Added a specific page to your iPhone Home Screen but a different page opens instead? Using an X profile as an example, this guide explains what users can do and how developers can design PWA start_url behavior.
Can't find Add to Home Screen or Install in Chrome on Android? Learn the difference between shortcuts and installed web apps, plus how to check the manifest, HTTPS, icons, start_url, and other PWA settings.
What does the scope field in a Web App Manifest actually control? Using real PWA LAB testing, this article compares root scope, directory scope, omitted scope, and the different practical effects observed on iPhone and Android.
What is the difference between display: standalone and fullscreen in a PWA Web App Manifest? Based on real iPhone and Android testing, this guide compares browser UI, app-like presentation, screen space, platform behavior, and when each display mode makes sense.
Learn how to change a PWA's interface only when it is running from the home screen. Using display-mode: standalone and navigator.standalone, you can show special messages, menus, offers, or coupons for standalone users while keeping the normal browser experience unchanged.
What happens when you remove a website or PWA from your iPhone or Android home screen? Learn what happens to your account, login session, cookies, localStorage, Service Worker caches, and other web data—and why deleting a home screen icon is not the same as deleting your account.
When you add a website to your iPhone or Android home screen, does it become an app or is it just a bookmark? This guide explains the difference between ordinary home screen website shortcuts and PWAs, including manifests, icons, launch URLs, standalone display, offline support, and more.
MDN recommends avoiding unique user identifiers in start_url. By using start_url, you can add the currently displayed page directly to the home screen and apply the same approach to e-commerce, blogs, and profile pages.
Hi, I’m Ojach. I built a feature in my test lab, “PWA LAB,” that allows me to freely change the installation URL. The goal was simple: I wanted a place to try out, in real-time, how a PWA actually looks when added to the home screen. Validating PWAs often comes down to these small, gritty experiments. Especially with maskable icons, where the differences in how Android and iOS handle cropping can change everything. Reading the spec sheet 100 times can’t compare to the moment you break your own code on a real device and finally “get it.” Every developer has been there. That’s exactly what happened this time. To be honest, it was just a simple URL typo. But that “oops” moment led me to discover some fascinating, undocumented behaviors regarding iPhone home screen icons. I just had to share this. Validating the “Broken State” The setup was incredibly simple. I used my PWA LAB to intentionally set an “invalid, non-existent URL” as the installation target. Then, I hit “Add to Home Screen” on both Android (Chrome) and iPhone (Safari) […]
What is the real difference between PWAs on Android and iPhone? Android tries to turn the Web into apps, while iPhone focuses on placing web pages on the home screen.
OJapp Tips is a technical blog documenting real-world PWA behavior, iPhone Safari quirks, home screen installation, manifest.json, Service Worker, Web App Manifest, WebClip, icon cache issues, and practical web development tips based on actual testing with iPhone, Android, and PC.
The articles are based on hands-on experiments from PWA LAB and real development experience with OJapp, Petal, and OJ-Pass. Instead of only repeating official documentation, OJapp Tips focuses on the details developers actually get stuck on.