Permissions

#What WebWatcher needs

WebWatcher reads pages from your own Safari tabs, so macOS makes you approve the connection. It sends Apple Events to Safari, posts banners through Notification Center or Herald, and contacts Google only if you connect a Gmail account.

The Settings window shows three of the four permissions in one place: Notifications, Safari Automation and Automation for your default browser. The Safari setting is not shown there, because it lives inside Safari.

#Allow JavaScript from Apple Events in Safari

This is the setting that lets WebWatcher read the content of a page. Without it WebWatcher can open Safari but cannot see any element.

1. Open Safari, then choose Safari› then Settings.

2. Click the Advanced tab.

3. Check Show features for web developers.

   You seea Develop menu in the menu bar and a Developer tab in Settings.

4. Choose Develop› then Allow JavaScript from Apple Events, or open the Developer tab in Settings and check Allow JavaScript from Apple Events.

   You seea check mark next to the item.

Check it by adding or testing a watcher. If it is still off, the watcher's status reads "Enable JS from Apple Events" and its advice reads "Enable Safari → Settings → Developer → Allow JavaScript from Apple Events."

#Automation

Automation is the macOS permission that lets one app control another. WebWatcher asks for it for Safari and for your default browser. If Safari is your default browser, the two are the same permission.

macOS asks when WebWatcher first talks to the browser, with this text: "WebWatcher needs permission to control Safari or your default browser to monitor pages and reuse existing tabs."

Click OK when the prompt appears. The prompt closes and watchers start reading Safari.

If you clicked Don't Allow, or no prompt appears, switch it on by hand.

1. Open System Settings› then Privacy & Security› then Automation.

2. Find WebWatcher in the list.

3. Switch on Safari, and your default browser if it is a different app.

   You seethe switches are on. A watcher that was failing recovers at its next check.

WebWatcher can also open this pane for you. When Automation is missing it shows an alert named "Enable Browser Automation" with three buttons.

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After Reset Automation Permission, click Check All Now in the popover while Safari is open. macOS then shows the prompt again. The alert appears at most once every 30 seconds.

#Notifications

macOS asks for notification permission the first time WebWatcher starts. To change it later, or when you declined:

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1. Open System Settings› then Notifications.

2. Select WebWatcher in the list.

3. Switch on Allow Notifications.

4. Set the alert style to Banners or Alerts.

   You seebanners from WebWatcher appear in the corner of the screen. The style None shows nothing.

#Check the permissions in WebWatcher

The Settings window reports each permission with a coloured dot, so you can see what is missing without leaving WebWatcher.

1. Click the menu bar icon, then Settings....

2. Scroll to the Permissions group.

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   You seethe rows Notifications and Safari Automation. When your default browser is not Safari, a third row is named after it, such as Google Chrome Automation.

3. Read the status under each name.

The button on each row depends on the state. The Notifications button reads Fix when it is not granted and Open when it is. The Automation buttons read Check until granted and Open after that. Open System Automation Settings at the top opens the Automation pane, and Refresh reads them again after you change something in System Settings. Every control in the group is also described in Settings.

#If it does not work