How to convert a website URL to APK

How a URL app works

The APK contains a native Android shell and your address. When someone opens the app it loads your site in a WebView — Android's built-in browser engine — without the browser's address bar and tabs. Logins, carts and forms work the same as on the mobile web, and cookies persist between launches.

Make your site app-ready

• HTTPS — Android blocks plain HTTP pages by default.
• Responsive layout — the app shows your mobile site.
• Fast first load — the first screen is what reviewers and users judge.
• No "download our app" banners — hide them when the visitor is already in the app.

Convert it

1. Install Website to App from Google Play.
2. Paste your full address, for example https://shop.example.com.
3. Set the app name, icon, theme colour and splash screen.
4. Choose a package name and build.
5. Install the APK and test the pages people use most.

Make it feel like an app, not a bookmark

A wrapper that only shows a website gives users little reason to install it — and Google Play's policies discourage apps whose only purpose is to display a website. Add things a browser tab cannot do:

• Push notifications for orders, posts or reminders (Pro).
• A bottom tab bar to your key sections (Pro).
• An offline screen instead of a browser error.
• App Links, so links to your domain open in the app — generate the file with the assetlinks.json generator.

Works with any platform

WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, Webflow, Blogger, Ghost, custom web apps — if it opens in Chrome on a phone, it can be an app.

Test these before you share the app

• "Sign in with Google". Google blocks its sign-in page inside embedded WebViews (error disallowed_useragent). Offer email login, or make sure your builder opens Google sign-in in a browser tab.
• File and photo uploads on forms — profile pictures, documents.
• Payments — redirects to payment pages and back to your site.
• Special links — tel:, mailto:, WhatsApp and maps links should open the right app.
• The back button — it should go back a page, and only close the app on the home screen.
• Pages on other domains — decide whether they open inside the app or in the browser.

Make the first launch fast

A URL app is only as fast as your website on a phone. Check your mobile score in PageSpeed Insights, lazy-load images below the fold, defer third-party scripts, and cache static assets with long Cache-Control headers — the WebView keeps its cache between launches, so the second open is much faster than the first.

When to build from files instead

If your site is static (a portfolio, menu, brochure or game) and you want it to work offline, export it and use the ZIP to APK route. You lose instant updates but gain offline use and instant loading.