Wi-Fi Off?
Turn off Wi-Fi. Etude keeps working.
Etude runs AI models on your Mac’s own chip, so once a model is downloaded you can switch Wi-Fi off and carry on. Below is every time Etude does go online, and what it sends where.
What works with Wi-Fi off
Everything that answers you. The model, the conversation and your files are all on your Mac, so none of this needs a connection:
- Chat with any model you’ve downloaded.
- Documents. PDFs and other files you attach are turned into text on your Mac.
- Etude Agent reads and edits the files in its workspace, runs commands and builds web pages.
- Your Apple apps. Connectors for Mail, Calendar, Notes and the rest work with what’s already on your Mac.
- Other agents. OpenCode, pi and others can use Etude’s model through its local connection, which only programs on your Mac can reach.
- Your history. Conversations are saved on your Mac, and nowhere else.
What Etude never does
- No account. There is nothing to sign up for or sign in to.
- No analytics. The app has no usage tracking and no third-party tracking code. Opening Etude for the first time sends nothing.
- No cloud models. Every model runs on your Mac. There is no setting that sends a conversation to a model somewhere else.
- Your conversations and files are never sent to us. They go to other services only when you use a feature that needs one, listed below.
Every time Etude goes online
Each of these happens only when you choose it, or after you’ve said yes once. None of them is on when you first open Etude. Like any connection, each one shows the other end your Mac’s internet address.
| What | When | What is sent, and where |
|---|---|---|
| Downloading a model | You choose When you pick a model. A download you started and didn’t finish resumes when you reopen Etude. |
A request for the model’s files, to Hugging Face, where the models are published. Each file is checked against a fixed fingerprint before it’s used. |
| Checking for updates | You opt in Etude asks the first time you open it, and checks only if you say yes; you can change your mind in Settings. Or when you choose Check for Updates… |
The Etude version and a random install ID, to our update server. The ID isn’t tied to your Mac, your name or your email; we use it to deliver updates and to count how many copies of Etude are in use. Nothing about your Mac is sent with it. |
| Sending a report or feedback | You choose Only when you press Send. |
What you wrote, plus details about Etude, your Mac (such as its macOS version and chip) and any error, to us. You can read exactly what will be sent before you send it. Chat text isn’t included unless you type it in yourself. We delete reports within 90 days. |
| Web search (Etude Agent) | You allow it Etude Agent asks before searching, unless you’ve switched search to always on. |
The search words, to an outside search service. The app names the service when it asks. |
| Reading a web page (Etude Agent) | You allow it Etude Agent asks first, unless you’ve let it act without asking. |
A request for that page, from your Mac to its website, as when you open it in a browser. |
| Commands (Etude Agent) | You allow it Etude Agent shows you each command before it runs, unless you’ve let it act without asking. |
Most commands stay on your Mac. One that fetches something, such as a download, goes wherever it says, like any program on your Mac. |
| Connectors to online services | You add them Only the ones you add, such as GitHub, Linear or Notion. None is on to begin with. |
What the agent looks up or does there, to that service. Looking things up doesn’t ask; at the standard access level, anything that changes something asks first. |
| Images in replies | You allow it Off to begin with: each image waits for a click. |
A request for the image, to the website it’s on. Loading one tells that website your Mac’s internet address. |
| Installing another agent | You choose When you install one from Settings › External Agents. |
A download from where that agent is published. Once installed, each agent follows its own rules about going online. |
A few links in the app, such as the Privacy Policy and the Models page, open in your browser when you click them. That’s your browser visiting a website, not Etude sending anything.
Our promise
Etude will never require an account, never show ads, and never run your conversations on cloud models. If we ever offer a cloud product, it will be a separate app, and Etude will stay as it is.
Why is Etude free? It’s how we show what Pie, our open-source engine, can do. Why Etude has the whole story. The legal details are in our Privacy Policy.
And this website?
It counts visits with Plausible, which uses no cookies and keeps no personal data. The line at the bottom of every page counts the cookies the page has set, as measured by your browser.
Free · Requires macOS 26 or later, an M2 or newer, and 16 GB of memory or more