If you’re like me and have a few websites you visit frequently from your phone, but don’t want to add the app – there’s a different way around adding yet another app.
From your Android phone, first launch your Chrome app, then navigate to the website you’d like to add to your home screen. Next, press the menu icon on the right (3 dots on the top right) and press add to home screen. You’ll be given an opportunity to name the shortcut and it will appear on your home screen.
On iPhone/iPad you’ll launch the Safari app and then navigate to your website and press “go”. Next, tap the icon showing a right-pointing arrow coming out of a box on the top of your Safari window to open a drop down menu. Tap “Add to Home Screen”. You’ll be given a chance to name the link and then Safari will automatically close.
I’ve found this useful on my Android phone for checking weather with the National Weather Service, who does not officially have an app, and using it for checking Facebook. I personally feel using these items in this way helps decrease the level of tracking that I experience when directly using The Weather Channel app and Facebook app. I’m probably still being tracked to some degree, but at least I do not have to set any app permissions for an app that I’m not using.
