Argus's own app engine for Android
Argus Kiln runs apps inside Argus, like a contained fire in a kiln, so the Argus agent can use them on your behalf.
In development · not yet in a public releaseWhy we built it
For the Argus agent to work with an app, the app has to run somewhere Argus controls. Instead of renting servers to run apps remotely, we chose to run them on your phone, inside Argus.
We first audited an existing open-source engine. We rejected it on provenance grounds: we couldn't be confident where all of its code came from or how it was licensed. So we decided to build our own.
How it was made
A clean-room build
Argus Kiln was written from scratch by Blazeinchue, using only:
- Android's public documentation and the Android Open Source Project (AOSP)
- Permissively licensed libraries (Apache-2.0, MIT and BSD)
It uses no code from third-party virtualization projects, and no GPL, LGPL or unlicensed code.
How it works
At a high level, when an app is added to Argus Kiln:
Read and validate
Kiln reads the app's package and checks that it's well formed.
Check integrity
It verifies the package hasn't been altered.
Give it its own storage
Each app gets isolated storage of its own.
Launch through Argus
The app starts in a Blaze-managed slot, with its own launch tokens.
Where it stands
Core
In progress. Done: reading and checking app packages, private storage for each app, and an automated test suite. Working on: verifying each app against its publisher's signature, then a first test build that runs one simple open-source app from F-Droid inside Argus. The phone test build will be posted here when it is ready and tested. No date yet.
Multi-screen apps
Follows in the coming weeks.
Broader compatibility
Follows after Milestone 2.
Each milestone ships as its own update, and only after testing on real devices.
Honest limits
Not supported
- Apps that need Google sign-in or push services
- Banking apps
- DRM-protected video
- Apps with anti-tamper protection
Trusted open-source apps only, for now
Full isolation between apps is still being built. Until it is, Kiln only allows trusted open-source apps.