What leaves this phone.

Updated 3 September 2026

What Relay is

Relay helps you notice music around you and share what you are into, not a map of where you go. You can browse Around, Echoes, Catch, and Thanks without an account.

Location

If you turn Location on, Relay sends a short-lived ping so it can find people Relaying nearby. Other people never receive your coordinates, exact distance, or a map. While you are Relaying, that ping can continue in the background. iOS may show the blue location bar. Location stays on-device for the matching step; Relay does not keep a trail of where you have been to show you later.

Microphone

START RELAY may listen for a few seconds so Relay can recognise what is playing. If Apple Music is already playing on this phone, Relay uses that instead and does not open the mic. Relay does not keep the recording. A fingerprint may go to Apple ShazamKit so the song can be identified. Two quiet listens in a row stop the mic until you start again.

Account

An anonymous session on this phone is enough for the core product. Continue with Apple or Continue with Google unlocks Share as You, keeping Found and Gratitude, and Mates. We store the sign-in identity Supabase needs. We do not use that account as a public social profile.

Name, status, and photos

Share as You is a nearby identity: a name, a status stored exactly as you write it, and up to three optional photos. The first photo can appear on Around. Extra photos stay on the person sheet. Photos are stored in Relay's cloud and scanned before they are kept. Status is mood now, not a bio.

Catch and Thanks

Catch keeps a recording you found. Thanks attaches to the recording, not to a person, and never requires login. Anonymous shares can receive gratitude in that session. Login is what lets Found and Gratitude stay with you on a new phone.

Mates

Mates are a mutual handshake, not a follow graph. Invite links use a token. Keep this mate consumes it. Drop severs the mate. Block severs it and stops future invites. After you create an account, Relay may add Adrian (Founder, Relay) as a mate. You can Drop that like any other mate. We do not invent Live or Recent for a mate.

Notifications

If you choose to hear when a mate starts Relaying, Relay stores a push token for this device. You can skip that. Tokens are not used for marketing.

Relay Radio

Relay Radio is a house-owned channel, not someone standing near you. It is not placed on a map and does not count as people around you.

Apple Music and Spotify

These are listening services, not your Relay account. Relay may peek Apple Music on this phone when Music is actually playing. Spotify currently-playing is not used to decide Live, because it can include other devices. Connecting a service is optional and only for playback destinations and, when you choose, recents.

Who else sees data

Supabase hosts the Relay backend (sessions, nearby matching, Catch, Thanks, Mates, optional photos). Apple provides Sign in with Apple, ShazamKit, Music, and push delivery. Google provides Sign in with Google if you choose it, and photo scanning when you add As You photos. Spotify and YouTube see what you ask them to play or search. Relay does not sell this data and does not run a separate analytics SDK.

Beta waitlist

If you join the beta from joinrelay.social, your email is sent to the founder so an invite can be sent. It is not sold or used for marketing lists.

Deletion and contact

Sign out returns this phone to an anonymous session. To delete a Relay account and the data attached to it, use the contact details on the RELAY Nearby App Store listing, or Sign in with Apple's account deletion request if you signed in with Apple. Found and Gratitude that stayed only on this phone leave when you delete the app. To remove a waitlist email, contact adrian.campbell29@gmail.com.