Preview: These docs are available early so you can start using them now. Some pages may still be incomplete, outdated, or change as WebLibre develops.

Web Apps (PWA)

Some websites can work more like apps on your phone. These are often called Progressive Web Apps, or PWAs.

In WebLibre, supported sites can be added to your Android home screen so you can open them more like a separate app.

What a Web App Is

A web app is still a website, but it is built to feel more app-like. When you open it from your home screen, it can launch in its own app-style window instead of a normal browser tab.

This can be useful for things like messaging services, calendars, music players, maps, or other sites you open often.

Add a Site to Your Home Screen

WebLibre only shows the install option when the current site supports it.

  1. Open the website you want to install

  2. Open the browser menu for the current tab

  3. Tap Add to Home Screen

  4. In the confirmation dialog, tap Add

After that, Android adds a shortcut for the site to your home screen.

What to Expect After Installing

  • The site gets its own home screen shortcut and icon when the site provides one

  • Opening it from the shortcut can feel more like opening an app than reopening a normal tab

  • It is still the website, so its content and features come from the site itself

When the Option Appears

Not every website can be installed.

In practice, the site needs to meet web app requirements such as:

  • using a secure connection (https://)

  • providing the information needed for installation

  • supporting an app-style display mode

WebLibre checks this automatically. If you do not see Add to Home Screen, that site probably does not currently support installation in a compatible way.

Web Apps and Containers

If you install a web app from a tab that is inside a container with Cookie Isolation enabled, the installed web app keeps that isolated browsing context. That means its cookies and site data stay separated just like regular tabs from that same cookie-isolated container.

Web Apps and Profiles

Installed web apps also stay tied to the profile they came from.

In practice, that means a web app shortcut can reopen with the same broader browsing context, not only the same site. This is useful if you use profiles to separate work, personal, or shared-device browsing.

Taken together, profile context and container context help the installed web app behave more like a continuation of the original tab you installed it from.

Tips

  • If the site changes later, the shortcut still opens the live website, not a separate downloaded app

  • To remove a web app, delete its shortcut from Android the same way you remove other home screen shortcuts

  • Site permissions you allow still depend on the website and Android, just like when you use the site in the browser

  • If you care about separation, install the web app from the right profile and container the first time