Install PWAs on iphones and ipads

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Hello Community,

We’ve learned all about creating PWAs recently and are now looking for ways to install PWAs on multiple iphones and ipads simultaneously via mdm. Any advice around how we might be able to get these installed would be greatly appreciated!

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  • Participant

    Tracy

    Participant

    Just to be sure, PWA and web clips are the same thing, isn’t it? If so, then I guess Hexnode has features to add web clips on ios devices.

    P.S. It’d be great if someone could clarify the differences if any between PWA and web clips.

  • @tracy  This is to provide you with some basic clarity on progressive web apps and web clips.

    To get it out of the way, web clips are simply put Apple’s version of PWAs. Although keep in mind that apple’s web clips are not yet a match for android’s PWAs. Apple’s implementation of the pwa specs has missed many features when compared to other browsers powered by Chromium or Gecko engine. For instance, Apple lacks support for push notifications on iOS and no banners to notify users of availability of a pwa in safari. Integration of APIs such as bluetooth, NFC, face id, touch id etc is not present. Android supports more data storage compared to ios which allows PWA to store offline data and files only up to 50 MB.

    For what it’s worth let’s hope that future apple updates expand functionalities.

  • Hello folks, thank you all for being an active part of the community!

    @osca  @tra  To answer your queries, as @ru mentioned, Apple’s version of PWAs is commonly referred to as Web Clips. Hexnode UEM enables you to configure and deploy a policy that sets up web clips on your iOS devices. You can open the configured web clips in Safari, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. However, the default browser is Safari.

    1. Firstly, login to the Hexnode portal and navigate to the Apps tab. Select +Add Apps > Web App.
    2. You can then input the Name, URL and Icon and select a Category of the Web Clip. Click Done.
    3. Now, navigate to the Policies tab. Here you can edit an existing policy or create a new policy.
    4. Go to iOS > App Management > Web Clips. Select Configure and click on +Add Webclip.
    5. Now select the web app that was previously added in the Apps tab and configure the web clip settings:

      Precomposed icon: Enable to prevent adding shine to the Web Clip icon on the home screen.
      Removable: Disable to make the Web clip app icon non-removable from the device end.
      Full Screen: Enable to open the URL of the web clip as a web app with no search bars or bookmarks.

    6. Finally, navigate to Policy Targets and choose targets (Devices, Users, device groups, user groups) to associate the policy. Click Save.

    For a detailed guide, refer how to add web clips to iOS using Hexnode UEM.

    Should you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to reach us!

    Cheers!
    Emma Jones
    Hexnode UEM

    Solution
  • Participant

    Gnishilda

    Participant

    Hey that’s really interesting. But I was wondering is it necessary for all web clips to be websites? Let’s say I need to save some contact or pdfs or locations? Is that feasible as well with these web clips?

  • @gnishilda  Absolutely, we’ve got you covered!

    All web clips do not need to be a website. You can add web clips of various categories to the Hexnode portal. First, I’ll familiarize you with a few of the cases you’ve mentioned.

    To add contact as web clip:

    You can customize the web clip to add a contact to make a call or compose an SMS.

    To make a call, add the URL in the format tel://contactnumber. Then, when users click the app icon, they will be redirected to Safari and be prompted to make a call.

    To compose an SMS, you can add the URL as sms://contactnumber. Once the user clicks the app icon, they will be redirected to the Messages app. Here the new message page will be open with the “To” address filled in.

    Deploy PDFs or videos:

    You can add a PDF or video as a web clip simply by providing an external-facing URL in the URL field. Ex: “https://www.hexnode.com/mobile-device-management/resources/introduction-to-hexnode-uem.pdf/

    Deploy locations:

    To add a specific location as a web clip, ensure the URL begins with “http://maps.apple.com/?” followed by the Apple Maps location paramater. Ex: http://maps.apple.com/?address=111+Pine+St+%231225,+San+Francisco,+CA+94111,+USA.

    Clicking the Web Clip will open the specified location in the Maps apps on the device.

    If you are interested in learning more on different types of web clips, check out our guide on special cases using web clips. Hope this solves your query. Do reach out if you have any further queries.

    Cheers!
    Emma Jones
    Hexnode UEM

  • Hi Jeff,

    Thank you for choosing Hexnode Connect!

    Yes, you can add a progressive web app (PWA) to an Android device enrolled as Device Owner or Profile Owner in Android Enterprise. To create the web app, go to Apps > Managed Google Apps > Web App on the Hexnode UEM console.

    Navigate to Managed Google apps

    Navigate to Managed Google apps under Apps tab on Hexnode UEM portal.

    Add web apps

    Click the + icon to add to enter the web app details. You can add the title, web app URL, configure display settings and add a custom icon as necessary. You may select the display UI of the web app when it is launched from the following options:

    • Full Screen – The web app will use the entire screen.
    • Standalone – The phone’s navigation bar and the status bar will be visible in the web app.
    • Minimal UI – The phone’s navigation bar, status bar, URL bar and refresh button will be visible in the web app.

    Configure app details

    Configure web app details under Managed Google apps.

    Wait until app is published

    Wait until web app is available to push it as Mandatory app. Once the app is created, it may take a few minutes to be published internally. Once its available, you can push it to the device using the Mandatory Apps policy. The user can click on the web app icon on the device, and the default browser will open and load the corresponding URL. For more information, check out our guide on publishing web apps as Managed Google Play apps outside the kiosk.

    If you have any questions, let us know.

    Ethan Miller
    Hexnode UEM