Install the web console as an app

The web console can be installed as a progressive web app (PWA). Installed, it opens in its own window without browser tabs or an address bar, has its own icon on the desktop, in the Dock or on the home screen, and appears in the task switcher like any other application. Nothing is installed on the server for this: the console publishes a web app manifest, and the browser does the rest.

The app uses the whitelabeling settings of your installation: the app name is the web console title, the theme colour follows the active design, and the icon is either the bundled NetLock icon or an icon you upload. See Brand the Console for the rest of the whitelabeling options.

Before you start

• The web console must be reached over https with a certificate the device trusts. Browsers do not offer to install an app from a plain-http address or from a site with a certificate warning. The console itself still works over http; only the install option is missing.
• Any user can install the console; no permission is involved. The install button in the app bar can be hidden deployment-wide under Settings > Whitelabeling > AppBar & Effects (checkbox Install app); the browser's own install option in its menu remains available.
• An installed app is a shortcut to your server, not a copy of it. It needs a network connection to the server like the browser does, and there is no offline mode.

Install in Chrome or Edge (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android)

1. Open the web console and sign in.
2. Click the Install app icon in the app bar (next to the agent download icon), or use the install icon at the right end of the address bar, or choose Install <title> from the browser menu.
3. Confirm the browser's prompt. The console opens in its own window and is added to the Start menu, the Applications folder or the app drawer.

On Android, Chrome may show Add to Home screen instead of an install prompt; both lead to the same result.

Chrome and Edge only offer the install once the manifest has been evaluated, which takes a moment after the page has loaded. If the Install app icon does not appear at all, check the address bar for a certificate warning and make sure you are not already running the installed app.

Install in Safari on iPhone and iPad

1. Open the web console in Safari.
2. Tap the Share button, then Add to Home Screen, and confirm with Add.

The Install app icon in the app bar shows these steps as well, because Safari has no install prompt of its own. The console then opens from the home screen in full screen.

Install in Safari on macOS

1. Open the web console in Safari (macOS Sonoma or later).
2. Choose File > Add to Dock…, or click the Share button in the toolbar and choose Add to Dock, then confirm.

The web app appears in the Dock and in Launchpad and opens in its own window.

Brand the app icon

By default the installed app uses the bundled NetLock icon. To use your own:

1. Open Settings > Whitelabeling, tab Web Console Logo, section App icon.
2. Select a PNG of exactly 512 × 512 pixels (at most 1 MB). The console checks the file header and the pixel size and does not rescale; a file of another size is rejected with a message.
3. Click Save. The manifest and the icon endpoints switch to the new icon immediately; Revert to default restores the bundled icon.

Keep the important part of the artwork inside the inner 80 % of the square: Android and some desktop launchers mask the icon to a circle or a rounded square. For the home screen on iOS, use an opaque background — iOS renders transparent areas of the icon as black.

Devices that already have the app installed keep the icon they installed with. To pick up a new icon, remove the app and install it again. iOS in particular caches the home-screen icon aggressively.

What to expect from the installed app

• Sign-in on every cold start. The console keeps the session inside the live connection, not in a cookie. Closing the app window and opening it again shows the sign-in page, exactly as a new browser tab would. Passkeys make this quick.
• Reconnecting. If the connection to the server drops, the standard "Attempting to reconnect" overlay appears. When it cannot reconnect, reload the app (the overlay offers a reload); this leads to the sign-in page.
• No back button. The standalone window has no browser toolbar. Navigate with the console's own menu; on Android the system back gesture still works.
• External links such as the documentation, GitHub or a public file link open in the default browser, not inside the app window.
• Updates. The app is the live console; a server upgrade is visible on the next reload. Nothing has to be reinstalled on the device.

Remove the app

• Chrome / Edge: open the app, click the menu (⋮) in the title bar and choose Uninstall <title>; or remove it from chrome://apps or edge://apps.
• iPhone / iPad: press and hold the icon on the home screen and choose Remove App.
• macOS Safari: drag the app out of the Dock or delete it from the Applications folder.