Privacy Mode
AetherCut's default state already keeps your video on your device. Privacy Mode goes one step further: it cuts ALL optional outbound traffic — analytics, AI tools, everything — until you turn it off.
What it disables
- Analytics page-views (no
POST /api/analytics/page-viewwhile toggled on). - Auto-captions / Whisper transcription.
- AI Director suggestions.
- AI B-roll generation (Sora 2, Nano Banana).
- AI color match.
- Any other feature that calls our backend.
The editor itself — cuts, trims, transitions, color grading, text overlays, manual subtitles, export — continues to work normally. They never needed the network anyway.
How to toggle
Top-right of the header, next to your avatar. Click the shield icon. State persists in localStorage under the key aethercut_privacy_mode. Survives reloads.
What it does NOT disable
- The initial page load (you need the editor bundle to use the editor).
- Google Fonts (loaded once at first paint, cached locally afterward).
- Sign-in flow if you choose to sign in (Google OAuth requires a network round-trip).
- Stripe.js on the pricing page, if you choose to upgrade.
Privacy Mode is for your editing session, not your account management.
Verify
Open DevTools → Network. Toggle Privacy Mode ON. Reload. Edit a clip, apply a transition, export. The only requests you should see are the static asset loads at first paint and any media blob URLs the editor creates internally. Zero calls to our /api/* endpoints.