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Permissions in plain words

A web page is kept away from your network and your disk. An Orivon app can go further, but only as far as it declared and you allowed. Orivon's capability broker checks every connection, file and signature against that, on every call.

What you are asked​

An app's manifest lists each power it needs. Orivon turns that list into one question, written for a person rather than a developer:

Element's question: unlimited network access, camera, microphone and screen sharing, with Deny and Allow

Typical lines read:

  • Unlimited network access. This app can connect to any computer on the internet, not just specific ones.
  • Store files in a private folder for this app on this device.
  • Run code as www.youtube.com, in a private, empty session. It cannot see your account or anything you keep there.

The address the app comes from is the title and the largest text. The name an app gives itself, which any site could claim, appears below it as Claims to be "…". Lines that deserve a second look carry a warning mark.

An app that declares nothing opens with no question at all.

Three rules that do not bend​

  • Nothing is implicit. If a power is not in the manifest, it does not exist for that app.
  • Not even you can add to it. Whatever an app did not declare, it can never get, even if you wanted to give it.
  • A grant belongs to one origin. What you allow freetube.orivonstack.eth is not shared with any other address.

Changing your mind​

  • The Permissions button in the address bar lists what the current app holds, each power with its own switch.
  • Settings > Apps shows every app's permissions and files in one place.
  • Taking a permission back applies at once.
The Permissions panel for thelounge.orivonstack.eth, with a switch beside each permission

Ordinary site permissions​

Camera, microphone, location, clipboard and the other site permissions work as in any browser: a prompt the first time, a per-site panel, and a list in Settings > Sites. A pop-up is blocked unless you clicked for it.

What a permission is not​

A grant is permission, not a cage. Orivon decides what an app may reach; it does not yet isolate an app you allowed from misusing what you gave it. Allow apps you would trust as desktop software. Known limitations has the detail.