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Yapcut Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 October 2026

Yapcut is an iPhone app for filming, choosing and editing talking-head videos. It's made by Aaron Motayne. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use it.

The short version

What stays on your iPhone

Your recordings, imported videos, scripts, edits and exports are stored on your device. Transcription runs on your iPhone. Only the AI features described below send text off your device.

Recordings and diagnostics

The App Store version of Yapcut doesn’t send your recordings’ audio, transcripts, word timings, corrections or crash reports to Yapcut. Test versions (TestFlight builds for invited testers) may send this information to our server on Google Firebase to improve transcription and sorting and fix bugs.

Retention and deletion

Information uploaded from earlier or test versions is scheduled for automatic deletion after 90 days. Automatic deletion runs asynchronously, so removal may occur after the 90-day threshold. In Settings, choose “Delete my data on Yapcut’s servers” to delete recordings and transcripts uploaded from test versions and the daily usage counts for your current install ID. Wait for the app to confirm completion. To delete your usage statistics or Help chat messages, email us with your install ID. Deleting the app does not delete data already stored on our servers. For questions or deletion requests, email heyo@foresightcomputers.com. Tap “Your install ID” in Settings to copy it and include it in your message so we can locate your records.

Write with AI

When you use Write with AI, what you type (what your video is about, your choices, and any changes you ask for, with the current script) is sent to Yapcut's server, which passes it to an AI model to write the script and returns it. When you ask for a caption, the transcript of that recording is sent the same way. The model is Qwen, run by Alibaba Cloud in Singapore; if it's unavailable, the request goes to a backup model through fal.ai, which passes it on through OpenRouter. Yapcut's server doesn't keep your text; it only counts how many scripts and captions each install asks for per day, using your install ID, to prevent abuse. It doesn't send your install ID to the AI providers. Alibaba Cloud, fal.ai and OpenRouter process the text under their own API terms, which may let them keep it for a limited time. Don't include anything private you don't want sent.

Sort takes with AI (optional)

If you allow “Sort takes with AI”, Yapcut sends the words and timings from your recording, and your script when there is one, to its server for take grouping and transcript correction. The server uses Qwen through Alibaba Cloud or fal.ai (through OpenRouter), or OpenAI models, which process requests under their own API terms and may keep them for a limited time. In the App Store version, Yapcut’s server doesn’t keep these requests or their results. You can turn this off in Settings; Yapcut then sorts your takes on your iPhone.

Feedback

The Help button (on the subscription screen) opens a chat with the Yapcut team. What you write there, and any picture you attach from your photo library, is stored on Yapcut's server on Google Firebase with your install ID, and emailed to the Yapcut team with that ID so we can answer. If you put your name or email address in a message, we can tie your install ID to you. If you email us, we keep your messages and anything you attach so we can reply. We keep these until you ask us to delete them, which you can do at any time.

Identifiers and usage counts

Yapcut creates a random identifier for each installation. It is sent with AI requests so the server can count requests per day for fair-use limits, used as the app user identifier for subscriptions, sent with usage statistics, and stored with Help chat messages. It doesn’t contain your name, email or Apple Account. Because the same ID is used across these services, and can be tied to you if you tell us who you are in Help, we treat the information sent with it as linked to you.

Like most web services, Google Cloud, which runs Yapcut's server, records each request in a log: the time, the address it came from (your IP address), the app version and iOS version, and how the request went. We use these logs only to find and fix problems, and they are deleted after 30 days. Our own request log stores a shortened one-way hash of your install ID, not the ID itself.

Usage statistics

To learn which parts of Yapcut work and where people get stuck, the app sends usage events to Yapcut's own server (Google Firebase, which processes them for us). An event says that something happened, such as opening the app, finishing onboarding, a recording being sorted into takes, a take being chosen or a video being exported, with counts and choices (for example how many lines a video has, which plan is active, or your onboarding answers), the type and code of an error when something fails, the app's version and, on some technical events, the device model, its memory size and iOS version. Events never include your videos, audio, scripts, transcripts, project names, error messages or any other text. Each install is identified by its random install ID. The app sends the ID itself, and our server stores it only in a scrambled form (a one-way hash with a secret key that we hold), together with the app version and region setting it was first used with, the day it was first used, the days it was used again within the first two months, and when it first reached steps like finishing onboarding, starting a trial or exporting a video. It doesn't include your name or Apple Account, and we don't store IP addresses or device identifiers with these records (apart from the server's request logs described above, which are deleted after 30 days). Because it uses the same install ID as the rest of Yapcut, we treat it as linked to you. It is deleted 400 days after the install was last used. This isn't used for advertising or tracking and isn't shared with anyone. You can turn it off at any time in Settings → Share anonymous usage data.

Subscriptions

Purchases are handled by Apple. We don't receive your payment details. Yapcut checks with the App Store whether your subscription is active. We use RevenueCat to record and manage subscription purchases. RevenueCat receives your install ID as the app user identifier, purchase history and subscription status, the device's vendor identifier (an ID Apple gives each app maker on a device, which other companies' apps can't see), and technical information such as app version, iOS version and storefront. Once per install, it also receives Apple's ad attribution token, which RevenueCat uses to ask Apple whether the install came from an Apple Search Ads campaign. If usage statistics are on, RevenueCat also receives which version of an in-app experiment you see and where you came from (the App Store page link you opened, or your answer to where you heard about Yapcut). This information is used for app functionality and subscription analytics, not to track you across other companies' apps or websites. See RevenueCat's privacy policy.

Permissions

Camera and microphone are used to record your takes. Speech recognition turns what you say into text on your iPhone. Photos access is used only to save videos you export. If you attach a picture in the Help chat, Apple's photo picker shares only the picture you choose. Notifications are used only for the reminder before a free trial ends, if you ask for it.

Children

Yapcut isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them.

Your choices

Settings has separate controls for “Sort takes with AI” and “Share usage data”. Use “Delete my data on Yapcut’s servers” to request deletion for the current install, or email heyo@foresightcomputers.com with your install ID. Uninstalling only removes data stored on your iPhone.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update this page and the date above.

Contact

heyo@foresightcomputers.com