# 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.

Page: https://ravenwallet.pro/blog/solana-wallet-iphone
Updated: 2026-10-27

## How to add it

1. Open the wallet's address in **Safari** (Chrome on iPhone works too).
2. Tap **Share**, then **Add to Home Screen**.
3. 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](/blog/are-web-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

- [Apple: Use passkeys to sign in on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/use-passkeys-to-sign-in-to-websites-and-apps-iphf538ea8d0/ios)
- [WebKit: full third-party cookie blocking and more (Home Screen web apps keep their storage)](https://webkit.org/blog/10218/full-third-party-cookie-blocking-and-more/)
- [MDN: Web Authentication API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Authentication_API)
- [web.dev: Installable web apps](https://web.dev/learn/pwa/installation)