How Aloud uses Google Drive

Last updated: 2026-10-13

Many people keep their audiobook collection in Google Drive: one folder per book, each holding the book's audio files, often grouped under author or language folders. Aloud lets you play that collection without downloading it to your phone first. This page explains exactly what Aloud asks for, why, and what it never does. The Privacy Policy is the binding statement of our data practices; this page is the plain-language walkthrough.

What you are asked to grant

Permission shown by Google What Aloud does with it

"See and download all your Google Drive files" (the read-only Drive permission, drive.readonly) Lists the folders you pick inside Aloud (and any folder you open yourself on the Browse screen), finds the audiobooks in them, streams their audio for playback, downloads it when you ask for an offline copy or read-along, reads the title, album, author and ISBN/ASIN tags of each book's first file, and reads read-along transcript files you placed there. Nothing else. Aloud never uses this permission to scan folders you did not pick or open.

Your basic account info (name, email address, profile picture) Shows which account is connected on the Sources screen so you can tell accounts apart and disconnect the right one.

Permission shown by Google	What Aloud does with it
"See and download all your Google Drive files" (the read-only Drive permission, `drive.readonly`)	Lists the folders you pick inside Aloud (and any folder you open yourself on the Browse screen), finds the audiobooks in them, streams their audio for playback, downloads it when you ask for an offline copy or read-along, reads the title, album, author and ISBN/ASIN tags of each book's first file, and reads read-along transcript files you placed there. Nothing else. Aloud never uses this permission to scan folders you did not pick or open.
Your basic account info (name, email address, profile picture)	Shows which account is connected on the Sources screen so you can tell accounts apart and disconnect the right one.

Why read-only access to Drive, and not a file picker

Google offers a narrower permission that only covers individual files a user picks in a Google file picker. Aloud's library model does not fit it: an audiobook is a folder of many files, a collection is hundreds or thousands of such folders nested under author or language folders, and new books are added over time. Google states that picking a folder with the narrower permission does not give an app access to the items inside it, and in our testing the audio files inside each book folder stayed invisible and books added later were not covered. Picking every book folder (and every new one) by hand is not a usable audiobook player. Read-only Drive access is the smallest permission that lets Aloud list a folder tree you chose and play the audio inside it. Aloud never asks for write access.

What Aloud reads, step by step

You choose folders. After connecting, Aloud shows a folder browser with your My Drive and the folders shared with you. You select the folder(s) that hold your audiobooks (for example Audiobooks). Aloud remembers the folders you selected and a listing of the books in them.
Aloud lists those folders. It asks Drive for the names, types and sizes of the items inside your selected folders and their subfolders, and for the checksum Drive keeps for each audio file, and groups audio files into books. Aloud compares the checksums on your device to recognize the same recording in two places.
Aloud plays the audio. When you press play, audio streams directly from Google's servers to your device. Aloud also reads small parts of the files: to measure each file's length, and, to look up covers and ratings, the title, album, author and ISBN/ASIN tags in a book's first file (a few requests of at most 4 MB each, never the whole file). Nothing passes through any server of ours; there are none.
Read-along and offline copies. If a read-along transcript file that you created sits next to an audio file (<audio name>.readalong.json), Aloud reads it to show synchronized text. If you prepare read-along without one, Aloud copies the audio temporarily to your device so the speech recognition on your device can transcribe it. If you make a book available offline, Aloud stores a copy on your device only.

Data flow in one line: Google Drive → your device (Aloud) → your ears. No Aloud servers, no copies anywhere but your device and your own device backup, no advertising, no analytics.

What Aloud never does with your Drive

Never creates, edits, moves, shares, or deletes anything in your Drive (it does not have write permission, and it never asks for it).
Never uploads your files or your listening data to us or to anyone else. If Android's own device backup is on, Android copies Aloud's database (not your audio) into your Google Account's backup; see the Privacy Policy.
Never lets a person at Aloud see your files. There is no channel through which they could.
Never sells your data, uses it for advertising, or uses it to train AI models.

The one thing that leaves your device

To show covers, ratings and reviews, Aloud looks up each book's title and author (taken from your file names or embedded tags), or its ISBN or Audible ASIN when one is known, in public book catalogs: Apple iTunes Search, Open Library, Google Books, Hardcover, Audnexus, The New York Times Books API and LibraryThing, plus the Audible catalog if you turn on the extended search. Those requests carry only that book information, like typing a book title into a search box. They include no audio, no file paths, no Drive identifiers, no account identity and no device identifiers. The full list, with when each lookup happens, is in the Privacy Policy. You can turn these lookups off at any time in Settings → Enrichment → Online covers & ratings.

Disconnecting and revoking

In Aloud: Sources → your Google account → Disconnect. Aloud asks Google to revoke its access, removes the account's credentials from your device, forgets the folders you selected and removes the account's books from your library, except books you have started or saved, which stay listed but cannot play until you reconnect. On Android, Google's sign-in library can revoke only an account Aloud has used since the app was last started; if you disconnect right after opening Aloud, also remove access from Google as described next.
From Google: open your Google Account's linked apps page, choose Aloud and select Remove access. This works even if you no longer have the app.
Everything else Aloud kept (library index, positions, listening history, bookmarks, covers, read-along text, offline copies) is on your device. Settings has Clear listening history and Clear read-along data; clearing the app's storage or uninstalling removes all of it from the device (on Windows, also delete aloud.sqlite and voice_notes from your Documents folder).

Google API Services User Data Policy

Aloud's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Questions

Write to dev-team@aloud-app.com.