Don’t worry, I edited out the spoilers.
You’ve probably been playing Wordle. But maybe you’re not a fan of having a bookmark in a browser or typing “powerlanguage” in your URL bar every time you want to play. So many people wanted Wordle as an app on their devices that they went to the App Store and Google Play to download it, only to find it was full of fake apps and scams. Wordle only exists on the web. That’s okay though. You can use an old trick from iOS 1 (then called iPhoneOS) to install a shortcut on your home screen that’ll make it act just like an app. You can do a similar trick on an Android device to at least store a bookmark on your homescreen. Here’s how it’s done.
iOS Home Screen Web Apps
When iPhoneOS first came out, there was no App Store. In fact, there was no way to install apps on the device at all. Instead, you’d install web apps. These were just functional websites that you could bookmark on your home screen. The feature is still in iOS. They have their own sandboxed memory and cookies, so it can be an efficient way to keep your data more private with certain web apps you don’t trust, like social networks. They’ll also hide the URL bar and browser controls, making it feel just like a native app.
In this example, I’m helping you add the popular daily word guessing game Wordle to your home screen. If you’re not playing it, you probably should at least try it out, it’s quite fun and makes it easy to share your results without spoiling the word for others, making it perfect for competing with your friends.
Oh, and don’t worry, I didn’t hit enter on any of these words and I hid any spoilers for today’s word.
First, open the website in Safari. At the bottom of the screen you’ll find the share button, a square with an arrow pointing up and out of it. Swipe up to see more of the share panel if you don’t already see “Add to Home Screen.” Then just tap “Add to Home Screen.” You can name and edit the bookmark if you’d like beforehand, then tap add. Now the website will behave like a little app on your iPhone.
Adding Websites to the Android Home Screen
This will vary depending on what browser you use. I recommend Firefox to just about everyone because it respects privacy, puts you in control, and doesn’t contribute to the business of a terrible person. Still, I’ll also give instructions for Chrome, because some people just use the default browser, regardless of privacy issues.There are many very different browser options for Android, but the practice will be very similar on whatever you’re using.
On Firefox
On Firefox, open the page you want to save. Tap the three dots button in the lower right corner if you put your navigation bar on the bottom (upper right otherwise). From there, select “Install.” You’ll get a dialog where you can press and hold to drag the shortcut directly to your home screen, or just add it automatically and reorganize your home screen later.
Much like iOS, Firefox will treat this like a fullscreen web app, so it’ll be a nicer way to play Wordle. However, unlike iOS, it will share the memory with the main Firefox app. This isn’t sandboxed like an individual app, more like a specific view of an Android app.
On Google Chrome
Chrome, and likely other browsers as well, has a similar process. Tap the three dots button in the upper right corner. From there, select “Add to Home screen.” Then just add it and reorganize your apps as you see fit later.
Now you know how to play your favorite competitive word game. As for the best words to play? I’m not going to help you beat me! You probably will though, I’m a terrible speller.