Never miss an important call or message again — even in the noisiest environments. VibrateBLE silently alerts you through your Bluetooth bracelet the moment someone who matters tries to reach you.
Privacy Policy — Effective date: | Last updated:
This Privacy Policy describes how Dror Zeitoun ("we", "us", "our"), the individual developer of VibrateBLE, handles information when you use the VibrateBLE Android application ("the App"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and processing your data lawfully under the Israeli Privacy Protection Law 5741-1981 and in a manner consistent with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
VibrateBLE connects to a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) bracelet and vibrates it when a configured phone number calls you, or when a Telegram bot sends a message containing a keyword you have defined. The App is designed for anyone who needs reliable silent alerts — people working in loud environments, busy professionals who keep their phone out of reach, or anyone who simply cannot afford to miss a critical call or message.
All call detection and keyword matching logic runs entirely on your device. No calls are recorded, no notification content is read by us, and no personal data, logs, or message content are ever transmitted to our servers — we do not operate a backend server at all.
The App includes two separate Telegram-related features, and it's important to understand the difference:
The App also includes a call-detection fallback we call Layer 2, described fully in Section 2 under "Notification access." In short: if another app on your phone (such as a caller-ID app) already holds the call-screening role, VibrateBLE uses the same on-device Notification Listener that powers Telegram+ to read the title and category of call-related notifications from your phone/dialer app, purely to extract the caller's number as a backup. This is separate from, and in addition to, Telegram+'s keyword matching — both features rely on the same Notification Listener permission, since Android does not offer a way to grant that permission for one purpose only.
The App requests the following Android permissions. Each permission is used solely for the purpose stated — nothing more.
| Permission | Why it is needed | Leaves your device? |
|---|---|---|
| Call detection (for alerts) | Detect incoming calls and identify the caller's number so the App can decide whether to vibrate the bracelet. The call log is read locally to display your recent call history inside the App. The App may also register as your device's call-screening app (Android's CallScreeningService) purely to capture the caller's number more reliably — it never blocks, screens, or rejects any call. | No |
| Location (BLE scan) | Required by Android to scan for nearby Bluetooth devices. The App does not use your GPS location for any purpose and does not record or store location data. | No |
| Nearby devices / Bluetooth | Connect to and send vibration commands to your paired BLE bracelet. | No |
| Contacts - optional | Lets you pick a phone number from your contacts list when adding an alert number, and lets the App display a saved contact's name for an incoming call it recognizes. Contacts are not stored by the App beyond what's needed for these two purposes. | No |
| Notification access - optional |
Android's Notification Listener API grants an app the ability to see
notifications posted by any app on your device — Android does
not allow a narrower grant. VibrateBLE uses this access for two related
purposes, both processed entirely on-device:
Telegram+: reads the title and body of notifications from the Telegram app to check them against your configured keyword rules. Layer 2 (call-detection backup): as a fallback for the "Call detection" permission above, VibrateBLE also inspects the title and category of notifications from your phone/dialer app (or any app the system tags as a call notification) to extract the caller's number, but only when another app already holds the call-screening role and only during an active incoming call. It looks for a phone-number pattern or a match against a contact name you've already saved in the App — it does not otherwise read, store, or make sense of other apps' notifications. In both cases, the App only acts on notifications from a small, defined set of apps (Telegram and known dialer/phone apps); notifications from everything else are ignored and discarded immediately. Nothing seen through this permission is transmitted off your device. |
No |
| Accessibility Shortcut - optional | Detects a volume button double-press to open the Telegram message log or the main UI. No screen content or user input is recorded. | No |
| Battery optimization | Keeps the background service alive so the App can detect calls even when the screen is off. | No |
| Post notifications | Displays the persistent foreground service notification required by Android for background services. | No |
| Foreground service | Keeps the App's alert-detection service running in the background, with a persistent notification as required by Android, so calls and messages are still detected while the App isn't open. | No |
| Auto-start after reboot | Restarts the background alert service automatically after your device reboots, so alerts keep working without manually reopening the App. | No |
| Display over other apps / full-screen alerts | Shows the alert screen and message logs on top of your lock screen, so you can see who called or view matched messages without unlocking your phone first. No content from other apps is read or displayed. | No |
| Internet - Telegram Msg feature only | Used exclusively by the optional Telegram Msg feature, and only at the moment you tap "Send Message." Sends your message directly to Telegram's Bot API using your own bot token. No other feature in the App uses this permission — Telegram+ alert detection, call detection, and BLE communication never access the network. | Yes — to Telegram's servers only, when you explicitly send a message |
In-app purchases use the Google Play Billing permission, covered separately in Section 4.
Core principle: VibrateBLE does not have a backend server. Your phone numbers, Telegram keywords, BLE device configurations, and message history are stored exclusively in your device's local storage (Android SharedPreferences). There are two, narrow, user-initiated exceptions where data leaves your device: (1) anonymous crash logs and basic telemetry sent to Google Firebase to help us ensure app stability (Section 3), and (2) messages you explicitly choose to send using the optional Telegram Msg feature, which go directly to Telegram's servers using your own bot token (Section 3a). Neither case involves any server operated by us.
The App uses Google Firebase (Analytics and Crashlytics) to collect anonymous usage data and crash reports. This helps us identify bugs and understand which features are most useful so we can improve the App.
Firebase may collect:
Firebase Analytics data is aggregated and anonymised. No phone numbers, contact names, Telegram message content, or BLE device identifiers are included in analytics events. Firebase is operated by Google LLC and is subject to Google's Privacy Policy. You can review Google's data processing terms at firebase.google.com/support/privacy.
Telegram Msg is a separate, optional feature from Telegram+. Where Telegram+ only reads notifications already on your device, Telegram Msg lets you connect a Telegram bot you create yourself (via Telegram's @BotFather) and send outbound messages through it.
When you use this feature, the following leaves your device and is sent directly to Telegram's own servers over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection:
This transmission goes straight from your device to Telegram — it does not pass through, or get stored on, any server we operate. We do not receive, log, or have access to your bot token, recipients, or message content. Telegram's handling of this data is governed by Telegram's own Privacy Policy, since you are communicating with Telegram's platform using your own bot credentials.
Your bot token and saved chat IDs are stored locally on your device (Android SharedPreferences), the same as other App settings. You can optionally choose whether your bot token is included in exported backup files — this is off by default.
The Pro upgrade is processed entirely through Google Play Billing. We do not collect, store, or process any payment card details. Purchase history and billing information are managed by Google LLC and subject to Google's own privacy policy. We receive only a confirmation that a purchase was completed — no financial data.
To be explicit, VibrateBLE and its developer do not:
One clarification: if you use the optional Telegram Msg feature, the message you send does leave your device — by design, since sending a message requires it — but it goes directly to Telegram's servers using your own bot token, never to any server operated by us. See Section 3a for full details.
All App settings — including alert phone numbers, BLE device configurations, Telegram keyword rules, and the Telegram message log — are stored locally on your device using Android's SharedPreferences system. This data is protected by Android's application sandboxing and is not accessible to other apps.
The App provides an optional Backup feature that exports your settings to a JSON file in your device's Downloads folder. This file is under your full control and is never uploaded automatically.
VibrateBLE is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information through the App, please contact us using the details below.
Because virtually all data processed by VibrateBLE stays on your device, you can delete it at any time by uninstalling the App or clearing the App's data in your Android Settings. For anonymised Firebase analytics data, you may request information or deletion by contacting us directly. For data sent via the optional Telegram Msg feature, we have no record of it to begin with — that data is held only by Telegram, per your own bot's settings, and any request to access or delete it should go to Telegram directly.
If you are located in the European Economic Area or the UK, you have rights under the GDPR including the right to access, rectify, erase, and port your personal data, as well as the right to object to processing. Israel is recognised by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of data protection.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, notify users through the App or the Play Store listing. Continued use of the App after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the App's data practices, please contact:
Dror Zeitoun — Independent Developer