The Tone
Your privacy
Last updated October 20, 2026
Your messages are yours. No one listens to them. They stay on your phone unless you choose a membership with backup, and we never sell or share them.
What The Tone keeps, and where
On your phone. The people you add (their names, who they are to you, a photo if you choose one, their color and tone) and every message you record are stored on your phone, inside The Tone. Nothing leaves your phone unless you use a membership with backup.
If you sign in. We keep your email address so we can send you a sign-in code and keep your account. Sign-in codes are sent by email through Google's Gmail service.
If you send feedback. What you write in our feedback form is kept privately so we can improve The Tone, along with your email only if you choose to give it.
If you join the waitlist. We keep the email address you give us, and use it only to tell you when The Tone opens. You can ask us to remove it anytime at hello@thetoneapp.com.
If you choose backup. With a membership that includes backup, your messages and the details of the people you've added are copied to our secure storage, so a lost or replaced phone never means lost words. Backups are stored by our provider, Supabase, on servers in the United States, encrypted while stored and while traveling. Each account can reach only its own backup.
What we don't do
- We don't listen to, read, review or analyze your messages.
- We don't use advertising, trackers or analytics in the app.
- We don't sell or share your information with anyone, for any purpose.
- We don't use your messages to train any AI.
Microphone and Face ID
The Tone uses your microphone only while you're recording a message. If you turn on the Face ID lock, your iPhone checks your face. The Tone never sees or stores your face data. It only learns whether the check succeeded.
Your choices
- Delete anything, anytime. Deleting a message or a person removes it from your phone and from your backup.
- Take your words with you. You can save any message to your phone, free, at any time.
- Delete your account. In The Tone, open your account and tap "Delete my account." This permanently removes your account and everything backed up with it.
- Deleting the app removes everything stored on your phone. Messages that weren't saved or backed up can't be recovered.
A private space, not a crisis service
The Tone is a place to speak, not therapy or an emergency service, and no one hears your messages. If you or someone else is in danger, call 911. In the US you can call or text 988 at any time to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Children
The Tone isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect. If The Tone ever closes, we'll give you notice and time to save your messages first.
Questions
Email hello@thetoneapp.com. A real person, the one who made The Tone, will answer.