Last Updated: April 3, 2015

Anyone who's used a web browser for even a little while is familiar with the concept of a bookmark: it's a shortcut that lets you get to your favorite websites with just one click or tap instead of having to type the website's entire address every time. Bookmarks save a lot of time, but in order to use them, you have to already be in the web browser app.

IPhone users have an even better, more efficient option: the web clip.

Web clips are shortcuts to websites that you can save to your iPhone's home screen. They look like apps, but they function differently: Tap the web clip and your Safari app will open and the website you want to go to will load.

If you visit the same sites often and want to get to them even faster, you'll really appreciate the simplicity web clips provide.

Creating iPhone Web Clips

Making an iPhone web clip is really simple, just follow these steps:

1. Open the Safari web browser app on your phone
2. Browse to the site you want to make a shortcut to (you can make a web clip out of any site you can browse to, though if the site requires a password, you can't save that as part of the web clip)
3. Tap the Action Box (the square with the arrow coming out of it) at the bottom center of the web browser window
4. Tap Add to Home Screen
5. By default, the name of the shortcut will be the title of the website. To change that, tap the X icon at the right and type the new name you want to use. If you want to change the name, you have to do it in this step; you can't do it later. If you want to change the name later, you have to delete and create the shortcut again

1. Tap Add.

You're now taken to your iPhone's home screen, where you'll see the shortcut. Next time you want to visit that site, just tap the shortcut and you'll be there in no time.

Moving Web Clips

By default, these shortcuts are added to the end of your list of apps and screens. You can move the icon to any position, on any screen, or even put it in a folder. To do that, use the standard steps for rearranging your iPhone home screen.

Deleting Website Shortcuts

If you no longer need the web clip, you can delete it by following these steps:

1. Tap and hold on the shortcut icon until all the icons on your home screen start to shake
2. Tap the X on the top left corner of the icon
3. In the pop up that confirms that you really want to delete the web clip, tap Delete
4. When the icon is deleted, press the iPhone's home button to stop the icons shaking.

 

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