information to anyone.

If you’ve chosen to share analytics with app developers on your iPhone or iPad, Apple may send us anonymous crash reports. You can turn that off in Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.

iCloud Backup

When iCloud Drive is available, AudioNest backs up your library, progress, history, profile and settings to your own iCloud Drive. Apple stores these backups under your Apple Account and its own privacy policy. We can’t access them.

Backups don’t include audio files, or the keys and sign-ins for the libraries you connect. You can turn backups off with Back Up Automatically in Settings → Backup & Restore, and see or delete them in the Files app under iCloud Drive → AudioNest → Backups.

Libraries you connect

AudioNest talks to the libraries you connect directly from your iPhone or iPad. We’re never in between.

A cloud service: the key you enter is kept in your device’s Keychain and sent only to that service.
Cloud storage: you sign in on the storage provider’s own page, so AudioNest never sees your password. The sign-in it gets back is kept in your Keychain and used only with that provider.
Your own server (Audiobookshelf, Jellyfin, Emby, Plex, Grimmory or BookOrbit): your password goes only to your server, or for Plex, to Plex’s own sign-in page. AudioNest keeps the server’s address and the sign-in it gets back in your Keychain, and uses them only with that server. If the server is on your home network, your device asks you before AudioNest can reach it.

What each service or server receives is covered by its own privacy policy. Disconnecting a library in Settings → Book Sources removes its key or sign-in from AudioNest.

Book covers and details

To find covers, descriptions, series and narrators, AudioNest looks books up in public audiobook catalogs and book databases, such as Open Library, Wikidata and the Internet Archive. It sends only what the lookup needs, like a title, an author or a book number. As with any website your device visits, these services can see your internet address. They never receive your library, progress or history. Covers picked from the online cover search are kept as the picture’s web address, so each of your devices loads the picture from that site.

Character names for captions come from our own server too. To find a book’s list, AudioNest sends only part of a coded form of the title and author (a short prefix of a one-way hash) and a language; the server replies with the lists that match, and your device picks its own.

Free audiobooks you browse, play or download are public-domain recordings, served by the Internet Archive.

Apple Intelligence

On an iPhone or iPad that supports Apple Intelligence, with it turned on, AudioNest uses it for three things:

Chapter names: tidying messy chapter names.
What It’s About: a short summary of a book, written from the book’s description.
Bookmark Memories: a short title and a line for a moment you bookmark, made from your note and the few seconds of audio around it, which are transcribed on your device. For a book that streams, only those seconds are fetched from your library. The audio and transcript are deleted once the memory is made, and the memory is saved with your bookmark.

All of it runs entirely on your iPhone or iPad. Nothing is sent to us.

Apple Watch

If you use AudioNest on Apple Watch, your iPhone and your watch sync your books, covers and place directly with each other. Nothing passes through us.

When Listen Without iPhone is on, your iPhone gives the watch your cloud service key, kept in the watch’s Keychain, so the watch can get audio straight from your cloud service. Free audiobooks come straight from the Internet Archive. Turning Listen Without iPhone off takes the key back off the watch.

Photos and files

When you choose a photo for a cover or for your profile picture, AudioNest receives only that photo. A profile picture is uploaded to your account; a cover photo stays on your device (and in your backups, and in your account’s locked copy if you have one).

AudioNest opens files only when you pick them, to import audio or restore a backup. It doesn’t use your camera, microphone, location or contacts.

Diagnostics you share

The Diagnostics page stays on your device. If you choose to share a report from it, you decide where it goes, and keys and access tokens are removed from it first.

When you contact us

If you send a message with Contact Us, we receive its topic (Question, Problem, Idea or Other), the email address you give us to reply to, and your message. Include App Details is on unless you turn it off, and adds only your AudioNest version and build number and your iOS version. Nothing from your library is included.

Your message passes through Cloudflare, which runs our message relay, and Zoho (ZeptoMail and Zoho Mail), which delivers it to our inbox. If you email us instead, we receive your email as you send it. We use messages only to reply to you. We don’t add you to any list or share your message, and we’ll delete it if you ask.

Purchases

AudioNest Premium is sold through the App Store, and Apple handles the payment. We never see your card or Apple Account details.

AudioNest checks your purchase with Apple on your device, so nothing about it is sent to us. Apple gives developers only anonymous sales reports, which don’t say who bought what.

Children

AudioNest isn’t directed at children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has made an account or written to us, contact us and we’ll delete it.

Your choices

Erase everything on this device: Settings → Backup & Restore → Erase Everything & Start Over.
Delete your AudioNest Account and everything stored with it: Profile → Account → Delete Account.
Sign out on one device: Profile → Account → Sign Out.
Hide your profile from others: leave your league.
Turn off or delete backups: Settings → Backup & Restore, or the Files app under iCloud Drive → AudioNest.
Disconnect a library: Settings → Book Sources.
Stop the watch playing on its own: Settings → Playback → Listen Without iPhone.
Delete a message you sent us: just ask.

Anonymous book totals can’t be turned off, because they carry nothing that identifies you or your device.

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to see, correct, export or delete personal information a company holds about you. For account data, you can delete it in the app, or ask us for a copy or a correction.

Security

Your data is protected by your device’s own security, and the keys and sign-ins for your libraries are kept in the Keychain.

Your account’s sign-in is kept in your device’s Keychain, and your library’s copy is locked on your device with a key only your devices hold. Everything travels over encrypted connections.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the date at the top will change with it, and big changes will be mentioned in What’s New in the app. If AudioNest ever needs to collect something new, this policy will say so first. (Version of October 14, 2026: adds anonymous book totals and optional AudioNest Accounts.)

Contact

AudioNest is made by The Blue Rio, LLC (“we”, “us”), which is responsible for this policy. Questions about privacy? In AudioNest, go to Settings → About & Support → Contact Us, or email [email protected]. You’ll find answers to common questions on our Support page.