Privacy Policy: TapeOut

Last updated: October 10, 2026

TapeOut is built by Billy Lush, an actor. Here is exactly what the app does and does not do with your information, in plain language.

The short version

Your sides, takes, and prep live on your phone. Scanned pages are read on your phone. Signing in is optional and only needed to get a casting email address. There is no advertising, no tracking, and no selling of your information. The only things that ever reach a small private server (the "relay") are the forwarded casting emails and attachments you choose to send to your casting address, an account id if you sign in, and a random per-install key id the app uses to prove it is the genuine TapeOut app. Each is spelled out below.

If we add optional features that use outside services in a future version, we will update this policy and ask before anything is sent.

What stays on your phone

• Video you record or trim in the app
• Sides (scripts) you import, whether typed, pasted, or scanned from a PDF. The PDF file is read on your phone, including text recognition on scanned pages, and it is never uploaded anywhere.
• Slate card details you type in (your name, height, role)
• Audition entries you create: due dates, instructions, notes, status, and any wardrobe photos you add
• Scene partner recordings (the other character's lines, in your own voice)
• Any preferences you set (destination presets, prompter settings, and similar)

All of this is stored locally in the app's own storage. After an in-app recording finishes, TapeOut also tries to add a backup copy to Photos when you have granted add-only Photos permission. The app shows whether that backup is pending, complete, failed, or needs you to check Photos after an interruption. Exported videos are saved to Photos only when you choose Save to Photos. Those copies live in your Photos library under Apple's own privacy and backup rules, not TapeOut's. Your recorded video never leaves your devices unless you export or share it yourself.

What reaches the relay

TapeOut uses a small private server called the relay for two things. Nothing else in the app sends your content anywhere.

• Sign in with Apple (casting address only): signing in is optional and is asked for in one place, the Auditions screen, because a casting address has to outlive reinstalling the app. TapeOut requests no name and no email from Apple. The relay checks Apple's signature, turns Apple's identifier into a scrambled account id, and never stores the identifier itself. Nothing else in the app asks you to sign in.
• Forwarding address (email intake): if you sign in, you can create a private forwarding address (a tape-...@tapeout.app address tied to your account). Any casting email you forward there, along with its attachments (up to three per email), is received by the relay and stored there until you import it into the app or delete it. If you do neither, the relay automatically deletes it after 14 days. It is deleted right away once you build the audition from it or discard it.
• App Attest key id: the app uses Apple's App Attest to prove to the relay that a request comes from the genuine TapeOut app. That gives the relay a random key id that belongs to this install of the app. The relay uses it only to protect the server from abuse, and it is not linked to your name, contacts, or anything you recorded. Apple destroys the key when you delete the app.

Companion Mode (second screen): when you connect a second device of your own as a monitor or teleprompter, the two devices talk directly to each other over your local network on an encrypted connection. The script and controls sync device to device. Nothing about Companion Mode goes to any server.

Deleting your account

If you signed in, you can delete your account from inside the app. Deleting it erases your account, your casting address, and any emails waiting on the server. Recordings and scripts stay on your phone, because they were never on the server. The relay stores no Apple sign-in tokens, so there is nothing further to remove.

What TapeOut never does

• No account or sign-in to use the app. Sign in with Apple is offered in exactly one place, and only if you want a casting address that survives reinstalling. Everything else works signed out.
• No advertising, ad tracking, or ad network SDKs
• No tracking of you across other apps or websites
• No collection of your name, email, location, or contacts. TapeOut requests no name and no email from Apple when you do sign in. Emails you forward to your casting address are stored on the relay as described above.
• No selling or sharing of your information
• No third-party analytics or usage tracking inside the app
• No sending your recorded video, sides, or prep notes to TapeOut or any other server. Automatic Photos backups stay inside Apple's Photos system.

Permissions the app asks for, and why

• Camera and microphone: only to record a take when you choose to. Recording only happens while you are actively using the Record screen.
• Photos: add-only access to back up an in-app recording after it finishes and to save an exported tape when you ask. The system Photos picker lets you choose an existing video without giving TapeOut access to browse your library.
• Files (for PDF import): only to read a sides PDF you choose to import. The file is read on-device to pull out dialogue.
• Local Network (Companion Mode): only to find and connect your own second device on the same Wi-Fi when you pair a second screen.

You can revoke any of these at any time in iOS Settings. The relevant feature simply will not work until you grant it again.

Amazon affiliate links

The Gear screen links out to Amazon product and search pages using Billy's Amazon Associates tag (billylush-20). If you buy something after tapping one of those links, Amazon may pay a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Tapping a link opens Amazon or Safari, which is governed by Amazon's own privacy policy from that point forward. TapeOut itself does not track which links you tap or share that with anyone.

Children's privacy

TapeOut is a tool for actors preparing self-tape auditions and is not directed at children. It does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age.

Changes to this policy

If what the app does ever changes in a way that affects your privacy, this page will be updated first and the change will be called out in that version's "What's New" notes. If we add optional features that use outside services in a future version, we will update this policy and ask before anything is sent.

Contact

Questions about this policy: billylush@gmail.com