Tell HN: Installing Cursor on iOS irreversibly changes your privacy settings
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
Installing Cursor's iOS app silently switches users from Privacy Mode (Legacy) to a weaker setting.
A user reports that installing and logging into the Cursor iOS app changed their account from Privacy Mode (Legacy) to the current Privacy Mode, which allows storing code for "Background Agents or Other Features." The old option then disappeared from all menus, making reversal impossible. Cursor support confirmed the change happens during mobile app setup, apologized, but said they cannot revert the setting. The user expresses anger that logging into a mobile app alters privacy settings without clear consent and that the option is then hidden.
What commenters are saying
Commenters overwhelmingly condemned the behavior as a dark pattern and bait-and-switch. Several said they fell into the same trap. One noted similar privacy-hostile onboarding on the Claude iOS app. A top-level comment called the support quote likely AI-generated and pointed to a Reddit thread about Cursor's prior LLM support debacle. A Cursor employee (leerob) apologized, explained that the mobile app requires the new privacy mode for cloud agents, and said an update is coming to clarify this and help revert users. Two camps emerged: those blaming malice and those blaming rushed, careless design in a competitive market.