A Solana wallet on iPhone without the App Store
Open the wallet’s site in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. It opens full screen like an app, can unlock with Face ID through a passkey, and updates itself each time you open it, with no App Store in between.
How to add it
- Open the wallet’s address in Safari (Chrome on iPhone works too).
- Tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
- Open it from the new icon. It runs full screen, without the browser’s address bar, in its own window.
That is a web app: the same site you would open in the browser, installed as an icon.
Face ID
Websites cannot see your face or your fingerprint, and they do not need to. A web app can use a passkey, the same thing many sites now offer instead of a password. When you unlock, iOS checks Face ID itself and only then lets the passkey answer. The site gets a yes, never your face.
For a wallet, the passkey can do more than say yes: it can produce a secret only your phone can produce, which unlocks the wallet’s keys on that phone. Your Face ID data never leaves the phone.
What is different from an App Store app
| Home Screen web app | App Store app | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | From the site, in seconds | From the App Store |
| Updates | Every time you open it | When Apple approves them and you update |
| Face ID | Through a passkey | Through the system |
| Who checks it | You | Apple reviews each version |
| Storage | Its own, kept while the icon is on your Home Screen | Its own |
Two things to keep in mind:
- Deleting the icon deletes its data on that phone. Keep your recovery words, so you can bring the wallet back on any device.
- Open it from the icon, not a link. A link in a message could point at a lookalike site. The icon always opens the real one.
Why some wallets do it this way
The App Store has rules about crypto apps, and every update waits for review. A web app ships fixes the same day and works the same on iPhone, Android and a computer, from one code base. The cost is that Apple does not review it, so how the wallet keeps keys matters even more. See are browser-based wallets safe.
How Raven does it
On a phone, Raven opens from the Home Screen, unlocks with Face ID, and has everything the computer has: every wallet and folder, Send, Split, Swap, Clean up and private moves. It updates itself each time you open it, and Face ID stays on your phone; Raven never sees it.
Questions
Is a Home Screen web wallet safe?
It is as safe as the way it keeps keys. Look for keys made and locked on your phone, and recovery words you hold.
Will my wallet disappear if I do not open it for a while?
Safari can clear data from websites you have not used in a while, but web apps added to the Home Screen keep their own storage. Deleting the icon is what removes it.
Does it work on Android?
Yes. In Chrome on Android, open the menu and choose Add to Home screen or Install app.
Sources
Raven on a phone has everything the computer has, opened from the Home Screen with Face ID.
Join the waitlist