How to Use Any Website Like an App on Mac

Safari receives a major boost with the macOS Sonoma update. You can now create several profiles, such as Personal, Work, and Education, to keep your history, bookmarks, and extensions separate. Safari also gets the option to turn your frequently visited websites into apps on Mac. You can place them on the dock and enable alerts to receive real-time notifications from them. Here’s how to use any website, like an app on Mac.

Do you frequently open Twitter, Trello, LinkedIn, or any specific website on your Mac? Instead of launching Safari and visiting your favorite website, you can create a web app to use them from your Mac’s dock. These web apps look and act like a native app and integrate easily within macOS.

How to Turn Any Website into a Web App in macOS Sonoma

Before we start,sss note that the ability to turn any website into a web app in Safari is available on macOS Sonoma only.

Apple is currently testing the upcoming macOS version in the developer beta. The company will to release the stable version this Fall (mid or late September). After you install a macOS Sonoma public preview on your Mac, use the steps below.

Step 1: Launch Safari on your Mac.

Step 2: Visit your preferred website. Let’s take Twitter as an example here.

Step 3: Click File at the top. Select Add to Dock.

Step 4: Check the web address and rename the web app to your preference. Click Add.

Step 5: macOS adds the web app to the Applications menu and on the Mac dock.

You can click on the web app to launch it in a separate window. We like how Safari uses the website theme in the menu bar at the top. It looks neat and rhythms well with a uniform style.

If you don’t want to add dozens of web apps on the dock, you can always drag and drop them to the desktop or Trash can to remove them.

Use Safari Web Apps on Mac

Safari web apps integrate well with macOS. You can find the same in the Applications menu and search for them in the Spotlight too. Now, let’s check in action.

Step 1: Press the Command + Space keyboard shortcut to open the Spotlight Search.

Step 2: Search for your web app and hit Return to open it.

Step 3: macOS launches the web app in a separate window. You don’t even need to open Safari in the background. It works, looks, and acts as a native macOS app.

You can check the back and forward icons at the top. If you face issues with the web app, click the Safari icon in the top-right corner to open the same in the browser.

Enable Notifications for Web Apps

You can tweak notification settings from the System Settings menu for such web apps.

Step 1: Click the Apple icon in the top-left corner and choose System Settings from the menu that opens.

Step 2: Scroll to Notifications on the left sidebar and choose the app from the right pane.

Step 3: Turn on the toggle next to Allow notifications.

Then, tweak relevant options from the same menu.

Hide Toolbar for Web Apps

You have the option to hide toolbar to create a native look for the web app. Let’s take Twitter as an example here.

Step 1: Open the Twitter web app and click its name at the top-left corner.

Step 2: Open Settings. Disable the ‘Show navigation controls’ checkmark.

Change Safari Web Apps Icons

You can easily change any web app icon on Mac for a better look. Let’s check it in action.

Step 1: Visit Icons8 on the web and download a relevant app icon on your Mac.

Visit Icons8

Step 2: Open the web app and click on the app name on the menu bar in the top-left corner.

Step 3: Click on the current icon and pick the downloaded app icon on Mac. Click Choose.

You can relaunch the web app and check the new icon in action.  

Delete Safari Web Apps on Mac

After a specific app serves the purpose, delete them from your Mac. While these web apps don’t take up space on your machine, they may create a mess in the Launchpad menu.

Step 1: Open Launchpad from your Mac dock.

Step 2: Drag and drop a web app into the Trash bin, and you are good to go.

Repeat the same for all the web apps.  

Turn Any Website Into an App on Mac

Your Safari web apps also respect the system-wide Focus mode. When you enable Focus on Mac, the system turns off alerts and calls from these web apps. Which websites do you plan to use as apps on Mac? Share your preference in the comments below.