Privacy
Last updated 12 October 2026
Cacophony has no account, no analytics and no ads, and it doesn't send anything to me. It talks to Apple Music for you, and to a few other services when it needs them or when you turn them on. Here's the whole list.
What stays on your computer
- Your settings, your queue, cached artwork and the app's logs live in its folders on your computer (Settings > About shows where). None of it gets uploaded.
- You sign in on Apple's own sign-in page, inside the app, so your Apple Account password only goes to Apple. Apple then gives the app a key to your library, which stays on your computer.
What goes where
- Apple Music (Apple): browsing, search, your library, playback and lyrics. These requests go straight from your computer to Apple, the same way they do from Apple's web player, and Apple's privacy policy covers them.
- LRCLIB (lrclib.net): when Apple Music has no lyrics for a song, the app sends its title, artist, album and length to look up community lyrics. You can turn this off in Settings > Lyrics.
- Discogs (discogs.com): the genres and styles you open in Explore, to show records and covers for them. Nothing about who you are.
- Last.fm and ListenBrainz: only if you connect them in Settings: the songs you listen to (title, artist, album and when), saved to your account there. You can disconnect them at any time.
- Discord: only if you turn it on in Settings: the song you're playing goes to the Discord app on your computer, which shows it on your profile.
- itch.io: once a day the app asks itch.io whether there's a newer version (you can turn this off in Settings > About). Buying and downloading Cacophony happens on itch.io, under its privacy policy.
- This site (GitHub Pages): when the app's key to Apple Music is close to expiring, it downloads a new one from here.
Like any connection on the internet, each of these services sees your IP address when the app connects to it.
Children
Cacophony isn't meant for children under 13. Apple Music has its own rules for younger listeners.
Changes
If this changes, the new version goes up on this page with a new date.
Questions
Ask me in the comments on Cacophony's itch.io page.