{"slug": "shelter", "name": "Shelter", "category": "security", "category_name": "Security and passwords", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 3.555, "rising": 0.02, "first": "2025-11-11", "latest": "2026-10-11", "why": "things like Shelter, which uses work profiles and which I use to quarantine certain less-trusted apps?", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "things like Shelter, which uses work profiles and which I use to quarantine certain less-trusted apps?", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/achalmgucker/shelter", "official_url": "https://github.com/achalmgucker/shelter", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Shelter"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 800674000, "item_id": 50042125, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50042125", "by": "jurf", "date": "2026-10-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a private space or work profile with Shelter can work in a a pinch", "excerpt": "While not great, a private space or work profile with Shelter can work in a a pinch. I use it e.g. WhatsApp, where I just need three people, but which is almost unusable if you don\u2019t give it the permission. It\u2019s a bit more annoying but also isolates stuff like photos etc. by default, so you don\u2019t have to think about it.", "context": "", "use_case": "isolating apps like WhatsApp", "switched_from": "", "story": "LineageOS 24"}, {"id": 777053136, "item_id": 48565821, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48565821", "by": "qurren", "date": "2026-06-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "things like Shelter, which uses work profiles and which I use to quarantine certain less-trusted apps?", "excerpt": "> MDM managed work profiles Do you mean actual employer-spyware MDM work profiles? I suppose I never expected those to work. Or do you mean things like Shelter, which uses work profiles and which I use to quarantine certain less-trusted apps?", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "quarantining untrusted apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon"}, {"id": 753345697, "item_id": 47084106, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47084106", "by": "Crestwave", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I quite like Shelter [1].", "excerpt": "I quite like Shelter [1]. Shelter apps are installed in a separate work profile, which essentially sandboxes it from the rest of your data. It also has a neat feature to automatically disable (freeze) specific apps and seamlessly re-enable them when you launch them through Shelter. [1] https://github.com/achalmgucker/Shelter", "context": "", "use_case": "Sandboxing Android apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "MuMu Player (NetEase) silently runs 17 reconnaissance commands every 30 minutes"}, {"id": 734309121, "item_id": 45894320, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45894320", "by": "art-w", "date": "2025-11-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Shelter, a shell with reproducible operations and git-like branches of the filesystem", "excerpt": "Two interesting projects in that space: - https://arcan-fe.com/ which introduces a new protocol for TUI applications, which leads to better interactions across the different layers (hard to describe! but the website has nice videos and explanations of what is made possible) - Shelter, a shell with reproducible operations and git-like branches of the filesystem https://patrick.sirref.org/shelter/index.xml", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The terminal of the future"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "qurren", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48565821", "date": "2026-06-16"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["isolating apps like whatsapp", "quarantining untrusted apps", "sandboxing android apps"], "compared": [], "makers": [{"id": 751256592, "item_id": 46953537, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46953537", "by": "emurlin", "date": "2026-02-09", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a protocol and platform for building rich decentralised rich (web) applications with end-to-end-encryption", "excerpt": "Most of my time goes to Group Income (https://groupincome.org) / Shelter (https://shelterprotocol.net), a protocol and platform for building rich decentralised rich (web) applications with end-to-end-encryption. The idea is building the tech for an experience rivaling or surpassing that of siloed apps but with a focus on user and data autonomy. The rest of my time goes into a few personal projects, most with no publi", "context": "", "use_case": "E2EE decentralised app platform", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2026)"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50040276", "title": "LineageOS 24", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48561654", "title": "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47082496", "title": "MuMu Player (NetEase) silently runs 17 reconnaissance commands every 30 minutes", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46937696", "title": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (February 2026)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45892191", "title": "The terminal of the future", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 800674000, "item_id": 50042125, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50042125", "by": "jurf", "date": "2026-10-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a private space or work profile with Shelter can work in a a pinch", "excerpt": "While not great, a private space or work profile with Shelter can work in a a pinch. I use it e.g. WhatsApp, where I just need three people, but which is almost unusable if you don\u2019t give it the permission. It\u2019s a bit more annoying but also isolates stuff like photos etc. by default, so you don\u2019t have to think about it.", "context": "", "use_case": "isolating apps like WhatsApp", "switched_from": "", "story": "LineageOS 24"}, {"id": 777053136, "item_id": 48565821, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48565821", "by": "qurren", "date": "2026-06-16", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "things like Shelter, which uses work profiles and which I use to quarantine certain less-trusted apps?", "excerpt": "> MDM managed work profiles Do you mean actual employer-spyware MDM work profiles? I suppose I never expected those to work. Or do you mean things like Shelter, which uses work profiles and which I use to quarantine certain less-trusted apps?", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "quarantining untrusted apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon"}, {"id": 753345697, "item_id": 47084106, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47084106", "by": "Crestwave", "date": "2026-02-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I quite like Shelter [1].", "excerpt": "I quite like Shelter [1]. Shelter apps are installed in a separate work profile, which essentially sandboxes it from the rest of your data. It also has a neat feature to automatically disable (freeze) specific apps and seamlessly re-enable them when you launch them through Shelter. [1] https://github.com/achalmgucker/Shelter", "context": "", "use_case": "Sandboxing Android apps", "switched_from": "", "story": "MuMu Player (NetEase) silently runs 17 reconnaissance commands every 30 minutes"}, {"id": 734309121, "item_id": 45894320, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45894320", "by": "art-w", "date": "2025-11-11", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Shelter, a shell with reproducible operations and git-like branches of the filesystem", "excerpt": "Two interesting projects in that space: - https://arcan-fe.com/ which introduces a new protocol for TUI applications, which leads to better interactions across the different layers (hard to describe! but the website has nice videos and explanations of what is made possible) - Shelter, a shell with reproducible operations and git-like branches of the filesystem https://patrick.sirref.org/shelter/index.xml", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "The terminal of the future"}]}