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Permissions explained

The five Chrome permissions InnoShot requests, what each one is used for, what it never asks for, and why every capture starts with your own action.

Updated

InnoShot is built to need as little access as possible. It asks Chrome for five permissions, none of which lets it read pages in the background, and it never sends anything over the network. This page explains each permission in plain terms.

What InnoShot requests

Permission What InnoShot uses it for
activeTab Capturing the tab you are on, and only after you start a capture with a click on the InnoShot icon, a keyboard shortcut or the right-click menu
scripting Adding a small capture helper to that tab when you start a capture. It measures and scrolls the page and draws the area and element pickers, then removes its on-page interface when it is done. It is not a script that runs on every page you visit
storage Saving your settings, such as theme, default capture mode and export defaults
unlimitedStorage Keeping large captures, such as long full-page screenshots, in local browser storage without running into the usual storage quota
contextMenus Adding InnoShot's capture options to the menu that opens when you right-click a page

What InnoShot does not request

  • Host permissions. Without them, Chrome does not show the "Read and change all your data on all websites" warning, and InnoShot has no access to a page until you start a capture on it.
  • tabs. InnoShot does not need to see the addresses or titles of all your open tabs.
  • debugger. This permission can render a whole page in one step, but Chrome shows a warning at install and a bar across the browser every time it is used. InnoShot captures full pages by scrolling and stitching instead.
  • downloads. Exported files are saved from the editor tab through Chrome's normal download handling, so no special download access is needed.

Why every capture starts with your action

The activeTab permission gives InnoShot access to a tab only when you act on it: clicking the InnoShot icon, pressing an InnoShot shortcut or choosing InnoShot from the right-click menu. That access lasts while you stay on the same site, and ends when you leave the site or close the tab.

This has two practical effects:

  1. You cannot open the editor first and capture a page from there later. A capture always starts on the page itself.
  2. Delayed capture works, because the access you grant when you start the countdown is still valid when the countdown ends, as long as you stay on that site.

No network requests

InnoShot makes no network requests. There is no account, nothing is uploaded and the extension does not contact the InnoShot website. All of its code and fonts ship inside the extension, so it keeps working offline after installation.

Captures, projects and history are stored locally in your browser, in IndexedDB. InnoShot shows how much space they use and lets you clear your history when you no longer need it.

Still stuck? See troubleshooting or contact us.