Install Bellchain as an app

Bellchain is a web app, also called a progressive web app (PWA): you install it right from your browser, without an app store and for free. After that you open Bellchain like any other app.

What changes with the app

Its own icon on the Home Screen, in the Dock, on the taskbar or in the Start menu.
Its own window without an address bar and tabs. The board gets more room.
Push on iPhone and iPad: there, notifications only work in the installed app. On Android and on your computer, push also works in the browser.
Shortcuts: with Chrome and Edge, the menu of the app icon (touch and hold or right-click) takes you straight to Alerts, My chains and Notifications.

Everything else stays the same: the same account, the same chains, the same state as in the browser. The app loads Bellchain from the server every time it starts, so it needs an internet connection.

Installing

This is how it works in Safari on the iPhone, from iOS 26:

Open app.bellchain.app in Safari.
Tap More, on iOS 27 the Page Menu button, and then Share. If you chose the tab layout Bottom or Top, tap Share directly.
Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen. If it’s missing, add it to the list with Edit Actions.
Make sure Open as Web App is turned on, then tap Add.
Open Bellchain from the new icon on your Home Screen.

If you were signed in in Safari before, iOS carries the sign-in over into the app. Otherwise, sign in inside the app.

iPad: tap Share to the right of the search field, then More (on iPadOS 27 View More) and Add to Home Screen. Continue with step 4 above.

iOS 16.4 to 18: in Safari, tap Share at the bottom (top right on the iPad), then Add to Home Screen and Add. Before iOS 16.4 adding works too, but push doesn’t.

Chrome, Edge or Firefox: since iOS 16.4 this also works there via Share and Add to Home Screen. In Chrome and Firefox, Share is on the right of the address bar. Bellchain then opens as its own app, no matter which browser you added it with.

On iPhone and iPad and with Safari on the Mac, the app has its own storage, separate from the browser. When you add it, it takes over the sign-in from Safari; after that it’s independent. If you aren’t signed in inside the app, for example because you weren’t in Safari either or the session expired, sign in inside the app itself:

Tap Sign in in the app, enter your address and tap Send link.
Type the six-digit code from the email into the field Code from the email. Don’t tap the link in the email for this: it opens the browser and only signs you in there.

With Chrome, Edge and on Android, the app shares the sign-in with the browser you installed it from, so you’re usually signed in already. You also need the code whenever you sign in again inside the app: the link from the email always opens the browser.

Chains you built without an account only in the browser don’t come into the app by themselves. Sign in in the browser first; they then move into your account (Moving chains from the browser) and show up in the app.

Then set up push on this device.

Updates

Bellchain updates itself: the app fetches the current version from the server every time it starts, just like the website. There’s no update from an app store. The version that’s running is shown in the app under Help; what’s new is in the changelog.

If something looks outdated, close the app completely and open it again. If the name or icon changes, the browser picks that up by itself, which can take a few days.

Removing it

iPhone and iPad: touch and hold the icon, tap Remove App or Delete Bookmark and confirm.
Android: under Settings → Apps → See all apps, choose Bellchain and tap Uninstall. On many devices you can also touch and hold the icon.
Chrome on your computer: in the app, open at the top right, choose Uninstall Bellchain… and confirm with Uninstall. On a Chromebook: right-click Bellchain in the Launcher and choose Uninstall.
Edge: open edge://apps, click Details and Uninstall for Bellchain and confirm.
Safari on the Mac: in the Finder choose Go → Home, open the Applications folder and drag Bellchain to the Trash.
Firefox on Windows: in the app, click Remove tab from taskbar. Bellchain becomes a normal tab again; unpin the icon from the taskbar with a right-click.

Your account and your chains stay. If you had turned on push on the device, turn it off first under Notifications with Turn off here. Otherwise Bellchain removes the device by itself as soon as the push service no longer knows it.

If it doesn’t work

There’s no option to install

Private window: in private browsing, for example in an Incognito window, nothing can be installed. Open Bellchain in a normal window.
A built-in browser: links from Telegram, Instagram, X or a mail app often open in that app’s own browser. The install option is missing there. Open the page in Safari or Chrome first, usually via the built-in browser’s menu ( or ) and Open in Safari or Open in…, then install.
Already installed: Chrome on your computer then shows Open in Bellchain instead of Install Bellchain…; on Android, Chrome says This app is already installed.
Firefox on Mac and Linux: can’t install Bellchain. On Windows, Firefox before version 143 has no button for it.

The app opens like a website

If you see an address bar in the app, only a bookmark landed on your Home Screen. On the iPhone, Open as Web App was turned off when you added it; on Android the browser only created a shortcut. Remove the icon and add Bellchain again, on the iPhone with Open as Web App turned on, on Android via Install.

Signed in in the browser but not in the app

On iPhone and iPad and with Safari on the Mac, the app has its own storage. Sign in inside the app with the code from the email.

Push doesn’t arrive

See Push and The message doesn’t arrive.

Version 2026.10.21.23 · Changelog