Javascript for "Add to Home Screen" on iPhone?

Is it possible to use Javascript to emulate the Add to Home Screen option in Mobile Safari's bookmark menu?

Something similar to IE's window.external.AddFavorite(location.href, document.title); possibly?

Until Safari implements Service Worker and follows the direction set by Chrome and Firefox, there is no way to add your app programatically to the home screen, or to have the browser prompt the user

However, there is a small library that prompts the user to do it and even points to the right spot. Works a treat.

https://github.com/cubiq/add-to-homescreen

The only way to add any book marks in MobileSafari (including ones on the home screen) is with the builtin UI, and that Apples does not provide anyway to do this from scripts within a page. In fact, I am pretty sure there is no mechanism for doing this on the desktop version of Safari either.

There is an open source Javascript library that offers something related : mobile-bookmark-bubble

>The Mobile Bookmark Bubble is a JavaScript library that adds a promo bubble to the bottom of your mobile web application, inviting users to bookmark the app to their device's home screen. The library uses HTML5 local storage to track whether the promo has been displayed already, to avoid constantly nagging users. > >The current implementation of this library specifically targets Mobile Safari, the web browser used on iPhone and iPad devices.

In javascript, it is not possible but yes with the help of “Web Clips” we can create a "add to home screen" icon or shortcut in iPhone( by the code file of .mobileconfig)

https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Conceptual/iPhoneOTAConfiguration/ConfigurationProfileExamples/ConfigurationProfileExamples.html

http://appdistro.cttapp.com/webclip/

after create a mobileconfig file we can pass this url in iphone safari browser install certificate and after done it check your iphone home screen there is a shortcut icon of your Web page or webapp..

In 2020, this is still not possible on Mobile Safari.

The next best solution is to show instructions on the steps to adding your page to the homescreen.

// Check if user has seen the message already
const hasSeenInstallPopup = localStorage.getItem("hasSeenInstallPopup");

// Detects if device is on iOS 
const isIos = () => {
  const userAgent = window.navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();
  return /iphone|ipad|ipod/.test( userAgent );
}

// Detects if device is in standalone mode
const isInStandaloneMode = () => ('standalone' in window.navigator) && (window.navigator.standalone);

// Checks if should display install popup notification:
if (!hasSeenInstallPopup && isIos() && !isInStandaloneMode()) {
  showInstallMessage();
  localStorage.setItem("hasSeenInstallPopup", true);
}

Picture and code snippet is from this great article which covers this question and many other tips on how to make your PWA feel iOS native.

This is also another good Home Screen script that support iphone/ipad, Mobile Safari, Android, Blackberry touch smartphones and Playbook .

https://github.com/h5bp/mobile-boilerplate/wiki/Mobile-Bookmark-Bubble