Privacy Policy
Effective Date: April 2, 2026
Podling is a mobile app for listening to audiobooks and podcasts from your self-hosted AudioBookShelf (ABS) server. This policy explains what data Podling collects, how it’s used, and who it’s shared with.
Data You Provide
Section titled “Data You Provide”When you set up Podling, you enter your AudioBookShelf server address, a display name for that server, and your ABS username and password. Your password is sent once to your server to authenticate and is not stored. Your username, server address, display name, and the auth token returned by your server are saved locally on your device so you stay logged in.
Podling does not have its own account system. There is no signup, no email collection, and no social login. All authentication happens directly between your device and your ABS server.
Data Collected Automatically
Section titled “Data Collected Automatically”Device information. Podling generates a random device ID (stored locally) and collects your device manufacturer, model, and Android version. This information is sent to your ABS server as part of playback session data so you can distinguish listening sessions across devices.
Playback and library data. Podling tracks your listening progress, playback sessions, and bookmarks locally on your device and syncs them to your ABS server. Search queries stay on your device and are never sent to any external service. Downloaded audio files are stored locally and your server is not notified about what you’ve downloaded.
Error and performance data. Podling uses Sentry to collect crash reports, error logs, and performance data in production builds only. This includes stack traces, device information, your IP address, and the context around errors (such as download URLs or item IDs when a download fails). Sentry does not capture screenshots or session recordings.
Analytics data. Podling uses PostHog for product analytics in production builds only. No custom events are tracked — only PostHog’s automatic capture runs, which includes basic session data and device properties. Your IP address is collected as part of standard event ingestion.
Third-Party Services
Section titled “Third-Party Services”Podling shares data with the following third-party services:
- Your AudioBookShelf server — Your credentials, playback progress, sessions, bookmarks, and device info are sent to the ABS server you configure. Since you self-host this server, you control that data entirely.
- Sentry — Receives error reports, performance data, and device information. Sentry’s privacy policy.
- PostHog — Receives analytics events and device properties. PostHog’s privacy policy.
Podling does not use ad networks, payment processors, social login providers, Firebase, Google Analytics, or any other third-party services that collect user data.
Data Storage and Security
Section titled “Data Storage and Security”All app data — your server credentials, library cache, progress, bookmarks, sessions, and downloads — is stored locally on your device in app-private storage that other apps cannot access. Synced data lives on your self-hosted ABS server under your control.
Data sent to Sentry is stored in Sentry’s US region infrastructure. Data sent to PostHog is stored in PostHog’s US infrastructure.
All network communication uses HTTPS encryption in transit.
Permissions
Section titled “Permissions”Podling requests only the following Android permissions:
- Internet — to communicate with your ABS server, Sentry, and PostHog
- Foreground service (media playback) — to continue audio playback when the app is in the background
- Foreground service (data sync) — to sync your progress with your server in the background
- Notifications — to show playback controls and sync status
Podling does not request access to your camera, microphone, location, contacts, files, or any other sensitive permissions.
Children’s Privacy
Section titled “Children’s Privacy”Podling does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. The app connects to user-managed servers, and the content available depends entirely on what is hosted on those servers. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the app, please contact us and we will take steps to remove that information.
Your Choices
Section titled “Your Choices”- Delete local data — Uninstalling Podling removes all locally stored data including your credentials, progress, and downloads.
- Server data — Data synced to your ABS server can be managed directly on your server.
- Analytics opt-out — PostHog and Sentry data collection only occurs in production builds. There is currently no in-app toggle to disable analytics, but this may be added in a future release.
Changes to This Policy
Section titled “Changes to This Policy”If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at podl.ing/privacy with a new effective date.
Contact
Section titled “Contact”If you have questions about this privacy policy, contact us at contact@podl.ing.