As Google Chrome doesn’t have an integrated option to add website links straight to your home screen, learning how to add a Google Chrome shortcut to the iPhone home screen can be very helpful.
Safari users will not need to do this, as there is a built in function. For information on how to do this in Safari on a Mac or an iPhone, check out our blog post, How to Make a Shortcut to a Webpage in Safari.
If you prefer to use the Chrome browser, you can use the Shortcuts app to make a button on the home screen.
How to create the shortcut
First we need a basic understanding of what the Shortcuts app does.
The Shortcuts app lets you create a script and use macro commands to program a series of actions. This is especially useful for actions that aren’t already integrated into iOS.
Although Shortcuts can become very complex, thankfully for this process it is not very hard.
For more information on the Apple Shortcuts App, check out their user guide.
The first thing we need to do is open the Shortcuts app. If you can not locate it on your phone, check the app library. If you still don’t see it, download it from the App Store.
Once open, tap the + sign in the top right to create a new shortcut.
Next, Scroll down and find Google Chrome in the list of apps.
Once selected, you will see a large list of default actions that can be applied to Chrome. Scroll down until you see the choice of “Open URLs in Chrome.” And tap on it.
Adding the URL, renaming, and adding the shortcut to the home screen
Now that you have selected the right the action, type the web address of the website you want the shortcut for into the box at the top that says “Open” with a blue URL box beside it.
You will want to rename the shortcut so it can be easily identified. This is done by clicking on the button with the grey arrow pointing down next to the words “Open URLs in Chrome” at the top.
For our example below we changed the name to “SDM.”
This menu also allows you to add the shortcut to your home screen. Here you can choose to either have a generic colored icon or choose an icon from a picture in your photo gallery.
Once these steps are all completed, hit the done button on the top right to finalize.
When finished it will display with the name and your selected icon on the home screen.
If you accidentally hit done before all these steps are complete, you can hold your finger down on the shortcut within the Shortcuts app and choose edit.
You can not edit the shortcut itself on the home screen, only in the Shortcuts app where it was created. This can be accessed by hitting the 3 dots on the shortcut, or by holding down and hitting edit.
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