For iOS users looking for an app, there is a quick and easy solution

I apologize if this has already been covered, but I’ve seen a lot of people talking about a need for a kbin app. While I agree that a native app would be nice to have eventually, I figured that quite a few people probably aren’t aware of how web apps work. I don’t use Android, so I have no idea if there is an equivalent way to do this on Android phones.

If you are looking at kbin in Safari, simply click the share button (looks like a square with an arrow pointing up) and scroll down to the option “Add to Home Screen.” Click this, set the name to whatever you want, and voila.

You should have a kbin “app” on your Home Screen that opens in its own, closable window separate from Safari.

You can also do this with Lemmy if you miss the functions that Mlem is lacking. I’m using web apps for both, kbin and Lemmy, myself.

The major downside of a web app is that it isn’t as fast as a native app could be. However, a major upside of web apps is that they don’t have nearly as many permissions and hidden functionality as native apps. So, for example, you could replace the native Facebook app with the web app if you’re concerned about data on your phone.

Spy,

This is how it works on android as well!

michael,
michael avatar

That’s great to hear!

Geometric7792,

It isn't behaving like a pwa for me :( is there a special url? I'm just using https://kbin.social. Creating a link just opens it as a tab in chrome.

Spy,

No special url, however I am using firefox, not Chrome. So I was able to open the site (kbin.social), tap the three dots on the bottom right corner, and then "Add to Home Screen"

mihnt,
mihnt avatar

I had to click the "Install" thingy for it to work for me. It's the same thing.

abff08f4813c,
abff08f4813c avatar

I am having the same issue. It seems that add to Home Screen is meant to add a bookmark that opens in the browser, and the button will be replaced by Install if a PWA is detected.

For kbin.social it’s never detected. I can’t hit the install button because it never shows up. Add to Home Screen just opens a new tab in the browser

I did test PWA in general by using apps.Starbucks.com and if I wait a few then the button changes to install and I get the PWA.

So I’m not sure why this is failing for kbin

Is there some way to force the browser to detect a PWA or do a force install, on android?

LostXOR,

Huh I never knew about that feature, cool!

BorgDrone,

This feature has been there since iOS 1.0. Originally this was the way Apple envisioned how ‘apps’ on iPhone were going to work. Only with iOS 2.0 did Apple add the app store and support for native apps. And the rest is history.

HeartyBeast,
HeartyBeast avatar

What's new, however is a a feature in Safari that gives Web apps saved to the home screen special privileges, such as the ability to request to send notifications through web push https://webkit.org/blog/13878/web-push-for-web-apps-on-ios-and-ipados/

PedrinhoRM,
PedrinhoRM avatar

The webapp it’s not that bad, i’ll be using this until we get a proper app

Casmael,

Good shout actually thanks bud 👍

fireshaper,
fireshaper avatar

Theme options don’t seem to work on the web app.

DBT,
DBT avatar

This is how I’ve been using YouTube for years. It used to allow your adblocker to keep adds from videos but doesn’t work as well anymore.

NotSteve_,
NotSteve_ avatar

This is what I've been using but for some reason, I keep getting logged out everytime I open it

mike1237,

Same, even when clicking remember me

lqdrchrd,
lqdrchrd avatar

Tick the ‘Remember me’ box before you log in and it should keep you logged in indefinitely. Easy to miss if you have your login auto-fill.

SuperMalarioBros,
SuperMalarioBros avatar

Yo if there was an kbin app similar to Rif, I'll stay here forever.

bathrobe,
bathrobe avatar

Thank you so much. This is something I didn’t know about and will save me so much time and effort.

bathrobe,
bathrobe avatar

Thank you so much. This is something I didn’t know about and will save me so much time and effort.

bathrobe,
bathrobe avatar

Thank you so much. This is something I didn’t know about and will save me so much time and effort.

Juxtapec,

Thanks for the tip!

cavalleto,
cavalleto avatar

@michael
Actually, you can use this same trick on Mac OS, Android... I use it with Brave browser. It creates a desktop app that functions like a native app.

lunarshot,
lunarshot avatar

this is a really slick solution! thank you, I have been enjoying mlem and beehaw but wanted to see what was up over here. it took 2 seconds to set up this solution! thanks

SuspiciousGeek,
SuspiciousGeek avatar

I didn’t think of it. Thanks for the reminder. :)

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