The four taps
- Open the website in Safari. (This is a Safari feature — from Chrome on iOS the option may not appear or may behave differently depending on your iOS version.)
- Tap the Share button — the square with the arrow pointing up, in the middle of the bottom toolbar.
- Scroll down the share sheet and tap Add to Home Screen.
- Edit the name if you like, then tap Add.
The icon lands on your Home Screen like any app. You can drag it into folders or the Dock, and delete it like an app too — deleting the icon never deletes your account or data on the site; it's just a doorway.
What actually changes if the site is a PWA
For an ordinary website, the icon is a nicely dressed bookmark: tap it and Safari opens with the address bar and tabs as usual. But if the site is built as a PWA (progressive web app — a site that declares an icon, a name and an app-like display mode), iOS treats it differently:
- It opens full-screen, without Safari's address bar and toolbars — it looks and feels like an app.
- It appears in the app switcher as its own card, separate from Safari.
- It keeps you signed in in its own storage, so it's not fighting your other Safari tabs.
- It gets a proper icon supplied by the site, not a screenshot.
No App Store, no review queue, no 200 MB download. The catch: iOS still runs it in Safari's engine underneath, and background tricks native apps can do (like watching the clipboard) stay off limits — which is why we're honest about what clipboard sync on an iPhone can and can't do.
Worked example: MoveMyWork
MoveMyWork is built as a PWA, and the iPhone is exactly where the Home Screen icon earns its keep — you'll open it for a few seconds at a time, to grab something you copied on your PC or to push a photo the other way.
- In Safari, go to movemywork.com and sign in. (Sign up free first if you're new — no card.)
- Share button → Add to Home Screen → Add.
- Tap the new icon. The app opens full-screen: your clipboard history, files and workrooms, already signed in.
From then on the round trip is: copy on the PC (the Windows tray app syncs it automatically), tap the icon on the phone, tap the clip, paste. A few seconds, no cables, no emailing yourself.
Tidying up later
Long-press the icon → Remove Bookmark (or Delete App, for PWAs) takes it off the Home Screen. Your account and everything in it are untouched — the site is still there in any browser. Add it back any time with the same four taps.