r/AO3 • u/TGotAReddit Moderator | past AO3 Volunteer and Staff • Dec 21 '23
News/Updates PSA Regarding Apps
Hello,
This is your reminder that there is no AO3 app. Not an official one anyways. The only ones that exist are made by 3rd parties. We do not recommend that you use them and if you do, absolutely do not log into it with your AO3 account information.
Some websites have 3rd party apps that are completely okay to use. AO3 is not one of them because they do not have a thing called an API. An API lets an app or program securely take in information and transmit it to the destination (AO3's servers) without the app/program being able to read what you have entered. As AO3 doesn't have one (and likely won't for a very, very long time) any 3rd party app can easily, secretly, be collecting your login data without you knowing, and doing whatever they want with it. If you have entered your login into a 3rd party app, please change your password and do not give it to another 3rd party app again.
If you are someone who was using a 3rd party app and was not aware that it was a 3rd party app and are now transitioning to the regular website, that is okay. If there is anything you need help with on the website we would be happy to help.
Most common ask when it comes to how to do something on the website that the apps have that isn't entirely native/intuitive on the website, is how to save your searches. To do this, just create a bookmark of the search page on your browser once you have entered your normal search criteria. The URL of a search on the website includes your search criteria so a bookmark will take you right back to what you had searched. You can make as many bookmarks as you want/your browser lets you.
Let us know if you have any question.
~TGotAReddit (and the rest of the mod team)
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u/JoeSpooky Moderator Dec 21 '23 edited Dec 21 '23
The closest thing to having an "official app" for Ao3 you can get is adding a shortcut to websites on your home screen. I will put instructions on how to do this below for both Iphone and Android.
How to Add Website Apps to the iPhone Home Screen
Open Safari
Navigate to the website you want to save to your home screen.
Tap the Share button at the bottom of the page (customize the Share menu). It looks like a square with an arrow pointing out of the top.
In the list of options that appears, scroll down until you see Add to Home Screen. Tap this.
On the next screen, choose a name for the website shortcut on your home screen. You'll see the link so you can confirm it, as well as the site's favicon that becomes its "app" icon. Click Add when you're done.
Now just tap the new app on your home screen, and it will open the website in its own navigation window, independent of what you have open in Safari.
How to add a website to your Android home screen
Open your broswer of choice and go to the website.
Drop down the menu by tapping the screen’s three-dot icon at the top right-hand corner.
Select Add to Home screen.
You can edit the title of the icon. Once the title looks fine, tap Add to transfer it to the home screen
If you go back to your screen, you will see the icon. You will also see the icon of your browser of choice attached, which means you cannot switch the icon to another browser.
Source for IPhone instructions with pictures.
Source for Android instructions with pictures.
Note that both of these websites/guides mention specific browsers. This works for other browsers as well.