If your companion app has disappeared from the App Store, or you'd simply rather not install another app, you can still have one on your iPhone's Home Screen. Web apps added from Safari open full screen, keep you signed in, and can even send notifications. It takes under a minute.
Short version
- Open the site in Safari.
- Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow).
- Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
- Tap Add. The icon appears on your Home Screen.
Why this works
Many AI companions, including NuraMate, run in the browser. A Home Screen web app is a shortcut that opens that site in its own full-screen window, without Safari's address bar. Because it's a website, it doesn't need to be listed in the App Store, and it updates itself every time you open it.
Step by step on iPhone
- Use Safari. Add to Home Screen is most reliable from Safari. Recent iOS versions also offer it in some other browsers' share menus.
- Go to the site and sign in. For NuraMate, open nuramate.ai and create a free account or sign in.
- Tap Share. It's at the bottom of the screen on iPhone (at the top on iPad).
- Tap Add to Home Screen. If you don't see it, scroll down the list, or tap Edit Actions to add it.
- Name it and tap Add. Keep the suggested name or type your own.
Open it from the Home Screen from now on. It opens like an app, in its own window, and appears in the app switcher.
Turn on notifications (optional)
On iOS 16.4 and later, a web app opened from the Home Screen can ask permission to send notifications, just like an installed app. On NuraMate, open the Home Screen app and turn on notifications when it offers, so you see when your companion messages you first. You can turn them off anytime in iPhone Settings › Notifications.
Notifications only work in the Home Screen version, not in a regular Safari tab.
On Android
- Open the site in Chrome.
- Tap the menu (three dots).
- Choose Add to Home screen or Install app.
Web app or App Store app: what's different?
- Installing: a web app needs no download and no App Store account. It takes up almost no storage.
- Updates: a web app is always the latest version; there's nothing to update.
- Payments: subscriptions are paid on the website, not through Apple, so you manage or cancel them from your account on the site.
- Notifications: available on iOS 16.4 and later, once you allow them.
- Across devices: sign in on your phone, tablet and computer, and your companions and chats are the same everywhere.
Coming from CHAI or PolyBuzz?
Third-party trackers reported in October 2026 that PolyBuzz and then CHAI could no longer be downloaded from the iPhone App Store. If the app is already installed on your phone, check each app's own site for current availability before you delete anything. If you're looking for somewhere to start fresh on iPhone today, a web companion is the quickest route. Chats from those apps don't move over automatically, but you can describe a character you loved and recreate it. See our CHAI and PolyBuzz page.
Troubleshooting
- It opens in Safari instead of full screen. Remove the icon and add it again from Safari's Share menu.
- I'm signed out every time. Make sure you signed in inside the Home Screen app itself; it can keep its own sign-in separate from Safari.
- No notification prompt. Check that your iPhone is on iOS 16.4 or later, and that you opened the app from the Home Screen.
- Private Browsing. Add to Home Screen from a normal tab, not a Private one.
Is it safe?
A Home Screen web app runs inside the same sandbox as Safari. It can't see your other apps, photos or files unless you choose to share something with it. It's as private as the website itself, so the questions that matter are about the service: what it stores, and whether you can delete it. See our privacy checklist.
Menu names can differ slightly between iOS versions. iPhone, iOS and Safari are trademarks of Apple Inc.
