Home › Tools › PWA Installability
For a page to be installable as a PWA, four things must be true at once: HTTPS, a registered Service Worker, a valid Web App Manifest, and compliant icons plus a display mode inside that manifest. Miss any one and Chrome on Android will not offer the install prompt.
iOS plays by different rules entirely: Safari never shows an install prompt. The user has to tap Share → Add to Home Screen themselves. That single difference is why the same PWA often sees install rates several times apart between Android and iOS.
How do Android and iOS install paths differ?
Chrome on Android fires beforeinstallprompt once the criteria are met — you can intercept it and show your own install button at a moment you choose. iOS Safari has no such event at all, so the page must walk the user through Share → Add to Home Screen manually.
Chrome / Edge on Android
Prompt fires when criteria are met. Intercept beforeinstallprompt to control timing and styling — timing is what mostly drives install rate.
Safari on iOS
No install event exists. You must illustrate the Share → Add to Home Screen steps. How good that instruction screen is directly determines your iOS install rate.
Other browsers on iOS
Chrome, Firefox and others on iOS generally cannot add to the home screen. You need to route users to Safari first.
Web Push
Long supported on Android. On iOS it requires 16.4+ and the app must already be added to the home screen — a Safari tab receives nothing.
Why do install rates stay low?
By frequency: missing or confusing iOS instructions, prompting too early (before the user sees any value), non-compliant manifest icons (missing 192 or 512), start_url outside scope, and a slow first paint so users leave before the prompt ever appears.
Prompting too early
Firing the install prompt on arrival interrupts users who do not yet know what this is. Waiting for an interest signal converts noticeably better.
Weak iOS instructions
A single line saying “add to home screen” is largely ignored. Show where the Share button is and spell out the three taps.
Icon requirements missed
Missing 192×192 or 512×512 can make Android treat the app as not installable. Check it with the validator above.
Slow first paint
Users bounce before the prompt appears. Speed is supposed to be a PWA advantage — losing it defeats the purpose.
FAQ
Why is beforeinstallprompt not firing on Android?
Use section 1 above to confirm browser support, then section 2 to validate the manifest. The three most common causes: not served over HTTPS, no registered Service Worker, or missing 192×192 / 512×512 icons. Also note that if the site was installed and then uninstalled, the prompt may be suppressed for a while.
Can I trigger an install prompt on iOS?
No. iOS Safari does not implement beforeinstallprompt; this is an OS-level limitation no vendor can work around. All you can do is make the Share → Add to Home Screen instructions unmistakable — which is why iOS install rate is mostly a function of instruction design.
Does Web Push work after install?
On Android, yes. On iOS you need 16.4 or later and the app must have been added to the home screen — opening it in a Safari tab will not receive push. That is why on iOS you have to solve installs before push means anything.
Does this tool upload my manifest?
No. Validation runs entirely in your browser via JavaScript, with no request carrying the content out. Open your network tab and check.
How does this relate to your PWA service?
It does not — this is just a public tool built on standard browser APIs. Our PWA service is genuinely free (no monthly fee, no per-install billing, no revenue share, no offer lock-in, no cap); see the PWA page if that is relevant to you.
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