How to turn an HTML file into an app on your phone (free)

You made a game, a quiz, a timer, or a budget tool with ChatGPT or Claude, and it's one HTML file. You want it "as an app": an icon on the home screen that opens full screen, and maybe a listing in Google Play or the App Store.

Most of the way there is free. A phone turns any web address into a home-screen icon, and on an iPhone that icon can open the page full screen. How to add an HTML file to your home screen has the steps for iPhone, iPad, and Android; its iPhone steps were tested on iOS 26.3. This page covers the rest of the choice: what each kind of "app" costs, and what an APK or a store listing takes.

The Apple, Google, MDN, and PWABuilder pages quoted here were read on November 4, 2026. The iPhone results come from the home-screen guide's tests in Apple's iOS 26.3 Simulator on November 1; nothing else on this page was tested.

For an icon on your phone, free: publish the page, open its address in Safari or Chrome, and add it to the home screen. When you publish a new version to the same address, the same icon opens it.

For an APK or a store listing: the page goes inside a native app project, such as an Android WebView app or a PWABuilder package. Google Play Console charges a US$25 one-time registration fee. The Apple Developer Program is US$99 a year. Apple's App Review and Google Play's policies decide what each store accepts.

What "an app" can mean for an HTML file

Only the first row works with one HTML file and nothing else. A PWA needs a second file, the manifest. An APK and the store apps need a computer with Android Studio or Xcode, and the store apps a paid developer account.

The free way: a link, then Add to Home Screen

A home-screen icon holds a web address, not a file. Apple's steps start from "the website you want to add to your Home Screen" in Safari, and Google's from "the website you want to create a shortcut for" in Chrome. So the HTML file needs an address first.

With Convika, choose or drop the file in the box at the top of this page, or paste the code, and tap Get my preview link. That preview link is for checking the layout: its scripts are off, and it stops working after 3 minutes, so an icon made from it stops too. Tap Keep this page — free, no card and sign up, then tap Publish page. Under Who can open this page?, choose Public and tap Next. The first time, tap Publish free. Under it, Publish without the Convika bar opens an order for Pro monthly ($12 a month, after a free 1-day trial with a card). Then open the page's address on your phone and add it to the home screen, as the home-screen guide shows.

What you get, from that guide's tests and Google's help:

• On iPhone, with Open as Web App on, the icon opened the page full screen, without Safari's address bar, and its script ran, in our iOS 26.3 test. Apple says the icon "appears only on the device where you add it", so each friend adds the link on their own phone.
• On Android, a Convika page has no web app manifest, so expect Chrome's Create shortcut. Google's tip: "Shortcuts with Chrome logo will open in Chrome." We didn't test it on an Android phone.
• Updates reach the icon. Upload the edited file under Update from an HTML file on the page's screen, or type the change into Edit with AI, then tap Publish. The icon opens the new version at the same address. Upload an HTML file in the dashboard makes a new page with a new address, which the old icon doesn't open (update your AI game without changing the link).
• The Free plan's limits apply. Free publishes 1 page at a time and includes 10,000 page views a month across your pages; each time the icon loads the page counts as one. On Free, a 64 px Convika bar runs along the bottom of the window.

Make it look and feel like an app

• Full screen. On iPhone, that's Open as Web App, as above. MDN adds that "On iOS 16.4 and later, PWAs can be installed from the Share menu in Safari, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Orion."
• Icon and name on iPhone. A square PNG in the page's <head> as an apple-touch-icon link sets the icon, and apple-mobile-web-app-title sets the name. On a one-file page, the image goes inside the HTML as a data: address. Both worked in the home-screen guide's iOS 26.3 test, on a test page with a Free Convika page's security headers.
• The manifest. MDN calls a web app manifest "a JSON text file that provides information about a web application", and says Chromium browsers need it to include name or short_name, icons of 192 and 512 pixels, start_url, and display. A Convika page can't use one. Its security headers accept a manifest only from the same address as the page, and one HTML file can't bring a second file. In the home-screen guide's Chromium test, a manifest written into the page as a data: address was refused.
• Touch controls. A phone has no arrow keys. Fix an AI-made HTML game's mobile controls has the prompts for on-screen buttons. On Free, keep them clear of the bottom 64 px, where the Convika bar sits.

An APK for Android

There are 2 documented ways to put an HTML page inside an Android app.

A WebView app. Google's Android docs say: "Use WebView to deliver a web application or a web page as a part of a client app." A WebView "doesn't include the features of a fully developed web browser, such as navigation controls or an address bar." It can load the page from its web address, or from HTML built into the app. Google's page on in-app content lists the trade-off: "In-app content doesn't require internet access," but "Updating web-based content requires shipping a new app update." The steps are below.

A PWABuilder package. PWABuilder's docs say its Android package is a Trusted Web Activity, made with the Bubblewrap tool. Its list of what you need starts with "A valid PWA with a web manifest, published to the web and secured through HTTPS", and its publish steps upload an assetlinks.json file to the site's /.well-known/ folder. A Convika page can do neither: it has no manifest, and Convika publishes .html and .htm files only. This route needs a host where you upload several files.

Sites that offer to turn an HTML file into an APK. We didn't read or test any of them. Before you upload, read the service's own terms: who holds the signing key, and what ends up in the APK besides your page. PWABuilder's docs tell you to keep your signing key files "in a safe place", because "You'll need them to deploy future versions of your app."

Sharing an APK outside Google Play is changing. Google's Android developer verification page says verification "will be expanded globally for all apps on certified Android devices in 2027." It also lists limited distribution accounts, for "students, teachers, and hobbyists" to "share apps with up to 20 devices without a government-issued ID or registration fee." Check that page before you send an APK to friends.

Wrap an HTML page in an Android app in 4 steps

These steps are from Google's Android docs, read on November 4, 2026. We didn't build an app for this page, or wrap a Convika page in one.

1. Make a project in Android Studio

Create a new app project in Android Studio on a computer, and add a WebView to its layout. Google's docs: "include the <WebView> element in your activity layout or set the entire Activity window as a WebView in onCreate."

2. Point the WebView at your page

To load the published page, call loadUrl with its address and add the INTERNET permission to the app's manifest: "Your app must have access to the internet." To build the HTML into the app instead, put the file in an assets folder ("Text files like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS belong in assets") and load it through WebViewAssetLoader, at an address like https://appassets.androidplatform.net/assets/index.html.

3. Turn on JavaScript

"JavaScript is disabled in a WebView by default," Google says. Turn it on with setJavaScriptEnabled, or a game's buttons do nothing.

4. Run it on your phone

On the phone, open Settings, select Developer options, and turn on USB debugging, as Google's page on running apps on a hardware device describes. Google adds: "If you don't see Developer options, follow the instructions to enable developer options." Those instructions have you tap Build number 7 times; on a Pixel, it's in Settings > About phone. Then run the app from Android Studio over a USB cable or Wi-Fi.

Google Play and the App Store

Google Play. Google's Play Console help says: "There is a US$25 one-time registration fee." You must be 18 or over, and Google may ask for "a valid government ID and a credit card, both under your legal name." A personal account created after November 13, 2023 "must run a closed test for their app with a minimum of 12 testers who have been opted in continuously for at least 14 days" before it can apply for production access. Two policies matter for a page in a wrapper. The Spam policy: "We don’t allow apps whose primary purpose is to drive affiliate traffic to a website or provide a webview of a website without permission from the website owner or administrator." The functionality policy: "We do not allow apps that only have limited functionality and content," for example "Apps that are static without app-specific functionalities, for example, text only or PDF file apps."

The App Store. Apple's developer site lists the Apple Developer Program at "$99 annual membership". A free Apple account can "Test your apps directly on your own devices using Xcode", with limits: "You can install up to 3 apps per device," and the provisioning profiles "will expire 7 days from issuance." App Review Guideline 4.2, Minimum Functionality (the guidelines were last updated October 16, 2026): "Your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website. If your app is not particularly useful, unique, or “app-like,” it doesn’t belong on the App Store." Guideline 4.2.2 adds that apps "shouldn’t primarily be marketing materials, advertisements, web clippings, content aggregators, or a collection of links." PWABuilder's iOS package needs "A macOS device with Xcode installed", and its docs call packaging for iOS "Experimental".

By that guideline, an app that only shows your page should add features, content, or UI beyond it. For friends and family, the home-screen icon reaches them without either store.

What Convika does, and what it doesn't

Convika publishes the HTML file as a page at its own address, keeps that address when you publish a new version, and shows how many people open it. That address is what a home-screen icon holds, and what a WebView app would load; we didn't test a WebView app with a Convika page.

Convika doesn't build an APK or an iPhone app, doesn't submit anything to Google Play or the App Store, and a Convika page can't carry a web app manifest. For a store app, Convika's page can be where the HTML lives, but the app project, the developer accounts, and the store submission are yours.

Frequently asked questions

Can I turn an HTML file into an app for free?

Yes, as a home-screen icon. Publish the file at a web address, for example on Convika's Free plan, open the address in Safari or Chrome, and add it to the home screen. On iPhone, with Open as Web App on, the icon opened the page full screen in our iOS 26.3 test. A store listing isn't free: Google Play Console charges a US$25 one-time fee, and the Apple Developer Program is US$99 a year.

Is there a free HTML file to app converter?

PWABuilder packages a web app for Google Play and the App Store, but its docs require "a valid PWA with a web manifest, published to the web and secured through HTTPS", which a single HTML file on its own isn't. Online "HTML to APK" converters exist; we didn't test any, so read a service's terms on signing keys and what it adds to the app before you upload. For an icon on your own phone, no converter is needed.

How do I turn an HTML file into an Android app (APK)?

Make an Android Studio project with a WebView, and either load the page's web address or put the HTML file in the project's assets folder and load it with WebViewAssetLoader, as Google's docs describe. Turn on JavaScript with setJavaScriptEnabled, since "JavaScript is disabled in a WebView by default." Run it on your phone with USB debugging on. We didn't build one for this page.

Can I put my HTML game on the App Store?

Only inside a native app, built with Xcode on a Mac and submitted under the Apple Developer Program, which is US$99 a year. App Review Guideline 4.2 says: "If your app is not particularly useful, unique, or “app-like,” it doesn’t belong on the App Store." To play it on an iPhone without the store, add its link to the home screen with Open as Web App on.

How much does it cost to put an app on Google Play and the App Store?

Google Play Console has a US$25 one-time registration fee, and a new personal account first runs a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days. The Apple Developer Program is US$99 a year. A home-screen icon for a published page costs nothing on Convika's Free plan.

Does an HTML app on the home screen work offline?

Plan on a connection. In our iOS 26.3 test, the home-screen icon loaded the page from its web address each time, and we didn't test it offline. An Android app with the HTML built into it works without the internet, Google says, but then "Updating web-based content requires shipping a new app update."

Will the app update when I change the HTML file?

A home-screen icon does, if the new version goes to the same address. On Convika, use Update from an HTML file or Edit with AI on the page's screen and tap Publish. An app with the HTML built in needs a new app version, and a store app needs that version submitted to the store.

Does Convika make an APK or submit to the App Store?

No. Convika publishes the HTML file as a page with its own address, which you can add to the home screen. It doesn't build an APK or an iPhone app, doesn't submit to Google Play or the App Store, and a Convika page can't carry a web app manifest.

Sources

• Bookmark a website in Safari on iPhone (Apple) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Turn a website into an app in Safari on iPhone (Apple) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Create shortcuts for websites in Chrome, Android (Google Chrome Help) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Apple Developer Program (Apple) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Developer account overview (Apple Developer) (checked November 4, 2026)
• App Review Guidelines (Apple Developer) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Get started with Play Console (Google) (checked November 4, 2026)
• App testing requirements for new personal developer accounts (Google) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Spam, Google Play policy (Google) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Functionality, Content, and User Experience, Google Play policy (Google) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Build web apps in WebView (Android Developers) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Load in-app content (Android Developers) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Run apps on a hardware device (Android Developers) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Configure on-device developer options (Android Developers) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Android developer verification (Android Developers) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Making PWAs installable (MDN) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Web application manifest (MDN) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Publishing PWAs to the Google Play Store (PWABuilder) (checked November 4, 2026)
• Publishing PWAs to the App Store (PWABuilder) (checked November 4, 2026)