Data & Privacy

Orbit Lite is a local playback tool. Your audio files stay on your machine — Orbit Lite doesn't upload your ADM or IAMF files, and it runs entirely offline apart from licensing, updates, and the optional usage data described below.

Orbit Lite is developed by South Loop Studios and is independent — not affiliated with or endorsed by Dolby Laboratories.

On-device playback

• ADM BWF and IAMF files are read and played entirely on your device.
• No media or metadata is sent off-device. Waveform caches are written locally for faster reloads.
• Your audio and its metadata are never uploaded.

Licensing & updates

• Licensing contacts the Orbit licensing server with your licence and a basic device identifier, never your audio.
• Signing in sends your account details (for example your email address, or your Apple or Google sign-in) to the Orbit Spatial account service, which manages your licence and the Macs using it.
• Licences work offline for a limited time and refresh automatically when you reconnect.
• Update checks fetch version info when you check for updates. No audio or telemetry is uploaded.

Usage data (Downlink)

New in Orbit Lite 1.2

Like Orbit, Orbit Lite can share optional, anonymous usage data to help us see which features matter most and where to focus next.

On iPhone and iPad, Orbit Lite asks the first time you open it (Keep sharing or Opt out), and the toggle is in Settings ▸ Privacy. See Orbit Lite on iPhone & iPad.

You control it under Preferences ▸ Privacy with the Share anonymous usage data toggle — turn it off (or on) any time.

• What's shared — anonymous counts and durations only: app launches, file types opened, monitoring mode, layout changes, and use of Compare and the waveform views. Never any audio, file names, or personal data.
• Anonymous — events carry no identity; the server never links them to your licence.
• In-house — usage data goes to Downlink, South Loop Studios' own analytics platform built for the Orbit family. No third-party analytics are involved, and we never sell or share your data.

Head tracking (AirPods and Beats)

• In Binaural and Apple Spatial Audio modes, Orbit Lite reads motion data from compatible AirPods or Beats headphones for head tracking.
• That motion data is used only to update the binaural render — no motion samples are stored or transmitted.

Audio devices

• Audio output device information is read locally to populate device pickers and configure routing. Nothing about your devices leaves your machine.