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iOS 26: Add Web App or Bookmark to iPhone Home Screen

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Apr 12, 2001
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iOS 26 gives you two distinct ways to add websites to your iPhone's Home screen – as web apps or traditional bookmarks. They might look similar at first glance, but choosing the right option can dramatically improve how you access your favorite sites.

Add-to-Home-Screen-dark-scaled.jpg

Understanding the Difference

When you add a website to your Home screen using the "Add to Home Screen" option, iOS 26 allows the website to be opened as a web app. The update introduces a new feature for adding any website to the Home Screen as a web app, even if it doesn't support progressive web app (PWA) functionality.

Web apps run almost like native apps, with features like offline access, push notifications, and a streamlined interface without Safari's address bar. In contrast, traditional bookmarks simply open the website in Safari when tapped. This choice matters more than you might think. Web apps can provide a faster, more app-like experience, whereas bookmarks work better for informational sites you visit only occasionally.

Add a Web App or Bookmark to Home Screen

In iOS 26, Safari offers an Open as Web App toggle for all websites, even those that don't support have built-in web app support. If you want a bookmark, just switch the toggle off.
  1. Open Safari and navigate to the website you want to add.
  2. Tap the three dots to the right of Safari's address bar, then tap Share in the pop-up menu.
    ios-add-to-home-screen1.jpg

    Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. If the site supports web apps, you'll see the Open as Web App toggle in the dialog – switch it off if you want a bookmark instead.
    Customize the app name if desired, then tap Add.
    ios-add-to-home-screen2.jpg
Web apps appear on your Home screen with a dedicated icon, and tapping it will launch the site in its own window without Safari's browser interface. Bookmarks display with a generic website icon or the site's favicon, and tapping them opens the page in Safari.

Remove Bookmark or Web App From Home Screen

delete-bookmark-ios.jpg

Both web apps and bookmarks can be deleted from the Home screen, much like any other app. To remove either kind, long-press the icon on your home screen, then tap Delete Bookmark (for some reason iOS doesn't differentiate the kind in this menu).

iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 are set for a general release in September 2025.

Article Link: iOS 26: Add Web App or Bookmark to iPhone Home Screen
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/save-safari-bookmark-web-app-iphone-home-screen/
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I may be wrong, so please correct me if so - but I always believe the web version to be superior in one way; My assumption is that Safari allows less overt tracking and data collection of the user than an App Store counterpart.

My only evidence is that whenever I'm on the web version of a service, it keeps nagging me to download the App Store version for the 'best experience'
 
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I wonder, if you choose the web option, will you be able to use Reader.

Right now, sometimes when you add a bookmark to your home screen, it will open as an app-like page, with no Safari address bar. This is something set up by the company that supplies the web page. Problem is, without the address bar, you cannot use Reader on that page. If you want to use Reader, you have to make a shortcut that opens that web page and put the shortcut on your home screen. When you open the page from your shortcut, it still includes the address bar and you can use reader.
 
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This is one of the best iOS 26 features, the only problems are that some web apps have horrible version of the icons and that safari on iOS don't support extensions for web apps.
 
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iZac said:
I may be wrong, so please correct me if so - but I always believe the web version to be superior in one way; My assumption is that Safari allows less overt tracking and data collection of the user than an App Store counterpart.

My only evidence is that whenever I'm on the web version of a service, it keeps nagging me to download the App Store version for the 'best experience'
Click to expand...
Exactly my thoughts. That’s why, for the past few years, more and more I opt for the web version of a service, especially if they offer a webapp.

If some day I install Discord, for instance, I will do so with the webapp instead of the App itself. I’m not sure how much data can the the App gather from my usage, but my guess is: more than just a sandboxed Safari tab.
 
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alayal said:
This is one of the best iOS 26 features, the only problems are that some web apps have horrible version of the icons and that safari on iOS don't support extensions for web apps.
Click to expand...
My Safari extensions actually work on my webapps. At least the ad-blocker, in iOS 18.
 
Maybe I just dreamt it but, I thought that on iOS 26 Apple was providing the option of making most websites a webapp, even if the owner didn’t enable the option.

By the way, I hope this time we can actually switch from light mode to dark mode the webapp icons, such as the MacRumors Forums one, that persist in light mode. What will happen when we switch to crystal mode? Will remain as a solid white icon?
 
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Apple, if for any reason, such as force majeure, there is no new iOS in 2026, what will the one released in 2027 be called?
 
This is good, but it would be much nicer to have a quicker/easier way to accomplish a bookmark->Home Screen.
 
I thought this was already available in iOS 18, I have some web bookmarks on the home screen with dedicated icons that seems to open separate of Safari
 
Hurrah. PWA is always a worse experience so having the option to not use it is great. I use a web browser BECAUSE i have a url bar, tabs , full browser features. I don’t know why i would give that up for a gimped pwa app.
 
Well, Apple gimped PWA's on purpose for a long time (and still does to an extent) because it's a threat to their golden App Store golden goose. I'm happy for every little progess we get PWA wise.
 
gdmedia said:
I wonder, if you choose the web option, will you be able to use Reader.

Right now, sometimes when you add a bookmark to your home screen, it will open as an app-like page, with no Safari address bar. This is something set up by the company that supplies the web page. Problem is, without the address bar, you cannot use Reader on that page. If you want to use Reader, you have to make a shortcut that opens that web page and put the shortcut on your home screen. When you open the page from your shortcut, it still includes the address bar and you can use reader.
Click to expand...
I do not believe that is correct.

Opening a PWA will display the page exactly as the developer intended.
On iOS26 you can select the Reader:
Tap the little icon to the left of the URL (looks kinda like hamburger with two buns on the bottom) > Show Reader
or force it but tapping the three little dots, scroll down a bit and toggle Use Reader Automatically

Test out at Starbucks PWA:
app.starbucks.com

Starbucks®

app.starbucks.com app.starbucks.com
 
iZac said:
I may be wrong, so please correct me if so - but I always believe the web version to be superior in one way; My assumption is that Safari allows less overt tracking and data collection of the user than an App Store counterpart.

My only evidence is that whenever I'm on the web version of a service, it keeps nagging me to download the App Store version for the 'best experience'
Click to expand...
Same premise, I might be wrong with the following, please do correct me if it is the case. I go further than that: I have always suspected that web apps do not offer the same protection as the Safari page equivalent, and avoid them, like I avoid most free apps, to be fair. Some are unavoidable, of course.
 
iZac said:
… Whenever I'm on the web version of a service, it keeps nagging me to download the App Store version for the 'best experience'
Click to expand...

That is certainly a trope, and it only seems to occur to me at times when it would be annoying and you already know you specifically want to be visiting the site on the Web. I'm sure the security question varies for implementation, but clearly there's some motivation to steer people to the app.

("This content looks better in the app?" So why don't you also make it look better on the eminently capable Web…?)
 
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Isn't this what Steve Jobs envisioned about the iPhone before the iPhone OS 2.0 era? No native apps, and encouraging developers to make web apps. Now we know that both web apps and native apps have their pros and cons. As a front-end web designer & developer, I am excited about this.
 
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So... the new feature is the ability to add a progressive web app to your home screen just as a bookmark?

Currently, you already can bookmark websites on your home screen and if the website supports being a PWA it will open on its own and not in the main safari app. It looks to me like the only difference here is that you can specifically say to not open as an app.

Why is it not mentioned that the majority of what is shown in this post is already available in versions prior to iOS 26?
 
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