Fern PlayerPrivacy Policy
The short version: Fern Player doesn't collect anything. Your videos and music stay on your iPhone.
Effective November 12, 2026Who we are
Fern Player is an iPhone app made by Pianalytix ("we", "us"). This policy explains how the app handles information. It covers the Fern Player app and this website.
What we collect
Nothing. Fern Player has no servers, no accounts and no analytics. We don't collect, store, sell or share any personal information, usage data, device identifiers or the contents of your files. Apple's App Store privacy label for Fern Player is "Data Not Collected".
If you email us for support, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to write. We use it only to reply to you and never share it or add you to a mailing list.
Your videos and music
Fern Player plays files where they already are on your iPhone: in your photo library, in folders you pick in the Files app, or files you send to the app yourself. Files are read on your device and are never uploaded.
To make the app work, it saves a few things on your iPhone only: where you stopped in each video, your favorites, playlists, recently played items, your music queue and your settings. These are deleted when you delete the app.
Files in the Private folder are stored inside the app on your device. They are not backed up to our servers because we don't have any. Deleting the app deletes them.
Permissions the app asks for
iOS asks for your permission before Fern Player can use any of these. You can change your mind at any time in iOS Settings.
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Photos | To show and play the videos in your photo library, and to save a video screenshot when you ask for one. Nothing leaves your iPhone. |
| Face ID | To unlock the Private folder. Face ID is handled by iOS; the app only learns whether unlocking succeeded and never sees your face data. |
| Local Network | For Wi-Fi Transfer, so you can send files from a computer on the same Wi-Fi. It runs only while that screen is open, uses a random code in the address, and never connects to the internet. |
Apple features
- Spotlight and Siri. Titles of your videos and songs are added to your iPhone's on-device search index so you can find them from Spotlight and use Siri or Shortcuts. You can turn this off in Fern Player's Settings.
- AirPlay and Picture in Picture. When you AirPlay a video, it goes straight from your iPhone to the TV or speaker you pick.
- Lock Screen controls. The title and artwork of what's playing are shown on your Lock Screen and in Control Center by iOS.
These features run on your device and are covered by Apple's Privacy Policy.
Third parties
Fern Player contains no third-party analytics, advertising, crash reporting or tracking code. It uses an open-source video decoder that runs entirely on your device and sends nothing anywhere.
This website is a plain static site. It sets no cookies, runs no analytics and loads nothing from other companies. Like any web server, the host that serves these pages may keep standard access logs, such as IP addresses, for security.
Children
Fern Player is rated 4+ and collects no information from anyone, including children under 13.
Your rights
Because we hold no data about you, there is nothing for us to access, correct, export or delete. Wherever you live, including California (CCPA) and the European Union (GDPR), you keep those rights, and you can write to us any time.
Changes to this policy
If a future version of Fern Player changes how information is handled, we'll update this page and the date at the top before that version is released. We won't start collecting data without saying so here first.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email info@pianalytix.com.