Apps from a link
In Orivon an app is an ordinary web page at an address. What makes it an app is a manifest: a short file listing what it needs beyond what a web page may do, such as connecting to other computers or keeping files.
There is no store, no review queue and no account. You open the address, and that is the app.
How an address becomes an app
- The page says it has a manifest. A hint in its own HTML points to it. Orivon never probes a site for one, since that would tell every site you visit that you run Orivon.
- Orivon fetches and checks the files. The manifest and every file it lists are downloaded, checked, cached and pinned by hash.
- You are asked once. One question covers everything the manifest declares. See Permissions in plain words.
- Accepting installs it. There is no separate install step and no "open as app" button: the app is the address.
It runs from your disk
After you accept, later visits run from the cached, pinned files, even with the network unplugged. The site-info panel of an installed app reads Running from local cache, pinned.
Updates wait for you
An installed app keeps the exact version you accepted. When its name starts pointing at new content, Orivon asks before moving to it. Nothing changes behind your back.
What can run
| Kind | Example | What Orivon provides |
|---|---|---|
| Web apps that need more than a page may do | Orivon Explore | Sockets, UDP, private files, embedded sites |
| Node.js apps | The Lounge | Its own server (Express, Socket.IO, SQLite) runs inside the tab |
| Electron desktop apps | FreeTube, Element | The desktop app's powers, granted to the page directly, without a fork |
Native code runs only as WebAssembly. An app that needs a program installed on your system, or a native binary, is refused by name. Nothing an app ships runs as machine code on your computer.
The apps you can open today are listed in the Quick start.
Local files
A local HTML, SVG or PDF file opens in a tab. A local file that links a manifest asks once each time you open it.
Managing apps
Settings > Apps lists each app with its permissions, the files it keeps and the space they use. A permission lasts until you take it back, and taking one back applies at once.
Building one? Start at Building for Orivon.