How does anonymous usage analytics work in Crates?

George Winjer — Wed, 13 May 2026 10:53:22 +0000

Anonymous Usage Analytics in Crates

When you enable anonymous usage analytics, Crates sends a small set of product usage events that help us understand what people use, where onboarding works, and which areas need improvement.

This data is used for product decisions and does not include your music library contents, file paths, account credentials, or audio files.

What this helps with

Understanding the initial needs of users
Identifying which features are used most
Spotting friction points in the app
Prioritizing improvements by app version and platform

What Crates collects when analytics is enabled

Category	Examples	Why we collect it
Onboarding choices (Get Started Guide)	Selected profile type, features and whether onboarding was completed or skipped	Helps us understand why people install Crates and which onboarding paths should be streamlined first.
App activity	App launches, feature interactions, counts of selected features	Shows which parts of the product are used most and where people drop off.
App version	Crates version number	Lets us compare behavior across releases and verify that improvements are working.
Device and operating system details	Operating system name, platform, release, build, architecture, kernel, and locale code page	Helps us spot environment-specific issues and prioritize fixes by platform.
Anonymous analytics identifier	A generated client identifier used for analytics only	Helps us count activity more accurately without requiring personal profile or account data.

What Crates does not send

Your library contents, including tune names, artists, playlists, crates, ratings, and tags
File paths, folders, or storage locations on your computer
Account passwords, OAuth tokens, API secrets, or payment details
Audio files, waveforms, cover art, or other imported media

How to change this setting

You can update this preference at any time in Crates by opening Settings > General > Privacy and toggling Share anonymous usage analytics.

Understanding Domain Connections and Data Privacy at Crates

George Winjer — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 14:31:19 +0000

At Crates, we value transparency and prioritize user privacy. We understand concerns about data usage and external requests made by applications. This article provides detailed explanations about the domains that Crates connects to, the specific purposes for these connections, the data involved, and how you can disable these integrations if you wish.

Additionally, if you notice domains that seem unusual or unfamiliar, they are typically related to Bandcamp releases hosted directly on artists’ custom websites. To verify, please visit the domain directly. If you encounter anything suspicious or have further questions, feel free to reach out to us directly.

Domain	Purpose	Data Sent	How to Disable / What Happens If Blocked
crates.app	Crates official services domain	User authentication and authorization data	Do not block connections to this domain or authorization may fail and the app may be unusable.
bandcamp.com bcbits.com	Bandcamp content integration	Track streaming requests, metadata queries	Do not play Bandcamp streams. Disable Settings->General->Metadata “Get Info..” checkboxes.
apple.com mzstatic.com music.apple.com	Metadata retrieval, Apple Music integration	Metadata queries, Apple Music service	Disable Settings->General->Metadata “Get Info..” checkboxes. Disconnect from Apple Music service.
googleapis.com	Google API, Google Analytics (if user consents)	API requests (no personal data)	Asked about Anaytics on first time setup. User can opt out google analytics by unchecking Settings->Advanced->Enable Analytics. Other Google API usage may include Google Drive integration or YouTube authorization/playback. If blocked, some assets in the UI may not available.
app-measurement.com	Google Analytics (if user consents)	API requests (no personal data)	Asked on first time setup. User can opt out google analytics by unchecking Settings->Advanced->Enable Analytics.
gravatar.com	Global User avatars	Avatar requests	User can upload a custom avatar image if they do not want to use a generic gravatar or that is used on other online services. If blocked no global avatar will be displayed.
gstatic.com	Google static content CDN (fonts, images)	Static asset requests	Do not add YouTube and/or Google Drive hosted content.
gvt1.com	Google video streaming CDN (YouTube)	Video/audio streaming requests	Disable YouTube and/or Google Drive content integration.
musicbrainz.org	Music metadata retrieval	Metadata queries	Disable Settings->General->Metadata “Get Info..” checkboxes.
sndcdn.com	SoundCloud streaming CDN	Audio streaming data	Do not import and play SoundCloud streams.
soundcloud.com	SoundCloud integration	Track streaming requests	Do not import and play SoundCloud streams.
spotify.com	Spotify integration	Spotify API requests	Disconnect from Spotify service.
last.fm	last.fm integration	last.fm scrobbling	Disconnect from last.fm service.
ytimg.com	YouTube thumbnails/images	Image thumbnail requests	Do not import and play YouTube music or videos. Do not connect your YouTube account. Disable Settings->General->Metadata “Get Info..” checkboxes
arbitrum.io	Blockchain service used by Gems feature	Blockchain transactions (wallet public address, gem info posted)	Only if Gems are enabled, as Gems are using blockchain for smart contracts implementation and storage.
coingecko.com	Cryptocurrency price retrieval, used for blockchain features	Price queries	Only if Gems are enabled, as Gems are using blockchain for smart contracts implementation and storage.

You may also see requests to DNS servers, like Google, OpenDNS, Cloudflare, dns.sb or ones by your internet service provider (ISP); this is normal and these servers are either defined by the user, the operating system or the ISP.

Crates comes preloaded with some sample tunes from Bandcamp, YouTube and Soundcloud, so you may see some requests made even if you have not explicitely added such content yourself; you can permanently remove such tunes.

When querying for tune, artist or label metadata, Crates does not send any personally identifiable information, but in the cases you are signed-in to certain services like YouTube or Apple Music, your requests may be associated with you.