Setting up Browsing Protection
Setup has two parts. First the extension is switched on in Safari, and then it is given permission to check the sites that are visited. Both parts are needed for protection to work. Kiren opens a page with these instructions when setup is started from the Browsing Protection card on the Activity screen. The interactive guide below shows each step, and it can also be opened on its own.
Enable the extension
- In Safari, tap the page menu icon in the address bar.
- Tap Manage Extensions.
- Switch on Kiren Browsing Protection.
- Tap Done.
Allow protection permissions
At this point the extension is enabled but does not yet have permission to check sites. The following steps complete setup.
- Tap the page menu icon in the address bar again.
- Tap Kiren Browsing Protection.
- Tap Always Allow.
- Select Always Allow on Every Website.
Once these steps are complete, Browsing Protection is active in Safari.
Protection that works in the background
After setup, Browsing Protection runs automatically while browsing in Safari, quietly checking each site with nothing to remember to switch on.
A small dark status button sits at the edge of the web page, at the bottom right to begin with. Its mark shows the result for the site currently open: a check mark for a safe site, a warning mark for a suspicious one, and a faint question mark for a site that has not been rated. On a safe page the button fades after a few seconds. Tapping or moving it brings it back. The button can be dragged anywhere along the screen edges and stays where it was left on the next page. It cannot be closed.
Tapping the button expands it into a banner with a short label, such as "Safe website", "Safe banking website", "Safe shopping website", "Suspicious website", or "Not analysed yet". Tapping the label or the info icon (an "i" inside a circle) opens the extension's detail view, which names the site, explains the result, and shows the trust rating of a shopping site as a number of stars from 1 to 5. Manage protection at the bottom opens Kiren.
When a site is harmful, the page itself is replaced with a full-page warning headed "This website is not safe", showing the blocked address. The warning explains that Kiren listed the site as harmful and recommends not entering it. There is no button to continue to the site. Use Safari's back control to leave.
Reviewing what has been blocked
When the extension is enabled, information about unsafe sites encountered on the device is shown within Kiren. For privacy reasons, this list is kept only on the device. The detection results stay visible to the user and are not stored anywhere else.
Opening the Browsing Protection card shows:
- A graph of inspected sites, viewable by day, week, and month.
- A list of unsafe browsing from the last 30 days, kept on the device.
A gear icon in the top right corner of the card opens the setup instructions in Safari, which is a quick way to return to the extension settings if anything needs to be changed.
Browsing Protection and Kiren Plus
Browsing Protection needs Kiren Plus. Without it, the Browsing screen shows only the recent results of the Link Checker, which stays free. After upgrading, the setup instructions above open.
The extension itself also follows the subscription. On the free level, or after Plus has ended, the extension stays installed but rates nothing: every page shows "Not analysed yet", the detail view reads "Website not analyzed", and no site is blocked. This is expected and not a fault with the extension. Protection resumes as soon as Plus is active and Kiren has been opened once.