How xCut handles your information — in plain language.
INTERNET permission for a planned future feature. This version does not use it to send anything. See section 3.xCut (the "app", "we", or "us") is an Android camera, video and photo studio published by Dowble. It lets you shoot, trim, arrange, colour-grade, retouch, caption, build collages and framed layouts, and export finished files to your device. This Privacy Policy explains what the app does and does not do with information on your device.
xCut processes the following locally on your device. None of it is sent to us.
When you start a project, xCut reads the media you pick so it can be trimmed, edited and rendered. The app opens only the files you select. It does not scan or index your gallery in the background, and it does not upload the media anywhere.
If you use the in-app camera, the camera feed is used to show the live preview, apply the look you have picked, and record the photo or video you capture. The microphone is used to record sound with a video, and to record a voiceover in the editor. Capture happens only while you are on those screens and have started it. xCut does not record in the background.
Your projects, drafts, trash, saved templates (watermark, intro and end card) and settings — theme, accent, export preferences — are stored in the app's private storage on your device. They are not synced to any server.
Some tools look at the frame to do their job: face detection for retouching and face effects, subject and person segmentation for cut-outs and background removal, and speech recognition for automatic captions. All of it runs on the phone. Section 9 explains which components are involved and the one case where Android may download a model to your device.
xCut does not access your contacts, call logs, SMS, location, calendar, or accounts, and it contains no advertising or analytics SDK.
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
READ_MEDIA_VIDEOREAD_MEDIA_IMAGESREAD_MEDIA_AUDIO |
To open the videos, photos and audio you pick for a project on Android 13 and newer. The app reads only what you select. |
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE(Android 12L and older) |
The same thing on older Android versions, which have no per-type media permissions. Declared with
maxSdkVersion="32", so newer devices never request it. |
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE(Android 9 and older) |
To save finished exports to your public gallery folders on older Android versions. Declared with
maxSdkVersion="28"; Android 10 and newer use scoped storage and need no permission for this. |
CAMERA(optional) |
To shoot photos and video inside the app. The camera hardware is declared
required="false", so xCut installs and the editor works fully on devices without a camera — only
the shooting screen is unavailable. |
RECORD_AUDIO |
Two uses. To record sound with a video and to record a voiceover. Also to run automatic captions: Android's speech recogniser requires the Microphone permission before it will transcribe anything, including a file already on your device. xCut does not record you while captioning — it feeds the recogniser the audio from the clip you are editing. |
POST_NOTIFICATIONS |
To show export progress so you can leave the app while a render finishes. |
FOREGROUND_SERVICEFOREGROUND_SERVICE_MEDIA_PROCESSINGFOREGROUND_SERVICE_DATA_SYNC |
A render keeps going when the app is minimised, which on Android requires a foreground service. Android 15
added the mediaProcessing type for exactly this job; older releases only have the generic
dataSync, so both are declared and the app picks the right one at runtime. |
POST_PROMOTED_NOTIFICATIONS |
Lets the export progress notification appear as a status-bar chip and on the lock screen on Android 16, so you can follow a render without unlocking. It is a normal permission with no prompt, and purely cosmetic — where it is not granted, the same progress notification simply shows normally. |
INTERNET(declared, not used by this version) |
Declared in the manifest and reserved for a planned cloud-processing feature that is not part of this release. Editing, effects, retouching, captions and export in this version run entirely on your device and send nothing over the network. We disclose the permission because it is in the app rather than because it carries your data today. If that changes, this policy and the app will say so before the feature ships. |
Tapping "Rate" or "Share" opens the Play Store or your device's share sheet. That is you leaving the app to use another one — it does not send your projects anywhere.
Everything the app accesses is used solely to provide the features you can see: opening media you choose, showing a preview, applying the edits you make, rendering the file you export, and remembering your projects and settings. We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, training, or any purpose unrelated to the features in the app.
We do not share, sell, rent, or disclose your information, because we never receive it. xCut has no backend: there is no account system, no project sync, and no server that stores your media or your activity. Your footage does not leave your device unless you deliberately export and share it yourself. No serversNo accountNo adsNo analyticsNo trackers
Projects and settings stay on your device until you remove them. You can:
Files you have already exported are yours and are not removed. Renders saved to Movies/xCut, stills saved to Pictures/xCut, and subtitle or sidecar files saved to Download/xCut live in your gallery and downloads, and survive uninstalling the app. Delete them from your gallery or file manager if you want them gone.
Processing happens on your device, and the app's own data is kept in Android's private per-app storage, which other apps cannot read. Because nothing is uploaded, there is no server-side database of your media that could be breached. You stay in control through Android's permission system, and can revoke camera, microphone or media access at any time.
xCut is a general-purpose creative tool and is not directed to children under 13. It does not knowingly collect personal information from children. Because the app has no account, no ads and no server-side collection, it holds no personal data about users of any age.
xCut integrates no advertising networks, no analytics SDKs, no crash-reporting services and no social login. The only third-party components are Google's on-device machine-learning libraries and Android's own system services:
Google Play services is part of the device platform on most Android phones and is governed by Google's own privacy policy.
Depending on where you live, you may have rights under privacy laws such as the GDPR or CCPA — to access, correct, export or delete personal data a company holds about you. Because xCut collects nothing and we hold no personal data about you on our side, there is nothing for us to retrieve, correct, export or erase on your behalf. Full control rests with you, on your device, through the steps in section 6.
We may update this Privacy Policy if the app's features change — in particular, if the cloud-processing feature noted in section 3 ships, this page will be updated to describe exactly what is sent and when, before it becomes available. When we update, we revise the "Effective" date above and publish the new version at this address. Continued use of the app after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
Questions or concerns about this policy or the app? Reach us at: