In-app browsers and PWA installation

For visits opened inside WeChat, Instagram, or TikTok, direct users to a browser with a documented installation route; the cited sources do not document an install command in these in-app browsers.

Platform support

Safari on iPhone and Chrome on Android have documented installation routes. Apple documents Add to Home Screen and Open as Web App in Safari. Google documents Install and create shortcut, followed by Install, in Chrome on Android. Installation support inside WeChat, Instagram, and TikTok remains unverified.

How it works

Explain the browser installation steps and provide a canonical URL that users can carry across. Test display mode and clipboard access separately; an app brand does not establish installation support.

Use a documented browser route

On iPhone, Apple’s route starts in Safari’s Share menu. On Android, Google’s route starts from Chrome’s menu beside the address bar. These instructions apply after the user opens the page in the named browser; they do not describe the menus of an in-app browser.

Preserve a manual handoff

Offer the canonical URL as selectable text. When Clipboard.writeText() is available, the page can try to copy it from a button action. MDN states that the method requires a secure context and can reject with NotAllowedError, so the URL must remain selectable when copying is unavailable or rejected.

Examples

The first example decides whether handoff help belongs in the current display mode. The second provides clipboard feature detection and a manual fallback.

Hide handoff help in standalone mode

Show the browser handoff text unless the top-level browsing context is in standalone display mode.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Open in a browser</title>
  <p id="handoff">Open this URL in Safari on iPhone or Chrome on Android to use the documented install route.</p>
  <script>
    const handoff = document.querySelector('#handoff');
    const standalone = window.matchMedia('(display-mode: standalone)').matches;

    if (standalone) {
      handoff.hidden = true;
    } else {
      handoff.hidden = false;
    }
  </script>
</html>

The else branch retains the handoff. MDN notes that display mode does not directly map to installation status, so the text names the documented routes without declaring the current view installable or uninstalled.

Copy the canonical URL with a selectable fallback

Attempt a clipboard write only after a button click. If the API is missing or the write rejects, select the visible URL for manual copying.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Copy this page address</title>
  <label>Page address <input id="url" value="https://example.com/app" readonly></label>
  <button id="copy" type="button">Copy address</button>
  <p id="status" aria-live="polite"></p>
  <script>
    const url = document.querySelector('#url');
    const status = document.querySelector('#status');

    document.querySelector('#copy').addEventListener('click', async () => {
      if (navigator.clipboard?.writeText) {
        try {
          await navigator.clipboard.writeText(url.value);
          status.textContent = 'Address copied.';
          return;
        } catch {}
      }

      url.select();
      status.textContent = 'Copy the selected address, then open it in your browser.';
    });
  </script>
</html>

Manual copying remains usable without Async Clipboard access. It does not depend on which external apps the in-app browser can launch.

Observed behaviour

Note

Apple’s iOS 27 edition of Turn a website into an app in Safari on iPhone lists Add to Home Screen, Open as Web App, and Add in the website-to-app flow. Those labels apply only after the page is open in Safari.

See also

• Turn a website into an app in Safari on iPhone (Apple Support)
• Use web apps on Android (Google Chrome Help)
• Make it installable
• Install prompt
• PWAs on iOS and Safari

Specifications

Specification	Status
None.