Mac instructions: Store, use and delete a website as a web app in the dock

With macOS 14 Sonoma On the Mac, Apple introduced the option of storing any website as a web app on the dock. In this way, frequently required websites can not only be called up faster, but also used with fewer distractions. In the following I will show you how to store a web app on the Mac and with the help of Safari, how the use differs from the regular view, what settings there are for display and use, and how to get rid of the whole thing again. Important to know: web apps removed from the dock are still installed as a program and e.g. B. accessible via the launchpad.

Store a website in the dock with Safari: Here's how!

If you want to install a web app on the Mac with Safari from macOS Sonoma and store it in the Dock, then simply follow these step-by-step instructions:

1. Opens Safari on your Apple Mac
2. Gets the one you want Website up, about https://www.sir-apfelot.de/
3. Click in the menu bar filing and there on Add to Dock...
4. If necessary, assign a name for the website link
5. Finally, click on the "Add" button

The menu item "Add to Dock..." will certainly be translated before the official release of macOS Sonoma. It is only called that in the current developer beta (as of June 2023). It will probably be called "Add to Dock" or "Move to Dock" by autumn at the latest. If you have worked through the instructions above, you will then find the website symbol in the dock.

Logins and notifications are taken over

When creating a web app, the existing data and settings are adopted from Safari. Logins, cookies, access rights and activated notifications are therefore directly available and do not have to be created again. So if you do that Sir Applerot Forum uses, are logged in and save a web app for it on your Mac, then you are logged in directly and can interact with the categories, threads and posts as usual.

Web apps created with Safari are treated like "real" apps

In addition to the logins taken from Safari, login entries, passwords from the keychain and pass keys be used. So there are no restrictions on that. Just like “real” apps, the website applications can also be displayed via Mission Control and sorted in the Stage Manager and put aside. You can also launch them from the Launchpad and Spotlight search.

Furthermore, web apps react to the focus usage and can be equipped with restrictions or notification rights in the focus settings under macOS like regular apps. In addition, with activated notifications under System Settings -> Messages certain details to be adjusted. Last but not least, under System Settings -> Privacy in individual points such as camera, microphone, operating aids, etc. it can be determined whether access rights are granted or not.

Settings for web apps under macOS on the Apple Mac

If you click on the new tile in the macOS dock, the program created as described above will open. The differences to Safari are immediately obvious: there is no address bar for calling other URLs, there are no tabs, there is no sidebar with bookmarks or favorites, and so on. So you create a separate area from Safari in which you can use a single website (and the subpages on it) without being distracted.

But there are a few settings and customization options that you can use to customize the use. To do this, open the web app and click on its name in the menu bar (to the right of the Apple logo ). Select the settings in this menu. In the web app settings you will find two tabs: “General” and “Privacy”:

• General: Change the name and icon, whether navigation elements (forward and back) are displayed and whether the background color of the page is used as the color for the title bar
• Privacy: access camera, microphone, share screen and set location services and remove website data

What happens when you link to another website?

If you click on an external link within a web app created with Safari, i.e. a link that takes you to another website, it will open in a Safari window. The web app is therefore only used to display the selected website; When selecting other websites, a browser window opens or – if one is already open – a new tab. You can then use the linked website there. The web app remains open and can still be used for browsing within the limits of one side.

Deleting the web app from the dock: How it works!

To remove a website stored in the dock via Safari, it only takes a few clicks. Secondary click (right mouse button or two fingers on the trackpad) on the website icon in the Dock and then roll up the mouse pointer Options. Next to it, a menu will now be expanded in which you Remove from Dock clicks. And the icon will be removed from the dock.

Web apps removed from the Dock are still installed

In order to completely delete a website stored as described under macOS for quick use from the system, it is not enough to remove it from the dock. If you then z. For example, when you go to Launchpad, you'll still see the web app there. You can still get them from there or via Spotlight call - so their functionality is not linked to their placement in the Dock.

Delete web app from Mac: Remove stored website completely

Now one could assume that the program would be found in the Applications folder of the Macintosh HD and could be permanently deleted there. But that's not the case. The websites stored via Safari are saved in the user folder and must be moved from there to the trash. The path is:  ̴/Users/[User Name]/Applications/[Web App].app. So you choose via the Finder your hard drive -> users -> folder with your name -> Applications out of. The latter folder could still be renamed "Programs" (as of June 2023).

If you also want to use the macOS 14 Developer Beta to try out the new features before the official release of the Sonoma operating system for Mac, then this way: Install macOS Sonoma Beta (side by side with existing system).

Johannes Domke

[On vacation] After graduating from high school, Johannes completed training as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which led to his independence. He has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others, for several years now. His articles include product introductions, news, instructions, video games, consoles and much more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.