Phosphor was built so the privacy policy could be short. Here it is.
Phosphor is a desktop application that visualizes the audio your Mac is already playing. It runs entirely on your machine.
We don't have user accounts. We don't have analytics. We don't have a server. We don't track installs, scenes used, time spent, songs played, or anything else. The first time you launch the app and the thousandth time look the same to us — invisible.
Your audio is read from Core Audio in-memory, analyzed for visualization, and immediately discarded. No buffering, no recording (unless you start one yourself from the RECORD tab, and that file is saved locally to your Movies folder, never uploaded).
Only on your own network, and only if you use Phosphor Link. Link finds Apple TVs running Phosphor Stage and sends them a few hundred bytes per frame describing what your Mac is hearing, so they can draw it. It never sends the audio itself, and nothing leaves your local network.
Beyond that the app makes none. There is no server of ours for it to contact. macOS and the Mac App Store may check for updates and validate your purchase receipt; those calls are made by Apple, not us, and are governed by Apple's privacy policy.
Only if you have macOS's "Share with App Developers" setting enabled, in which case Apple sends us anonymized crash logs through App Store Connect. These contain stack traces, OS version, and device model, but no audio data, no personal information, and no identifiers we can link back to you. You can disable this anytime in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.
No by default. Phosphor uses Apple's Core Audio Process Tap API to read system audio output, which is what your speakers and headphones already hear. If you opt into the optional MIC input mode, Phosphor will request microphone permission via the standard macOS prompt; you can revoke it any time.
No. Phosphor only sees the PCM audio samples flowing to your speakers. It doesn't know what app produced them, what track is playing, or who you are logged in as.
This site (getphosphor.com) sets one local-storage key (phosphor-theme) to remember your light/dark preference. That's it.
Phosphor is not directed to children under 13 and we don't knowingly collect any data from anyone, of any age.
If we ever change anything material, we'll post an update here with a new effective date.
Questions about privacy: [email protected].
Effective May 7, 2026 · Little Knife Labs LLC
macOS 14.4 or later. Apple Silicon. No subscription, ever.
Download on the App Store →