Firsthand — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 13 November 2026

In short

Firsthand does not collect your personal data. There is no account, no advertising, no analytics and no tracking, and the developer runs no server that the app talks to. To play radio, your device connects directly to independent radio receivers, to public lists of those receivers and to a public broadcast schedule; they see your device's internet address, as any website would. When connections keep failing, the app also checks whether your internet connection works, using a page Apple provides for that purpose. Speech transcription and translation happen on your device.

What leaves your device, and why

When you listen to a receiver. Your device connects directly to a web radio receiver run by an independent operator (a volunteer or club, not the developer). The receiver sees your device's IP address and the app's name and version ("Firsthand" and its version number, with a link to the support page), and receives your tuning commands (frequency, mode, filter and waterfall settings). Some receivers are also sent a random session number that the app creates for each connection; it is not linked to you or your device. If you enter a nickname or call sign in Settings, it is sent to the receiver so its operator can see who is listening; if you leave it empty, the receiver sees "Firsthand". Receiver operators may keep their own logs; the developer does not receive them and has no control over them.

Receiver lists. To show which receivers are online, the app downloads public lists from rx.linkfanel.net, www.rx-888.com and instances.ubersdr.org when it starts and then at most every 20 minutes, and only while the app is open. Those servers see your device's IP address and the app's name and version. Nothing about you is sent to them.

Broadcast schedule. About once a day while the app is running (a little more often after a failed check or near a change of season), and whenever you tap "Check for a schedule update now" in Settings, it checks eibispace.de (the EiBi shortwave schedule by Eike Bierwirth) for a newer schedule file. That server sees your device's IP address and the app's name and version. Nothing about you is sent to it.

Network check. If several receivers in a row fail to connect, or when you tap "Check network" in Settings, the app looks up the address of kiwisdr.com and loads Apple's connection-test page (captive.apple.com) to tell a network problem from a receiver problem. The automatic check runs at most once a minute. Apple's server sees your device's IP address, as it does when your iPhone checks a Wi-Fi network. Nothing about you is sent.

Web pages you open. If you open a station's or a receiver's own web page, it opens in your browser, under that site's own policy.

Nothing else leaves your device. The app does not use your location, your microphone, your contacts or your photos, and it does not sell or share any data.

What stays on your device

Your settings (including the optional nickname and home location you can enter), favourite and hidden stations and receivers, the last station and receiver you used, a short record of recent receiver connections (used to space connections out politely, as receiver operators ask), the connection log shown in Settings, the station schedule and a cached copy of the receiver lists are stored only on your device.

To help diagnose problems, the app also keeps an incident log and an energy log on your device. The incident log records connection problems with what was happening at the time: the receiver, the frequencies tuned shortly before with their times, the type of network, the device model and battery level, and recent connection-log lines. It never holds transcripts or translations, and it is limited to 4 MB, oldest entries first out. The energy log records the app's own power use. Neither is sent anywhere; you can share them yourself from Settings, for example to send them with a support request.

These files are included in your device backups, except the station schedule and the cached receiver lists (which the app can rebuild or download again) and the incident log. Transcripts and translations are shown while the app runs and are not saved or uploaded; you can copy them yourself.

Speech recognition and translation

When you choose a spoken language in the Translate tab, iOS may ask for permission to use speech recognition (depending on the language and the iOS version). Firsthand uses it only on the radio audio you are playing, and requires recognition to run on your device. Translation uses Apple's on-device translation. Speech and translation language files are downloaded from Apple only when you tap Load. The microphone is never used.

Crash reports

If you have chosen in iOS to share analytics with app developers, Apple may send the developer anonymous crash reports. They do not identify you.

Children

Firsthand is for a general audience. The developer collects no information from anyone, including children under 13.

Your choices

• Leave the nickname empty in Settings so receivers see only "Firsthand".
• Turn speech recognition off for the app in iOS Settings, under Privacy & Security, then Speech Recognition.
• Deleting the app removes everything it stored on your device.

The developer holds no data about you, so there is nothing for the developer to delete. For logs a receiver operator may keep, contact that operator through the receiver's web page.

Changes

If this policy changes, the new version will be posted here with a new date.

Contact

Philip Kohn — philipkohn@gmail.com — https://noboxart.com/firsthand-support