iPhone (PWA)

Access Crow from your iPhone by installing the Crow's Nest as a web app — no App Store account, no APK, nothing to approve. This is called a Progressive Web App (PWA), and it looks and behaves like any other app icon on your Home Screen.

Requires iOS 16.4 or later

Apple added push notification support for installed web apps in iOS 16.4. If notifications don't show up as an option, check Settings > General > About > Software Version and update if needed.

Step 1: Join your Crow's Tailscale network

If your Crow gateway runs on a home server (not something already reachable from the open internet), install Tailscale first so your iPhone can reach it securely from anywhere:

1. Install the Tailscale app from the App Store
2. Open Tailscale and sign in with the same account used on your Crow server
3. Toggle Tailscale on

See the full Tailscale Setup guide if this is your first time setting it up, or if you need the server's Tailscale address.

Already on the same Wi-Fi?

If your iPhone and your Crow server are on the same home network, you can skip Tailscale and use the server's local address directly.

Step 2: Open your Crow's Nest URL in Safari

1. Open Safari (this must be Safari — other browsers on iOS can't install web apps to the Home Screen)
2. Type in the address whoever set up your Crow gave you — it looks like a website address, for example http://100.121.254.89:3001 or https://your-server.your-tailnet.ts.net:8444/dashboard (the number after the : varies per setup — see the Tailscale Setup guide or run tailscale serve status on the server to find yours)
3. Log in with your Crow's Nest password

Step 3: Add Crow to your Home Screen

1. Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow pointing up, in the bottom toolbar)
2. Scroll down the list of options and tap Add to Home Screen
3. Confirm the name (or leave it as "Crow") and tap Add

A Crow icon now appears on your Home Screen, just like any other app.

Step 4: Open Crow from the Home Screen and turn on notifications

Open the icon, not the Safari tab

Notification permission can only be granted from inside the installed app — tapping the Home Screen icon. Safari itself will not offer to turn on notifications for the site, even though it's the same page.

1. Close Safari and tap the Crow icon on your Home Screen
2. Go to Settings > Notifications inside Crow's Nest
3. Tap Enable Push
4. When iOS asks to allow notifications, tap Allow

That's it — Crow now runs full-screen, without Safari's address bar, and can send you push notifications for calls, messages, and reminders.

Troubleshooting

I don't see an option to enable notifications

Make sure you opened Crow from the Home Screen icon, not from a Safari tab or bookmark. If you're not sure, close Safari completely, then tap the Crow icon again.

I already added it to the Home Screen, but notifications still don't work

• Remove the icon from your Home Screen (long-press it > Remove App > Remove from Home Screen) and repeat Steps 2-4. This forces iOS to re-register the app.
• Confirm you're on iOS 16.4 or later (Settings > General > About).
• Check that notifications aren't being silenced by a Focus mode: Settings > Focus, and make sure the active Focus (Do Not Disturb, Sleep, Work, etc.) allows notifications from Crow, or turn the Focus off.
• Check Settings > Notifications > Crow on the iPhone itself and confirm "Allow Notifications" is on.

The page looks like a normal website, not an app

If it still shows Safari's address bar and tabs, you're looking at the Safari tab, not the installed app. Go back to Step 3 and add it to the Home Screen, then always open it from that icon going forward.

I can't reach the page at all

• If you're away from home, confirm Tailscale is connected (open the Tailscale app and check it says "Connected")
• Double-check the address — it's case-sensitive and needs the http:// or https:// part
• Ask whoever manages your Crow server to confirm the gateway is running