Your audio is never uploaded
Every number DropWave reports (key, Camelot, tempo, tuning, loudness, true peak) is worked out from the file on your disk, by your Mac. The audio, its name, its folder and its readings are never sent anywhere.
There is no account, no sign-in, no analytics and no tracking.
What DropWave does online
One thing: it checks for updates. When it starts and about twice a day, it asks our update server whether there is a newer version. The request carries the app's version and update channel, plus your personal Dev Beta code if you entered one. Nothing about your files is in it. New versions download in the background and install only when you click Restart.
What happens to a file
- It is read from disk.
- The readings are worked out from it, on your Mac.
- They are shown to you.
That's the whole lifecycle. DropWave never rewrites your audio: no tags, no sidecar files, no metadata.
The one thing that can change is a file name, and only when you ask. Tag Filenames writes the key and tempo into the names of the files you choose; DropWave shows you every rename first, never overwrites anything, and ⌘Z undoes it.
Why it's built this way
Producers work on material that isn't theirs to upload: client stems, unreleased records, things under NDA. The usual way of finding out what key a file is in involves sending it to someone else's server. With DropWave that decision never comes up.