Who we are
Wonderwhile is an iPhone app and website (wonderwhile.fm) run by Peak Perspective Media ("we," "us"). Contact us at hello@wonderwhile.fm.
The short version
- There's no account. The app makes a random Listener ID on your iPhone so your episodes stay yours.
- Your voice is turned into text on your iPhone. The audio is never saved or sent.
- The text of your request goes to our server and to the AI services that research, write and voice your episode.
- We don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and the app has no ad or analytics trackers.
What we collect
Your requests
When you ask for an episode, the app sends what you typed or said (as text), the length and style you picked, your voice choices, any answers or notes you give when you check the outline, and the titles of up to 10 recent episodes so a request like "continue that one" works. If your request names a place, that place is part of the text. The app does not use your iPhone's location services.
Voice input
If you speak your request, the app uses Apple's on-device speech recognition to turn it into text on your iPhone. The audio is not stored by the app and is not sent to us or to any AI service. Only the resulting text is sent, as above.
Listener ID
On first launch the app creates a random identifier and keeps it in your iPhone's Keychain. It's sent with every request so the server keeps your episodes separate from everyone else's. It isn't tied to your name, email or Apple Account, and it isn't the advertising identifier.
Episodes we make for you
For each episode, our server stores the research notes, the outline, the script, the audio, the sources, and cost and production details (for example which models and voices made it).
Ratings, reports and feedback
- Ratings: thumbs up or down, optional tags and an optional comment (up to 1,000 characters), stored with your Listener ID and how the episode was made.
- Reports: when you report a line, we store the kind of problem, your note and the point in the episode.
- Feedback form: your message, an optional email address if you give one, and app and device details (app version and build, iOS version, device model, locale). You can turn the device details off. The form sends through our feedback service, which files it as an issue in our private issue tracker on GitHub. It does not send your Listener ID.
Waitlist
If you join the waitlist on wonderwhile.fm, we store your email address, when you signed up and which page you used, and whether the signup passed the bot check. The waitlist is stored with Cloudflare.
The waitlist form uses Cloudflare Turnstile to block bots. Turnstile runs in your browser and sends Cloudflare signals such as your IP address and browser details to tell people from bots. See Cloudflare's Turnstile Privacy Addendum.
To limit repeated signups, we keep a one-way keyed hash of your IP address (not the address itself) with a count of attempts per hour. These records are deleted after about a day.
Purchases
Subscriptions and minute packs, when offered, are sold through Apple's App Store. Apple handles payment, and we never see your card details. Apple tells the app what you're entitled to so it can unlock minutes.
Technical data
Like any internet service, our hosting providers receive your IP address and basic request details (time, path, app version in headers) when the app or website talks to our servers, and may keep logs for a limited time for security and troubleshooting. If you've chosen to share analytics with app developers in your iPhone's settings, Apple may share crash reports and usage statistics with us. The app has no third-party analytics or crash-reporting software. The website's fonts are hosted on wonderwhile.fm itself, so loading the site makes no requests to third-party font services.
How we use it
- To make, store, deliver and play your episodes.
- To screen requests for harmful content and to check scripts against the research.
- To fix problems and improve episodes, using ratings, reports and feedback.
- To answer you when you contact us, and to email waitlist members when the app launches.
- To prevent abuse and to meet legal obligations.
We don't use your data for advertising, we don't sell it, and we don't share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Who we share it with
We share request text and episode content only with service providers that do the work for us:
| What they do | Who | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and storage for the app's server | Vercel | Everything the app sends; stored episodes, ratings and reports |
| Reading your request and writing the episode (AI language models) | Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI | Your request text, outline answers, research notes and scripts |
| Research and web search | The language models' built-in web search, or Exa when we turn it on | Search queries based on your request |
| Voices (speech synthesis) | ElevenLabs, OpenAI, xAI | The script text to be read aloud |
| Safety screening and fact checking | TypeSafe | Your request text, and script lines with the research facts |
| In-app feedback | Cloudflare, GitHub | Feedback messages, optional email, device details |
| Website, waitlist and email | Cloudflare, Google | Waitlist emails, Turnstile bot-check signals, and messages you send to our addresses |
| App distribution and purchases | Apple | Handled under Apple's own privacy policy |
We may also disclose data if the law requires it, to protect people's safety, or as part of a sale or reorganization of the business, in which case this policy would still apply to it.
How long we keep it
- Episodes stay on our server until you delete them in the app. Deleting an episode removes its audio, script and research from our server. We keep request data only as long as needed to provide the service.
- Ratings and reports are kept separately from the episode and aren't removed when you delete it. Email us with your Listener ID to have them deleted.
- Feedback is kept only as long as needed to look into it and improve the service.
- Waitlist emails are deleted within 90 days after we send the launch email, or sooner if you ask us to remove yours.
- Hashed IP records used for rate limiting are deleted after about a day.
- Episodes you download stay on your iPhone until you delete them or the app.
Your choices and rights
You can delete any episode in the app. To get a copy of your data, or to have all of it deleted, email hello@wonderwhile.fm with your Listener ID, which is in the app's Settings. Because we have no account, the Listener ID is how we find your data. We won't discriminate against you for using these rights.
California residents (CCPA/CPRA)
You have the right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose; to delete it; to correct it; and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We don't sell or share personal information as those terms are defined, and we don't use or disclose sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. In the last 12 months we collected these categories: identifiers (Listener ID, IP address, optional email), customer content you give us (requests, ratings, reports, feedback), and device and internet activity information (device model, iOS version, request logs). The sources, purposes and recipients are described above. You can use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof.
EEA, UK and Switzerland (GDPR)
Peak Perspective Media is the controller. We process your data to provide the service you ask for (contract), for our legitimate interests in keeping the service safe and improving it, and with your consent for the waitlist. You can access, correct, delete, restrict or port your data, object to processing, and withdraw consent at any time. You can also complain to your local data protection authority. Our servers and providers are mostly in the United States, so your data is transferred there under safeguards such as the providers' Standard Contractual Clauses.
Children
Wonderwhile is not directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you think a child under 13 has used the app, email us and we'll delete what we have.
Security
Data is sent over HTTPS, the server requires an app token, and each listener can only reach their own episodes. Stored files are private and audio links expire after 12 hours. No system is perfectly secure.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email if we have it.
Contact
hello@wonderwhile.fm · Peak Perspective Media