Global Equalizer
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 2 September 2026
Global Equalizer is an audio processor for Android, published by Himalayan Code Works. This policy explains exactly what the app does and does not do with your information.
The short version: there is no account, no advertising, no advertising identifier, no usage analytics and no tracking. The app collects exactly one thing: an automatic crash report when the app crashes, sent to Google Firebase Crashlytics. Your audio, your presets and your settings never leave your device.
What we collect
One thing: crash reports. When the app crashes, it sends a diagnostic report so the crash can be found and fixed. Each report contains:
- the stack trace — the exception type and the line of our code that failed;
- the app version and build;
- device model, manufacturer, and Android version;
- device state at the moment of the crash: free memory and disk, orientation, whether the device is rooted;
- a Firebase installation ID — a random identifier for this installation of this app, used to tell "one device crashed 40 times" apart from "40 devices crashed once". It is not your name, your email, your Google account or your advertising ID, it is not shared with anyone, and it is regenerated if you clear the app's data or reinstall.
Nothing else. There is no sign-in and no user profile. Your equalizer curve, effect levels, saved presets, chosen layout and chosen theme are written to the app's private storage on your own device. We cannot see any of it, and it is never included in a crash report.
What we do not collect
- No audio. Never. See "What the app actually processes" below.
- No usage analytics — no screen views, no session counts, no feature tracking. Firebase Analytics is not in the app.
- No advertising and no advertising identifier. The app does not hold the
AD_IDpermission and ships no ad SDK. - No microphone, location, contacts, storage, phone number or email.
- No notification content, despite the optional notification-access grant — see below.
Crash reporting, and how to stop it
Crash reporting is handled by Google Firebase Crashlytics. Reports are transmitted over HTTPS, are visible only to Himalayan Code Works, and are retained by Google for 90 days. They are used for one purpose: fixing crashes. They are never sold, never shared with advertisers, and never used to build a profile of you.
Crash reporting is on by default in the published app and is switched off entirely in development builds.
There is currently no in-app switch to turn it off. We are being straightforward about that rather than implying a control that does not exist yet; one is planned, and this policy will be updated when it ships. Until then, if you do not want to send crash reports, you can email us at the address below to have reports from your installation deleted, or uninstall the app — nothing is sent once it is gone.
Google's handling of the data as our processor is covered by the Firebase Data Processing Terms and the Google Privacy Policy.
Network access
The app holds INTERNET and ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE. Crash
reporting is the only thing that uses them. No feature of the app fetches anything, and
every icon, font and control is drawn by the app itself or shipped in the download — the app works
completely offline apart from delivering a crash report once one has happened.
You can verify what the published app declares:
aapt2 dump permissions app-prod-release.apkWhat the app actually processes
Global Equalizer is not a music player. It never opens, decodes, records or
stores a file of its own. It attaches Android's built-in audio effects — Equalizer,
BassBoost, Virtualizer, LoudnessEnhancer and
PresetReverb — to an audio session, and the processing happens inside the operating
system's audio pipeline. The audio itself never passes through our code and is never captured,
copied, transmitted or written anywhere.
Permissions
The app asks for a permission only when a feature needs it, and each one is used for that purpose alone.
| Permission | Why | Leaves your device? |
|---|---|---|
| Modify audio settings | Attaching the equalizer and effects to an audio session | No |
| Foreground service | Keeping the effect chain attached while the app is in the background or the screen is off | No |
| Notifications | The ongoing notification that shows the engine is running and lets you switch it off from the shade | No |
| Run at boot | Restoring the effect chain after a restart, so the widget and Quick Settings tile do not report "on" with nothing behind them | No |
| Internet / network state | Sending a crash report when the app crashes. Nothing else uses them | Crash reports only |
You can withdraw any runtime permission at any time in your device settings. The app keeps working without them; you lose the feature that needed the permission.
There is no microphone permission, no location permission, no contacts or storage permission, and no advertising identifier.
Notification access — optional, and what it is for
The now-playing bar shows the track, artist and source app of whatever is currently playing, with
play, pause, next and previous buttons. Android gates the only supported way to read that —
MediaSessionManager.getActiveSessions() — behind Notification access.
To earn that grant, the app ships a NotificationListenerService that:
- overrides no notification callback at all, so it never receives the content of a notification;
- is used for one purpose only: reading the active media session for the now-playing bar;
- transmits nothing — media session metadata is read at display time, shown, and discarded. It is never stored and never included in a crash report.
This grant is entirely optional. Until you give it, the now-playing bar shows a one-line explanation and a button to the system screen — nothing else in the app is affected. You can revoke it at any time in Settings → Notifications → Notification access.
Your settings
Presets, curves, effect levels, layout and theme live in the app's private storage on your device. There is no cloud copy and no account to delete.
Children
Global Equalizer is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children; the only data collected from anyone is the crash report described above, which contains no personal identifiers.
Your rights and data deletion
Uninstalling the app removes its private storage — every preset and setting — from your device, and stops any further crash reports.
For the crash reports themselves, email us at the address below and we will delete the reports associated with your installation. If you are in the EEA or UK, you also have the right to access, correct, restrict or object to this processing, and to complain to your data protection authority. Our legal basis for crash reporting is legitimate interest in keeping the app from crashing.
Changes to this policy
If the app ever gains a feature that changes any of the above — sync, accounts, analytics, advertising — this policy will be updated before that version ships, and the "Last updated" date at the top will change.
Contact
Questions about this policy or the app, or a request to delete your crash reports:
- Email: hello@himalayancodeworks.com
- Web: himalayancodeworks.com