Privacy Policy

This policy covers The Cutaway, an iOS app published by Jim Thompson. It describes what the app collects, what stays on your device, which third parties receive data, and the controls available to you.

Summary

• The Cutaway has no accounts. There is nothing to log into. If notifications are on, we store a push token, your follows, the podcasts you turned off and your playlist settings, which is what we need to send that notification. If you send us diagnostics, we keep that log for two weeks. Otherwise we hold no record tied to your device.
• The shows you follow, your listening history, and your settings are stored on your device.
• The app collects usage analytics, not tied to you, to help improve the app, which you can turn off in Settings.
• We do not sell personal information, serve advertising, or track you across other apps or websites.
• We do not collect your name, phone number, location, contacts, or advertising identifiers.
• The Cutaway is a paid app. Your purchase is handled by Apple; we never see your payment details.

Data stored on your device

The following is held in the app's own storage on your device. Followed shows are the exception: they are also sent to us when the app requests your playlist, and to our push backend if you enable notifications, as described below. So are the podcasts you turned off and your playlist settings, to our push backend only, if you enable notifications.

• The shows you follow.
• Settings: which podcasts are enabled, their order, playback speed, and theme.
• Clips you have played and when, retained for approximately two weeks and then removed.
• Pinned clips and your playback position within a clip.
• Your answer to how you heard about The Cutaway, if setup asked and you answered.
• Cached playlists and podcast artwork. Podcast audio is not stored on our servers; it streams from the publisher's own hosting server. To keep playback smooth, the app downloads a window of upcoming clips and keeps that audio in local storage, up to 1GB, clearing the oldest clips automatically as space is needed; it is never uploaded anywhere.

• A diagnostics log of what the app did over the last day: playback, downloads, network requests (the address each went to, never its contents), and errors. It stays on your device unless you send it, as described below.

Erase everything and start over, at the bottom of Settings, deletes all of the above, including the analytics identifier described below.

Analytics

The app sends usage events to PostHog, an analytics provider: things like the app was opened, setup was completed, a playlist was played or finished, a clip was shared, and whether a clip started at the right point. When you play, finish, skip, share, or report a clip, the event includes the podcast it came from and the show it was played for. Events are tagged with a random identifier created on your device, not your Apple ID or the advertising identifier. Nothing in them identifies you, and we have no way to connect them to you. As with any internet service, PostHog receives the IP address your device connects from.

During setup, the app may ask how you heard about The Cutaway, and the answer is sent with usage events. Events also record when a clip's full episode is opened, when a podcast is turned off or on, how far into a clip a skip happened, and how many new clips were ready when the app opened.

Analytics can be turned off under Analytics in Settings. Erasing all app data creates a new random identifier.

Notifications

If you enable notifications, we store the push token issued by Apple for your device, the shows you follow, the podcasts you turned off, your playlist settings (The best or Everything, and any show order you set), and the delivery time you selected, so that the notification only mentions clips your app will play, and arrives at the hour you picked. No analytics identifier is stored alongside it. Disabling notifications, erasing all app data, or deleting the app ends this.

Clip reports

When you report a clip, we record the clip, the podcast it came from, and the reason you selected. No identifier for you or your device is stored with the report, so reports cannot be attributed to an individual. The alternative email option opens a draft in your own mail app; if you send it, we receive your email address as the sender.

Requests

If you ask us to add a TV show, a podcast or a person, we store what you typed, which of the three it is, and whether you asked from a search or from Settings. No identifier for you or your device is stored with the request, so requests cannot be attributed to an individual. Please do not put personal details in the box.

Diagnostics

If something goes wrong, you can tap Support in Settings and choose Send diagnostics. The app then uploads the diagnostics log described above, along with the app's version and the random analytics identifier, and shows you a short code to pass on to us. Nothing is sent unless you tap it. We use the log only to work out what went wrong, and we delete it after 14 days.

Podcast audio

The Cutaway does not rehost podcast audio. When you play a clip, your device streams that audio directly from the publisher's own servers, as any podcast app does. The publisher therefore receives a request from your device, governed by that publisher's privacy policy rather than this one. To keep playback smooth, the app may keep a window of upcoming clips on the device, up to 1GB, oldest cleared first. That audio stays on the phone and is never uploaded or rehosted by us.

Our servers

The website and the app's backend are hosted on Netlify. The Cutaway shares its backend with The Cutdown, our sports app, published by the same person under the same practices. A request for your playlist identifies the shows being requested, and Netlify records incoming requests, including the IP address your device connects from, as part of operating the service. We do not build user profiles from those records.

Third parties

• Netlify. Hosting for the website and the app's backend.
• PostHog. Usage analytics, as described above.
• Expo. Delivers app updates and receives basic installation and version information when the app checks for one.
• Apple. Handles your purchase, delivers push notifications, and serves podcast artwork lookups.

The third parties listed here provide the same or equal protection of user data as stated in this policy and required by Apple's App Store Review Guidelines.

The app contains no advertising SDK, no social login, and no attribution or install tracking.

Children's privacy

The Cutaway isn't made for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect anything from them.

Your choices

• Disable analytics in Settings.
• Disable notifications in Settings or in iOS Settings.
• Erase all app data from the bottom of Settings.
• Contact us with any other request concerning your data.

Because the app has no accounts, we cannot look up an individual user. If you want something removed that the controls above do not cover, email us and describe the request.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, we will update the effective date above and describe what changed.

Updated 23 September 2026: added the on-device diagnostics log and the Send diagnostics option under Support.

Updated 4 October 2026: if notifications are on, we also store the podcasts you turned off, so the notification only mentions clips your app will show.

Updated 7 October 2026: if notifications are on, we also store your playlist settings (The best or Everything, and any show order you set), so the notification counts the same clips your app lists.

Updated 19 October 2026: events about a clip now include the show it was played for, as well as the podcast. Setup may ask how you heard about The Cutaway, and the answer is sent with usage events. Events also record full episodes opened, podcasts turned off or on, how far into a clip a skip happened, and how many new clips were ready at each open. Analytics are described as not tied to you, rather than anonymous.

The Cutaway · Published by Jim Thompson