Wordpress site creates App by default?

[UKSBD]

I've just created a new Wordpress test site using my own theme

Only plugins it has is;
Classic editor, classic widgets and yoast

I've just opened it using chrome on Android and a pop up appeared giving me the option of adding an app version of the site to my phone.

It appears to be sporadic, I left the site, visited again and the pop up never appeared, but there is still an option from the setting "Add to Home Screen"

Has Wordpress always done this?

 

[fisicx]

It’s probably chrome thing. It’s not something Wordpress is doing.

 

[UKSBD]

It seems to vary from site to site too.

I think I've narrowed it down, and it appears it does it on the sites I set site.webmanfest up on

 

[zomex]

Yeah I've seen it a few times on Chrome.

Glad you found the cause

 

[UKSBD]

Yeah I've seen it a few times on Chrome.

Glad you found the cause

Yeah, it's actually really good, going to do it on more of my sites now

Strange that it is sporadic whether the pop up appears or not, the option to add it via the settings is always there though.

Don't think it creates a proper app, just something similar to a desktop shortcut, still a nice feature though

 

[UKSBD]

Not sure it is what I initially thought

just checked another site with similar set up and it's not doing it

Need to experiment more now

 

[fisicx]

What does it actually do?

On an iPhone you can add a website to your homepage - a bit like a desktop shortcut. Does chrome do something different?

 

[UKSBD]

What does it actually do?

On an iPhone you can add a website to your homepage - a bit like a desktop shortcut. Does chrome do something different?

Yes, you can do the same with Android

An option that says "Add to Home Screen" when clicking on it on most sites it then says "Create Shortcut"

On the sites I am experimenting with it says "Install app" instead and after you install the app it says open, with app

On a couple of my sites, I even received a pop up asking if I want to install the app (this is sporadic though)

have a look at these sites and see if it does anything on your phone - https://thomascontracting.co.uk/ - https://fossewayhire.com/ - https://woodlandresources.co.uk/

 

[fisicx]

Nuffin’.

What is this app? Does it look any different than the actual site?

 

[UKSBD]

Nuffin’.

What is this app? Does it look any different than the actual site?

Nothing, it doesn't appear to be an app, is different to a usual desktop shortcut though.

It's basically just the website but opens in something different (not a usual browser) and allows notifications (no idea if the site sends them though)

Never noticed it before, it was the pop up that drew my attention to it, but that hasn't happened since.

It's baffling

Do any android users who visit those sites get an option to install an app? Either via a pop up or via the settings menu (it appears after clicking "Add to home screen")

 

[gpietersz]

Yes, that is what a webmanifest file does.

You need that file, and it should be linked to from the the HTML so browsers can find it.

 

[UKSBD]

Yes, that is what a webmanifest file does.

You need that file, and it should be linked to from the the HTML so browsers can find it.

What does it actually do though?

It appears to create an app, but it isn't really any different to a website and not even sure what it opens in.

It appears to open in Chrome, but not the usual Chrome browser (there is no address bar , just a full screen version of the site).

 

[UKSBD]

It also has settings like an app; notifications, permissions, etc. but when I set it so the app allows notifications, it says, "this app has not posted any notifications" and I've no idea how it can post any if I want it to.

It's basically just the website, in an app, but does nothing else other than open in something different to my usual browser.

 

[gpietersz]

It depends on what the site in question does. The minimum is that you can just make it look like an app and not much more, and that looks like what you are seeing.

It can do a lot more, such as work offline, , and can be a alternative to native apps. They can work offline and run in the background so can do a lot of what a typical app does, but they are cross platform (Android, iOS, even desktop OSes)

 

[UKSBD]

Thanks,

Do any of the 3 links I posted earlier give you the option to create an app? (when using a mobile)