Permissions Stealward asks for
Updated
Stealward asks for a small set of permissions, each tied to something specific. You can see all of them, and their current state, in Me › Permissions (on a Mac, Settings › Permissions).
Camera
Uses the device’s camera to watch the area around your things. Needed for the live view, recordings, and AI Watchdog. Without it you can still arm a sensors-only session.
Microphone
Adds sound to the live view and the recording. Entirely optional — AI Watchdog works from what it sees, not what it hears.
Notifications
How alerts reach you. This one matters on the device you keep with you: without it, that device can’t be picked as an alert device, and Stealward won’t arm.
When you set up alerts, Stealward also asks for critical alerts on iPhone and iPad. That’s what lets a security alert come through when the phone is on silent or Do Not Disturb. If you say no, alerts still arrive, they just follow your normal notification settings.
On a Mac, notifications show while the Stealward app is running.
Location
Only used to show your Wi-Fi network’s name. Nothing else — Stealward doesn’t collect your location, doesn’t track where you are, and doesn’t need it to protect anything.
If you skip it, the network tile reads Name unavailable and everything else works normally. See Why doesn’t it show my Wi-Fi network name?
Photo Library (iPhone and iPad)
Only asked for when you use Save to Photos on a downloaded recording, and only ever to add — Stealward can’t read your photo library.
Accessibility (Mac)
Stops the mute and volume keys from silencing the alarm during a session. Without it, someone can quiet the alarm with a keystroke.
Changing your mind
Every row in Me › Permissions takes you to the right place in system settings. Turning one off later doesn’t break the app; it just removes whatever that permission enabled, and Stealward tells you when something you’ve asked for needs it.