You can turn a website into an app without rebuilding it. Make it installable as a PWA (progressive web app), wrap it for Google Play as a Trusted Web Activity, and package it for the App Store with native features added. Rebuilding it as a native app is the fourth way, and the most expensive.
“An app” can mean three different things: an icon on the phone, push notifications, or a listing in Google Play and the App Store. Each has a cheaper and a more expensive route. Work out which one you want before you pick a way.
The 4 ways at a glance
| Way | Where people get it | Store fees | What you keep maintaining | Main catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PWA (installable website) | Your website | None | Your website | No store listing; iPhone users install from the Share menu |
| Android app from your web app (Trusted Web Activity) | Google Play | $25 one-time | Your website, plus the Android project | New personal accounts need a 12-tester closed test |
| iOS app from your web app (native shell) | App Store | $99 a year | Your website, plus the iOS project | Apple rejects apps that are just a website |
| Rebuild as a native app | Both stores | $25 one-time and $99 a year | A second codebase, next to your website | The most work: a new app to build and keep in step with your site |
The first three reuse the website you already have. Only the fourth starts over.
1. Make your website installable (PWA)
A PWA is a website that can be installed on a phone or desktop and opens in its own window, like an app. You don’t submit it to a store. Users add it from the browser.
What users get
On Android and desktop, Chrome offers to install a site that meets its criteria (below), once the visitor has clicked or tapped the page and spent 30 seconds on it.
iPhone has no install prompt. People install from Safari’s Share menu with Add to Home Screen. In iOS 26 and iPadOS 26, every website added to the Home Screen opens as a web app by default, and a manifest is no longer required for that. Its icons and settings are still used if you have one.
Push notifications on iPhone
Web push on iPhone arrived in iOS 16.4. It works only for web apps added to the Home Screen with a manifest whose display is standalone or fullscreen. The app must also ask for permission in response to a tap, not on page load.
What you need
Chrome’s install criteria are:
- HTTPS.
- A web app manifest (a small JSON file that describes your app) with
short_nameorname. iconsthat include a 192px and a 512px icon.- A
start_url. displayset tofullscreen,standalone,minimal-uiorwindow-controls-overlay.prefer_related_applicationsabsent or set tofalse.
A service worker is a script that runs in the background. It gives the app an offline page, and push needs it.
Cost and catch
A PWA is free apart from your time. The catch: there is no store listing, so people who search an app store won’t find you.
To see where your site stands, run the free PWA checker. We built it to test a URL for install, iPhone, push, offline and app store readiness, and it gives fixes. Two free tools help with the files: the manifest generator and the icon generator. For the manifest fields in detail, read our web app manifest guide. If you’d rather have it done, our Setup service is $149 one-time.
2. Put it on Google Play (Trusted Web Activity)
A Trusted Web Activity (TWA) opens your web app full screen inside an Android app. The user’s browser, Chrome, renders the content “in exactly the same way as a user would see it in their browser.”
How it’s built
Two common tools generate the Android app:
- Bubblewrap is Google’s Node.js command-line tool that generates and builds TWA projects.
- PWABuilder (pwabuilder.com) is open source and packages PWAs for stores, including Google Play.
Digital Asset Links
Android needs proof that the app and the site come from the same developer. You provide it with Digital Asset Links: an assetlinks.json file on your domain. With it in place, the app opens without a browser bar.
Fees and the tester rule
Google Play’s developer registration fee is $25, one-time.
Personal developer accounts created after November 13, 2023 must run a closed test (a private release that only invited testers can install) before they can apply for production access, which lets you publish to everyone. The test needs at least 12 testers who have been opted in continuously for the preceding 14 days. Plan for this at the start, because it sets your launch date.
Updates
The app shows your live site, so changes to the website appear in the app without publishing a new store version. The Android project itself still needs occasional updates.
3. Put it on the App Store (native shell)
To get a web app into the App Store without rebuilding it, you put it inside a native iOS app. Your web code runs inside the app’s web view (the embedded browser window), and plugins add native features.
Capacitor is one way to do this. It describes itself as “a cross-platform native runtime” for “Web Native apps” on iOS and Android. Other wrappers exist.
What you need
- An Apple Developer Program membership: $99 a year, or the local price where Apple offers one. Eligible nonprofits, accredited educational institutions and government entities can request a fee waiver.
- A Mac with Xcode. Building and submitting an iOS app needs Xcode, which runs on a Mac.
- Your web app wrapped in the native shell, with native features added.
Guideline 4.2: don’t ship a bare website
App Store Review Guideline 4.2 (Minimum Functionality) begins: “Your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website.” An app that isn’t “particularly useful, unique, or ‘app-like’” doesn’t belong on the App Store.
Guideline 4.2.2 adds that apps “shouldn’t primarily be marketing materials, advertisements, web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links.”
What makes your app more than a website? Three things help:
- Native push notifications.
- An offline screen.
- App-style navigation.
Sign in with Apple (guideline 4.8)
If your app uses a third-party or social login, such as Google Sign-In, to set up or authenticate the user’s primary account, it must also offer an equivalent login option with privacy features. Sign in with Apple is the usual answer.
4. Rebuild it as a native app
You can rebuild with React Native or Flutter, which let one team build iOS and Android apps from one codebase. Or you can use Swift (iOS) and Kotlin (Android), the platforms’ own languages.
A rebuild is worth it when you need features the web can’t do well, and you have a big budget and a team to carry it. If that’s you, a rebuild is the right call.
The cost is a second codebase. You build it, then maintain it next to your website. If your website already does the job, ways 1 to 3 get you to the same stores with far less work.
Which one do you need?
- If you want an icon on the home screen and push notifications, choose a PWA.
- If you want to be found in Google Play, choose a Trusted Web Activity.
- If you want to be found in the App Store, choose a native shell with real app features.
- If you need features the web can’t do well and have the team and budget, choose a rebuild.
Most people should go in this order: PWA first, then Google Play, then the App Store. The manifest and icons from the PWA step are what Bubblewrap and PWABuilder read when they build the Android app.
Common mistakes
Submitting a bare website shell to Apple
Apple rejects apps that are a repackaged website under guideline 4.2. Fix it by adding native push notifications, an offline screen and app-style navigation before you submit.
Forgetting the Google Play closed test
If you have a new personal developer account, you need a closed test with at least 12 testers opted in for 14 days in a row. Start recruiting testers the day you create the account, or you can lose two weeks.
Offering Google sign-in with no equivalent option
Guideline 4.8 requires an equivalent login option when you offer a social login. Add Sign in with Apple, or another option that meets the guideline.
A manifest with missing icons
If the manifest lacks a 192px and a 512px icon, Chrome won’t offer to install the site. Add both sizes, then run the free PWA checker to confirm.
Using your own developer account for a client’s app
If you build an app for a client, publish it from the client’s own Apple and Google developer accounts, not yours.
Expecting an install prompt on iPhone
There isn’t one. Tell iPhone users to use Share, then Add to Home Screen. To test your PWA without Lighthouse, see our testing guide.
Want us to do it?
Our Launch service packages your existing web app for Google Play and the App Store, from your own developer accounts: an Android app built as a Trusted Web Activity, and an iOS app with native push notifications and an offline screen, built to pass review. We handle the store listings and review feedback until the apps are live, usually in 1–3 weeks. Launch is $349 one-time for iOS and Android ($249 for our first 5 apps), or $149 for Android only; Apple’s and Google’s fees are separate. See how Launch works, or check your site free first.