Turn Your Shopify Storefront into a Mobile App
The mobile app your store already has.
Your store already works on mobile.
What it may not have yet is a place on the shopper's home screen.
With Pilot, shoppers can add your storefront to their iPhone or Android home screen with your icon, app name, and colors. When they open it, the storefront fills the screen without the usual browser controls around it.
It looks and feels like an app, but there is no separate app to build or submit.
For merchants searching for a Shopify mobile app without an app store, the model is straightforward. Shoppers add the storefront from their browser, while you continue managing the same store and the same Shopify checkout.
You may also see this type of experience described as a Shopify Hydrogen PWA. In Pilot, we call it an installable storefront because that describes what merchants and shoppers actually use. If you are new to the framework, start with our guide to Shopify Hydrogen.
Behind the icon is the same storefront and the same Shopify checkout your customers already use. When you deploy your storefront, the installed version reflects the update.
Your store, on their home screen. No separate app to build or submit.
How shoppers add your Shopify store to their home screen
Shoppers can add your storefront to their home screen on both Android and iPhone.
The installation steps are different on each device.
On Android
Shoppers add the store from their browser.
Once added, the store appears on the home screen with your branded icon and app name.
Opening it launches the storefront fullscreen, without the usual browser controls around it.
On iPhone
The process is slightly different because iOS does not automatically show an install prompt.
Shoppers open the store in Safari, tap Share, then choose Add to Home Screen.
Pilot can also show iPhone visitors a one-time installation hint that points them to this option.
Once added, shoppers get:
- Your branded icon and app name on their home screen
- A standalone, full-screen storefront experience
- The same products, cart, and checkout flow they already use on your site
- Storefront updates as you deploy them, without downloading a new app version
How to turn your Shopify store into an app-like experience
This is the simple part.
There is no separate mobile application to build.
In Weaverse Studio:
- Go to Theme settings → Mobile app (PWA).
- Turn on Enable installable app.
- Add your app name and branding.
- Upload a square app icon.
- Publish.
That's it.
You can also configure the short app name, theme color, splash-screen background, and whether Pilot should show the iOS installation hint.
There is no new codebase for your team to maintain and no App Store or Play Store review process involved.
For the full setup instructions, see the Installable Mobile App (PWA) guide.
The same store, not a second one
The installed version is your existing storefront.
It uses the same products, content, cart, and Shopify checkout.
When your team updates a landing page, changes a product section, or launches a campaign, you do not need to repeat the work in a separate mobile app. A visual builder for Shopify Hydrogen keeps those storefront updates in the same workflow.
Deploy the storefront, and the installed version reflects the update.
Your team continues managing one storefront, not two.
Is this the same as a native mobile app?
No, and that distinction matters.
Installable storefronts give shoppers some of the most useful parts of an app-like experience: a home-screen icon, standalone full-screen browsing, and easy access back to your store.
But it does not turn your storefront into an App Store or Google Play application.
There is no store listing or app store review process.
And push notifications are not available yet.
Shoppers can remove the icon from their home screen at any time.
The value is more specific. Your store can live on the customer's home screen with your branding and open fullscreen, without requiring a separate app project.
A simpler path to an installable Shopify storefront
Building a native mobile app makes sense when your business genuinely needs native-only capabilities.
But building an entirely separate application just to put your store on a shopper's home screen is a much bigger commitment. It also adds another operational layer to the usual costs and trade-offs of headless commerce.
Pilot now gives Shopify Hydrogen merchants another option.
Turn on the feature.
Add your icon.
Publish.
Your existing storefront becomes installable on iOS and Android while staying part of the same Hydrogen storefront you already build, update, and maintain.
You can find more technical details in the Pilot v2026.7.22 release notes.
Try it in Pilot today
Already using Pilot 2026.7 or later?
Open your project in Weaverse Studio, go to Theme settings → Mobile app (PWA), upload your icon, and turn it on.
Your storefront may already be the mobile app you need.
