Official Add to Homescreen
Official Add To Homescreen plugin displays a callout to mobile users inviting them to add the website to the home screen.
The facts
- Rating
- 4.7★ from 13
- Active installs
- 200+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 27 Sep 2014
- Added
- May 2014
- Requires WP
- 3.5
- Tested up to
- WP 4.0.38
- Downloads
- 20,560
Our analysis
AI-assistedOfficial Add to Homescreen is a WordPress plugin that facilitates the integration of the Add To Homescreen JavaScript widget. It guides users through the configuration process to invite mobile users to add a web application to their home screen, primarily supporting iOS and Mobile Chrome.
This plugin is designed for web developers looking to enhance mobile user experience by simplifying the process of adding web applications to home screens. It is particularly useful for those who want to ensure their applications are up to date with the latest bug fixes from the official source.
Best for: Web developers aiming to improve mobile application usability.
What it does well
- ✓Guides users through JavaScript widget configuration
- ✓Supports adding to home screen on iOS and Mobile Chrome
- ✓Developed by the original author of the JavaScript widget
- ✓Free to use for personal and commercial projects
Where it falls short
- •Limited to iOS and Mobile Chrome, with Windows Phone support planned
- •No native event to track when a user adds the page to the home screen
- •Complexity may require support requests for troubleshooting
Verdict
This plugin offers a straightforward way to implement home screen functionality for mobile users, though its complexity may require additional support for optimal use.
From the developer
wordcubiq's own description of Official Add to Homescreen, lightly tidied.
Official Add To Homescreen is a WordPress wrapper for the Add To Homescreen javascript plugin. This WordPress plugin guides you through the rather complicated javascript widget configuration.
This is the only WordPress plugin developed by the same author of the javascript widget (hence “official”). If you wish to be always up to date and receive the latest bug fixes, this plugin is probably your best bet.
The plugin opens a message inviting the mobile user to add the application to the home screen. This is currently supported on iOS and Mobile Chrome. While other devices have the ability to bookmark any website to the home screen, only iOS and Mobile Chrome have a straightforward way to do it. Windows Phone support is planned for a future release.
To enhance performance and reduce complexity I’m supporting the latest two OS version for each device only.
Important! Please read
Add To Homescreen development started when Apple introduced the apple-mobile-web-app-capable meta tag and standalone mode with it. It was a great news for web developers who had the opportunity to release full screen web applications (and not just websites). The script evolved over time and extended to a more general purpose use case.
It is important to note that there’s no native event we could hook to to know when a user actually added the page to the homescreen. That’s also the reason why this script has become so complicated despite the apparent simple task it has to accomplish.
Unless you explicitly developed your application to be mobile-web-app-capable, this script can’t do miracles and all the alternative solutions have to be considered hacks.
The Basic configuration gives you four presets, the only 100% fail-safe solution is to select the Anonymous option. This disables user tracking but it doesn’t interfere with other plugins you may have.
Considering the complexity of the script, before filing a negative feedback, please drop a support request or a bug report. It’s the only way for me to enhance this software. Thanks!
License
This WordPress plugin is released under the GPL license. You can use it free of charge for personal and commercial use, but further modifications and derivatives have to be released under the same GPL license.
The Add To Homescreen javascript component is released under MIT license, which basically means you can do whatever you want with it.