One switch, continuous listening
Turn listening on once and it continues while the app is alive, including in the background and on the Lock Screen, until you switch it off.
A private journal of what happened around you.
QuietTrace is a private sound journal for the moments you want to remember without recording audio. When you choose to turn listening on, it identifies sounds on your device and saves a simple, timestamped journal of what happened—not an audio file. Audio is never retained or transmitted, and listening stays visible until you switch it off.
Coming Soon
Support
Listening you can always see and stop
Always visible, always stoppable
A Live Activity and the system microphone indicator keep listening visible the entire time. You can stop from Settings, the Live Activity, Control Center, or the journal itself.
It never starts itself
QuietTrace re-arms when you reopen the app, but it cannot start on its own after a force-quit or a device restart. Clear pause and stop controls stay within reach.
A journal, not a meter
Events, not audio
On-device sound classification saves an event label with its timestamp. No audio recordings are kept, and microphone audio is never retained or transmitted.
A readable history
See sound events with their time and day—made for understanding a soundscape at home, while travelling, around pets, during quiet hours, or on a walk.
Yours alone
There is no account and no cloud library. Optional iCloud sync uses your private CloudKit database and never includes microphone audio.
Pre-release availability
QuietTrace is in active development for iPhone and iPad. The current product plan keeps continuous listening, live sound classification, and the complete local journal free of charge, with Lifetime Access intended as one optional purchase that unlocks archive search and filtering plus CSV journal export—no recurring fee. No monetization offer is currently approved, the app is not yet available to download, and this page intentionally provides no App Store offer.
Maker note
Why the journal keeps the label and lets the sound go
I wanted to understand what a night at home or a walk actually sounded like without pointing a recorder at my own life. The moment an app keeps audio, it stops being a journal and becomes surveillance—so QuietTrace classifies sounds on the device, writes down what happened and when, and keeps nothing you could replay. That is also why listening is loud about itself: a Live Activity, the system microphone indicator, and stop controls that are never more than one gesture away.
Daniel · solo developer behind Crafter AppsQuietTrace questions
What exactly is QuietTrace?
A private sound journal. It identifies sounds on your device while listening is on and saves a simple, timestamped record of recognized events—a readable history of what happened, not an audio file.
Does it record audio?
No. QuietTrace uses on-device sound classification and stores only event labels and timestamps. No audio recordings are kept, and microphone audio is never retained or transmitted.
Could it listen without me knowing?
No. A Live Activity and the system microphone indicator keep listening visible, and clear pause and stop controls are always available. It re-arms only when you reopen the app and cannot start itself after a force-quit or device restart.
Is it a decibel meter or a safety tool?
No. QuietTrace is not a calibrated decibel meter, a safety tool, or an audio recorder. It is a journal for understanding a soundscape.
What is free, and what would Lifetime Access unlock?
Continuous listening, live sound classification, and the complete local journal are planned to be free. Lifetime Access is intended as one optional purchase that unlocks archive search and filtering plus CSV journal export, with no recurring fee—though no monetization offer is currently approved.
When can I download it?
Not yet. QuietTrace is an active pre-release project that ships when it meets the studio bar, so this page carries no App Store badge, offer, price, or promised launch date.