iOS 'Add to Home Screen' opens the wrong page: one global manifest start_url; existing icons keep the old URL
- Root manifest for the main app:
start_url: "/", proper name. - A separate manifest for the sub-app, linked only from its own layout:
// app/b/layout.tsx
export const metadata = { manifest: "/b.webmanifest" };
// app/b.webmanifest/route.ts returns JSON with start_url "/b", name "Scan"
- Tell users with an old icon to delete it and add it again from the right page.
Symptom
A Next.js app had two audiences: office pages at / and a worker scan page at /b. A manager saved an office page to his iPhone home screen, but the icon always opened the worker scan page.
Cause
app/manifest.ts defined a single web app manifest with start_url: "/b" and name "Scan" for the whole site. iOS uses the manifest's start_url when it creates the icon, not the URL you were viewing. Icons that already exist keep the start_url they were created with.
Verify
After deploying, icons added from office pages opened /, and icons added from /b opened /b.
Notes
Standalone (home screen) web apps on iOS keep their own cookie jar, separate from Safari, so users have to sign in once inside the icon.
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