apple-mobile-web-app-capable & iOS Web App Meta Tags
apple-mobile-web-app-capable is a meta tag that tells iOS to launch your site full-screen, without Safari's chrome, when it's opened from the home screen. It pairs with apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style to colour the status bar and apple-mobile-web-app-title to set the name. Modern iOS increasingly reads the manifest's display mode instead, but these tags remain the reliable route on Safari.
Making a home-screen shortcut behave like an app
With apple-mobile-web-app-capable set to yes, a site opened from the iOS home screen launches full-screen, standalone, with no Safari toolbar. apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style then controls the status bar (default, black, or black-translucent), and apple-mobile-web-app-title sets the label under the icon.
These only take effect when the site is launched from the home screen. In a normal Safari tab they do nothing.
The iOS web-app meta tags
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes" />
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-status-bar-style" content="black-translucent" />
<meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-title" content="My App" />iOS web app meta FAQ
What does apple-mobile-web-app-capable do?
It makes a site launch full-screen, without Safari's chrome, when opened from the iOS home screen. It has no effect in a normal browser tab.
What does black-translucent do to the status bar?
It lets your page draw behind the status bar, which then floats over your content in white. You have to add top padding yourself or the status bar overlaps your header.
Do I still need these tags with a manifest?
Increasingly less so. "display": "standalone" in the manifest handles full-screen launch. Keep the apple- tags for older iOS and finer status-bar control.