Last updated: October 3, 2026 · SetHours is made by THE STATIC VOID.
The short version: your studio activity stays on your machine. What you worked on, for how long, your project names, your music — none of it is sent to us or anyone else, with one exception you control: a Collab Preflight link you choose to create (below). Here is everything the app and this website do handle:
Install counter. On launch and every few hours the app sends an anonymous heartbeat: a random install ID (a UUID generated on your machine), the app version, and basic usage statistics. Cloudflare also tells us the approximate location of the connection — your country, and city/region — but never your IP address, which we don’t store. If you set an artist name in the app (optional, blank by default), that travels with the heartbeat too so we can tell who's who in support conversations — clear the field and it's removed. That's the full payload. It exists so we know how many installs are alive and on which versions.
Update checks. The app checks our update feed for new versions — a normal HTTPS request carrying no personal data beyond what any web request includes (such as an IP address, which we don't store).
Feedback (only when you send it). The in-app feedback form sends the message you write, its category, your app version, and your email address — used solely to reply to you. Feedback is stored in our infrastructure and relayed to a private channel the developer reads.
License activation (only when you activate). Activation sends your install ID plus your download key or purchase email, which we verify with itch.io (the store that processes all purchases). We store the association — license, buyer email, activated devices — to enforce the two-device limit and to support you. Purchases themselves are handled entirely by itch.io; we never see payment details.
Collab Preflight links (only when you create one). Clicking Get Link uploads that one set's plug-in list: the plug-in names and formats, how many tracks use each, the Live version the set needs, your artist name if you set one, and the name you gave your collaborator. The set's own name is not uploaded. It is encrypted on your machine first, and the key exists only inside the link itself, so what we store is data we cannot read. Your collaborator's answers are encrypted in their browser the same way. Next to it we keep your install ID and the link's dates, to limit abuse. We also keep a simple count of how many links have been made and how many people answered them so we can see how much the feature is used; the count says nothing about any link and stays after a link is gone. Track names and audio are never uploaded. A link stops working after 14 days or the moment you revoke it; its data is deleted when you revoke it, or within a day of expiring. The page your collaborator opens carries no tracking pixel and no analytics. The one exception is the demo link (sethours.com/s/demo): it uses a made-up list, sends nothing, and we count how many times it is opened, started and finished. Totals only, no cookie.
All tracking data — sets, sessions, hours, goals, bests, set-file metadata — lives in a plain JSON file on your computer (%APPDATA%\SetHours). The app reads your Ableton .als files read-only, on your machine, and sends nothing about them anywhere — except the plug-in list of a set you choose to share through a Collab Preflight link (above).
Trial download. To start the free trial we ask for your email address. We store it with the date and how you found us (the campaign tag or referring site of the link you followed), so we can see which posts and ads are working. We also note whether you signed up on Windows, a Mac or a phone, so we can tell if one of them is having trouble installing. We use it to send you your download link, a reminder before your trial ends, and the occasional update about SetHours. Every email has an unsubscribe link. The emails are delivered by Brevo, an email service that handles your address only to send them. So we can tell which signup became which install without asking you to sign in, we keep a scrambled, one-way code made from your network address for up to a day, then delete it. The address itself is never stored. We don't sell it or add you to anyone else's list.
Visit counts. We count how many times this page is viewed and how many times the download box is opened, per day, split by how the visitor arrived (a campaign tag or the referring site) and by phone or computer. These are totals only: no cookie is set and nothing about any one visitor is kept.
We use the Meta Pixel to measure our ads (in the EU, UK, and Switzerland it stays off unless you allow it). That's the only third-party tracking; we never sell data. (One session cookie exists solely for the developer's own admin login.) The site and app services run on Cloudflare, which processes requests as our infrastructure provider. Cloudflare also gives us visit statistics for this site (page views, the site a visitor came from, country and device type). It sets no cookie and does not identify anyone.
Install heartbeat records and license associations are kept while the product operates; daily activity rollups expire after 90 days; feedback is kept until handled. You can ask us to delete anything tied to your install ID or email — send a message through the in-app feedback form or via our itch.io page, and include your install ID (shown in the app's license window).
We never sell data. There's nothing to sell. SetHours isn't directed at children under 13. If this policy changes, the update appears on this page with a new date.
Ableton and Live are trademarks of Ableton AG. SetHours is an independent product, not affiliated with or endorsed by Ableton AG.