![]() ![]() Today is the time to go a bit deeper into technical details and show you how to make a native app out of a PWA in just a few steps. To further enhance privacy on your phone, learn how you can change your DNS settings on Android and how to lock your Facebook profile on iPhones and Android.Some time ago we made an article about the business value and the essentials of the Progressive Web App technology. So use our guide above to turn websites into apps on your Android phone and let us know which method you chose and for which website(s). Nor will they run in the background, sending back your private data to their servers and guzzling battery while at it. Turning websites into apps mean you no longer will have to grant any invasive permission to run these services on your phone. Make Android Apps Out of Websites to Save Storage Space and Improve Privacy Either way, it is still a great option, especially if you can’t be bothered to install yet another app on your phone. Note: You can create website shortcuts on Android devices in the same manner with other popular web browsers as well, including Firefox.ĭo note that while the lite apps created by Native Alpha and Hermit function as self-contained apps (more like website wrappers), the shortcuts created by Chrome function as a browser tab rather than a standalone app. You will get the option to enter a name for the shortcut before Chrome adds it to your home-screen.Note: This will only work in regular tabs and not in incognito mode. Finally, on the slide-out panel, select Add to Home screen. Then tap on the menu button ( three dots) on the top-left. Open Chrome and go to the website you want to create a shortcut (lite app) for.So let’s hope that the developer adds other cool features sooner rather than later.ĭo you know that even Google Chrome for Android allows you to (kind of) create lite apps of many websites? That’s right, Google’s all-conquering browser can create lite apps for websites that have a built-in Progressive Web App (PWA) manifesto. The app is under active development, and the version I used, v0.85.1, was just released January 30, 2021. All said and done, Native Alpha is less buggy than Hermit, and the features it does offer, are more polished. There is, however, an experimental ad-blocker that is ‘Off’ by default, but can be turned on from the settings. Still in its pre-release phase, Native Alpha doesn’t have some of the features of Hermit, including dark mode and full-screen UI. You can download it from Github ( Free) and sideload it on your Android phone. Native Alpha is still in its pre-release phase and, is yet to be hosted on the Play Store. ![]() For privacy reasons, you can use alternate webviews, like Bromite, on rooted devices. Created by developer, Cyclonid, it uses the built-in Android WebView in order to display the website. Native Alpha is an open-source Android app that can turn any website into an Android app in seconds. It is, however, a little buggy, and in my experience, you might have to try certain options twice or thrice before getting them to work as advertised. It offers a dark mode option, borderless full-screen UI, and even a built-in ad-blocker, all of which can be tailored for each lite app separately. Hermit is a feature-filled app, and works great for the most part. You’ll be able to start-up the app from either shortcut. The Beebom web app will be added to the Hermit home-screen, as well as your device home-screen, should you pick that option in the last step.You can also choose to add a shortcut to the home-screen by using the check-box. You’ll get the option to select the name of the app and edit its URL before finalizing your choice. On the slide-out menu, tap on Create a lite app.Once the site loads, hit the gear icon on the top-right. Enter your target URL into the search bar at the bottom and hit Enter.We’re using Beebom as an example, and here’s how you go about it: You can also to turn any website into a lite Android app using Hermit. Note: Remember to change the system theme to dark (Settings > More Settings > Theme > Dark) to see all the settings pages and menus in dark mode. The app will reload in all its dark-themed glory. Now tap on the Dark Mode option in the bottom-right corner of the slide-out panel. To use Dark Mode for the newly-created lite app, fire it up and hit the gear icon (Settings menu) on the top-right.You can tap on either shortcut to fire-up your lite app. Once you create the Wikipedia lite app, it will be seen on the Hermit homepage (left screenshot below), and there will also be a shortcut on the phone’s homepage (right screenshot below).Now scroll down to check all the available apps and select the one that you want. Tap on the “ +” sign on the top bar to see the entire library of light apps. ![]()
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