Privacy Policy
Overview
Now Playing Companion is a phone and Wear OS watch app that shows songs recognized by Pixel's Now Playing feature on your watch. It has no backend server, and the only data it handles moves between your own phone and your own watch. This policy explains, in plain terms, what that means in practice.
Information we collect
None. Now Playing Companion does not collect, transmit to any server, or share any personal data, device identifiers, or usage information. It has no user accounts, no sign-in, and no backend server to send data to.
Notification access
On your phone, Now Playing Companion asks for notification access so it can read the notification that Now Playing shows when it recognizes a song. It reads only the song title and artist from Now Playing's notification and ignores every other notification. Now Playing Companion records no audio and has no microphone access — song recognition is done by your phone's own Now Playing feature.
Data shared between your phone and watch
The song title and artist are sent from your phone to your paired watch over Google Play services' Wearable Data Layer, using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. When you tap "Open on phone", the watch asks your phone to open that song in YouTube Music, Spotify, or Google Search. Recently recognized songs are kept as a history on your phone and watch, and you can remove them at any time. Uninstalling the app removes this history.
Permissions
Now Playing Companion requests only the permissions it needs: notification access on the phone to read Now Playing's notification, and permission on the watch to show notifications and vibrate when a new song arrives. None of these is used to send data off your devices.
Third-party services
Now Playing Companion does not include any third-party analytics, advertising, or crash-reporting SDKs. It uses Google Play services' Wearable Data Layer only to pass songs between your phone and watch. If you choose to open a song in YouTube Music, Spotify, or Google Search, that app or site handles the request under its own privacy policy.
Children's privacy
Now Playing Companion is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age — it does not collect information from anyone at all.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the update will be posted on this page with a revised effective date above. Continued use of Now Playing Companion after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
Contact
Now Playing Companion is built and maintained by Eric Placiano Pereira. If you have questions about this policy, get in touch: