What's a PWA?
PWA stands for progressive web app. It's basically a website you can install, so it sits on your phone or computer like any other app and keeps working when your internet doesn't. Every app on this site is a PWA, which means you don't need an app store or an account to use any of them.
The short version
You don't actually have to install anything. Every app here works the same in a regular browser tab as it does installed, and installing just changes where it lives and how you open it.
When you install one, your browser saves a copy of the app's files on your device. From then on it opens from those files, which is why it starts up instantly and still works with the internet off. It installs straight from the page, so nothing goes through Apple or Google for review and nothing asks you to sign in. If you uninstall it, the saved copy gets removed too, the same as clearing a website's data.
How to install one
On a computer
| Chrome, Edge, Brave or Opera | Look for the install icon at the right end of the address bar (a small screen with a downward arrow), click it, then click Install. If you don't see it, open the menu (⋮ or …) and go to Cast, save and share → Install page as app. In Edge, it's menu → Apps → Install this site as an app. |
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| Safari on a Mac | Go to File → Add to Dock. You'll need Safari 17 or newer. |
| Firefox | Unfortunately desktop Firefox doesn't support installing web apps. The app still works fine in a tab, including offline once you've opened it, it just won't get its own window. |
On a phone or tablet
| iPhone and iPad | In Safari, tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up), scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen. Recent versions of iOS also let you do this from the Share menu in Chrome, Edge and Firefox. |
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| Android with Chrome | A prompt to install will often pop up on its own. If it doesn't, open the menu (⋮) and tap Add to Home screen → Install. |
| Android with Firefox or Samsung Internet | Open the menu and tap Install, or Add page to → Home screen. |
Installed, or just a shortcut? A properly installed app opens without an address bar at the top. If you still see the web address, you've got a bookmark that opens in your browser. It'll still work fine, it just won't feel like an app.
What works offline and what doesn't
Once an app is installed, everything it needs to open (the screens, buttons and code) is on your device, so you never need a connection just to start it.
Anything the app does on your device also works offline. Doc Digitizer reads the text from your pages using an engine that's built right into the app, about 20 MB of it. That's why it's a bigger download, and it's also why it never has to send your documents anywhere. With your internet off, it works exactly the same.
Live information is different, since an app can't make up data it hasn't fetched yet. NHL Calendar opens offline, but it needs a connection to get the schedules because the games come from the NHL. The calendar file it creates is yours to keep and works offline afterwards.
Installing an app also doesn't cut it off from the internet. It'll still go online whenever it needs to, exactly like it would in a tab. Each tool's page lists what it connects to and when, so you know before you use it.
What gets stored and where
| The app's files | Your browser saves these when you install the app and keeps them until you uninstall it. This is the number in the PWA Size column on the tools list, so you can see how much space each app takes up on your device. |
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| Updates | When we publish a new version, the app picks it up the next time you open it with an internet connection. You don't need to update anything or re-download it yourself. |
| Your work | Stays on your device. Documents, saved settings, picked teams and anything else you make stays on your device, in your browser's storage for this site rather than on a server. Each tool's page tells you exactly what it keeps. |
| Installed vs. just visiting | The storage is the same either way, since an installed app and the site in a tab share it. The difference is that browsers sometimes clear a website's storage on their own when your device is low on space, and they're much less likely to do that to an app you've installed. So if you've got work you want to keep, installing is the safer bet. |
| Clearing it | Uninstalling the app or clearing this site's browsing data removes both the app's files and anything you made with it. We don't have a copy on our end to restore it from, which is the trade-off for us never having your data in the first place. |
Why we build them this way
An installed app that does its work on your device doesn't need anything from us to keep running. There's no account to lose, no subscription to run out, and no server we have to keep paying for. If this site disappeared tomorrow, any app you've installed would keep working.
Every app here also works perfectly well in a regular browser tab. Installing is always optional, and you never have to do it to get the full app.