4 ways to save a web page on an iPhone or Android phone
So, you’re surfing the web on your Android or iOS device when you come across a page you want to save—not just bookmark, but keep, either locally on your handset or to your favorite cloud drive.
Not a problem. There are, in fact, a few different ways to save a webpage as a PDF, which you can then save to your device’s on-board storage or sync to a cloud service like Dropbox or Google Drive. You can also save lengthy articles to an offline reader app, or send the entire text of a page in the body of an email message.
Read on for four ways to save a webpage for later using Android or iOS, starting with…
Add a webpage to your Reading List (iOS only)
Bookmarking a webpage in Safari for iPhone or iPad does little more than save the page’s URL in a thicket of nested bookmark folders—and if you happen to lose your network connection, pulling up a bookmark will give you nothing but an error message.
Ben Patterson
iOS’s Reading List feature can take a functional snapshot of any webpage, then save it to your handset’s local storage for offline reading.
The beauty of iOS’s Reading List feature is that it can take a functional snapshot of any webpage, save it to your handset’s local storage for offline reading, and sync it with all your other iCloud-connected devices.
To save a webpage to your Reading List, just open the page in Safari, tap the Action button (the square button with the arrow) at the bottom of the screen, then tap Add to Reading List.
To open your Reading List, tap the Bookmarks button (the button that looks like an open book), then tap the Reading List tab (it’s the icon that looks like a pair of reading glasses).
Note: Adding a webpage to your Reading List won’t necessarily save it for all time. In my tests, I found that Reading List will try to grab the latest version of a page if your device is online, and if the page happens to disappear from the web, you’ll get a “page not found” error (or something along those lines). If you go back offline, Reading List usually goes back to the older, “cached” version.
Download a webpage in Chrome (Android only)
If you’re using Chrome for Android, good news: There’s an easy way to download webpages for offline reading.
Ben Patterson / IDG
Just tap the download icon (the one that looks like a down arrow) to save a webpage in Chrome for Android.
Unlike iOS’s Reading List feature, Chrome won’t sync downloaded webpages to your other Android devices. But while iOS will try to update pages saved to Reading List, even going so far as to give you a ‘404’ error on saved webpages that have since disappeared, Chrome treats your saved webpages as permanent snapshots. You can even compared a live webpage and downloaded offline page in separate Chrome tabs.
To save a webpage in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu button in the top-right corner of the screen, then tap the Download icon (the one that looks like a down arrow).
To access your saved webpages, tap the three-dot menu button again, then tap the Download icon. Tap a downloaded page to view it in Chrome, or tap and hold the page to share it or trash it.
Save a webpage as a PDF (Android and iOS)
While a webpage added to your iOS Reading List or Downloads in Chrome will look pretty much identical to its live, on-the-web counterpart, a PDF version of the same page may look jumbled and ungainly compared to the original. The upside of a PDF’d webpage, though, is that it’s essentially a digital printout—meaning it’s yours to keep, no matter what happens to the online version of the page.
You can create a PDF version of any webpage on your Android or iOS device, but the methods of doing so are somewhat different.
For Android:
First, open the page you want to save in Chrome, tap the three-dot menu button in the top-right corner of the screen, tap Share, then tap Print.
Ben Patterson
Want to save a webpage to your Android device? One way is to “print” it to a PDF file, then save it to either Google Drive or directly to your handset.
Once Android has finished creating a preview of the page you want to save, tap the Save to drop-down menu at the top of the page. Select Save to Google Drive to upload a PDF of the page to your Drive account (make sure you pick the right one if you’re signed in to multiple Google accounts), or tap Save as PDF to save the file to your handset’s local storage.
Now, just head to Google Drive to view your saved page (look in the Recent section if you’re not sure which Drive directory you saved the file to), or tap Downloads in the app drawer to find the file in your handset’s local storage.
Note: Sure, you could try tapping Share > Google Drive to save a webpage from Chrome to your Drive account, but all you’d be doing is saving a tiny text file with the page’s URL.
For iOS:
There’s no “Save as PDF” option under iOS’s Print menu, but there are some PDF-friendly apps with a “Save PDF” feature under the Action button.
Ben Patterson
You can find the “Save PDF to Books” option under the Action button in iOS.
Go ahead and open a webpage in Safari, tap the Action button (again, it’s the square button with the upward arrow), then tap a Save PDF button in the top row (at the very least, there should be a Save PDF to iBooks button).
If you’re a Dropbox user, the Save to Dropbox option under the iOS Action button will save webpages as PDFs to your Dropbox account.
Send the text of an article in an email (iOS only)
Let’s say you want to share an article with a friend rather than keep it for yourself—and instead of just sending the link, you want to send the entire text of the article in the body of the message.
One arduous way of doing that would be to select all the text in the webpage and paste it into an email. If you’re an iOS user, though, there’s an easier way.
Ben Patterson
You can send the entire text of a web article to a friend, with a little help from Safari’s “Reader View” feature.
Open the article you want to share in Safari, then tap the Reader View button. (It’s the three-line button on the right side of the address bar, at the top of the screen. Don’t see the address bar? Try tugging down on the page until it appears.)
Tap the Action button (the square button with the arrow at the bottom of the screen), then tap Mail.
Safari will paste the entire Reader View version of the article into the body of an email message, complete with a link at the top. All you need to do now is pick a recipient and tap the Send button.
Save the “decluttered” version of a webpage (Android and iOS)
Sometimes, you just want to save the meat of a webpage, minus the ads, pop-ups or any other distractions. Safari for iOS’s Reader View does a solid job of “decluttering” webpages, but it doesn’t save the text of a page forever—that is, unless you paste the text in an email, as I described in the previous tip.
Ben Patterson
Use an offline reader app like Pocket (pictured) to save the “decluttered” version of a webpage.
A better way to archive the text of a web article is by using a dedicated offline reader app, which saves stripped-down web articles for later.
Among the top offline reader apps are Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability, each of which comes in both Android and iOS flavors.
The best offline reader apps boast cloud-based storage for syncing your saved articles between multiple devices, as well as bookmarking tools that you’ll find under the Android “Share” and iOS “Action” menus.
Best of all, articles you save using an offline reader app will stay saved, even if the original webpage is altered or taken down.
Editor’s note: This article originally posted November 16, 2015.
How to save an HTML file in Iphone
I want to check a page in Safari on IPhone. I have it in my mail box and want to save it and then open it in browser. But I cannot find any option to save this file in Iphone. I found a way to do the same thing on my Android phone by typing ‘file://localhost/sdcard’ in Chrome browser and then open the html file. Is there a similar way to save and view a file on Iphone? Please help!
2 Answers 2
If the devices are on the same friendly WiFi network, spin up a Python server from terminal (in the directory containing the html file): python -m SimpleHTTPServer Then, get computer’s local ip using ifconfig . On the iPhone, would then go to http://<<computer’s local ip>>:8000 for index.html or http://<<computer’s local ip>>:8000/<<filename>>.html for any other file.
Once the page is opened on your iPhone all you have to do is tap the Sharing icon, middle icon on bottom, and select ‘Add to Home Screen’
If you want to load an html file that you’ve created on you Mac to your iPhone you’ll need to do the following. From System Prefs > Sharing > Enable Web Sharing. Place the html file in your
/Sites folder. Go the the URL listed in the Web Sharing panel from your iPhone, while on the home network, and open the html file. It will load in Mobile Safari.
If you want this to stay on your iPhone you’ll need to have the page written in html5 and have a properly setup CACHE MANIFEST. This includes the appropriate tag in the html file and have the proper manifest file. Then you can follow the first step and add it to your home screen and always have it on your iPhone.
Can I save an HTML file to my iPhone and open in Safari?
Does anyone know if its possible to save an HTML file to your iphone and then open it with Safari so that you can then favourite it and have it appear on the launcher as an icon?
8 Answers 8
I do it using the ‘Notes’ app on my iphone. Quick and free download.
I emailed the file to myself, then opened it on my phone via email. Inside the email, I clicked the html file. This opened it. I then clicked the download button on the top right of my particular iphone. After that I clicked «Add to Notes».
Inside the notes app, my html file is there and also all functions work as there is also javascript involved.
Once the page is opened on your iPhone all you have to do is tap the Sharing icon, middle icon on bottom, and select ‘Add to Home Screen’
If you want to load an html file that you’ve created on you Mac to your iPhone you’ll need to do the following. From System Prefs > Sharing > Enable Web Sharing. Place the html file in your
/Sites folder. Go the the URL listed in the Web Sharing panel from your iPhone, while on the home network, and open the html file. It will load in Mobile Safari.
If you want this to stay on your iPhone you’ll need to have the page written in html5 and have a properly setup CACHE MANIFEST. This includes the appropriate tag in the html file and have the proper manifest file. Then you can follow the first step and add it to your home screen and always have it on your iPhone.
I’ve done this using Microsoft OneDrive to generate a URL for an uploaded file. iframe embed code can also be used to display and interact with an Excel spreadsheet online.
I just put the HTML file in my DropBox and then opened it in my iOS DropBox app and then touch the ThreeDots and MakeAvailableOffline. It then opens thru the DB app while I am in airplane/offline or outside cell coverage.
HTML file I’m assuming you are talking about some pages on the web.
If so yes you can by pressing on the:
and you will have the icon on your homescreen to use it next time.
But for your information this is not the actual saving of that page it just like a favorite bookmark icon which can make you easily access to that page with a touch!.
But if you want to really save that page in an offline mode then you have to jailbreak your phone and get a tweak from Cydia which will give you an option to save it as an offline to open it next time.
And last thing if I was wrong for the above answer. And you were talking about actualy HTML code page and you want to save them and open to view the code [Source codes]
then you probably need an app from appstore [or even from cydia] or tweak from cydia to do that otherwise you can’t.
What works for me is to actually save the desired web page as a Web Archive from within Safari on the Mac, then have this file emailed to myself. On the iPhone, the only software I have that managed to open this Web Archive file successfully is GoodReader.
The only way I know of without jailbreaking is to use Dropbox.
To get the Page to your Phone there are a lot of ways to do this. You can use any Cloud Drive App you like (iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox) it will also Work via Mail or if you have an App that Supports in App Transfer via iTunes etc.
To open/view thre Page you can use any HTML Editor App on the Phone but i have found none of them beeing able Preview the Page in Safari all of them had their own HTML Preview.
A Second Downside is that if you are somehow able to Preview the Page inside of Safari from within an App the actual File of the Page is just put to a temp Folder and when you exit the Editor App the File will get deleted.
Now if you later open the Page again over the in the Homescreen saved Icon it won’t work cause it isn’t there anymore.
If you don’t mind opening a App before opening the HTML File you can use one of the Editors or even GoodReader which can also handle HTML Files.
If you really need it to be a Icon i recommend you to write a Simple App with Just a UIWebView in it which displays your Page. If you don’t know how to do a iOS App there are many Sites out there which can help you just Google for «iOS App + UIWebView».
How to download a page as HTML on iPhone
iOS’ Safari app is all you need to search and browse websites on the internet. You can use the app to browse privately, have a bunch of websites open across different tab groups, and even switch between other Apple devices seamlessly while browsing. To help you manage the content you browse through, Safari allows you to bookmark and favorite webpages but you can also save them as HTML files locally on your iPhone at any time.
In this post, we’ll explain how you can download a webpage on Safari as an HTML file and what else you can do to save websites you like on iOS.
- How to download a page as an HTML file
- How to save pages on an iPhone (without downloading HTML files)
- Add it to Reading List
- Add it to Bookmarks
- Add it to Favorites
- Add it to the iOS home screen
How to download a page as an HTML file
Safari lets you download a webpage you’re browsing as an HTML file so that you can save it and access it later from your iPhone at a later time. To download a page, open the Safari app on your iPhone and go to the webpage from where you want to save a link as an HTML file.
When the page loads, locate the link you want to download and long-press on it.
In the overflow menu that appears, select Download Linked File.
The selected link will be downloaded onto your iPhone and this will be indicated by a blue download icon at the bottom left corner of the Safari screen.
The downloaded link will be accessible inside the Files and you can open it at a later time by following the guide linked below.
How to save pages on an iPhone (without downloading HTML files)
When you load a webpage as an HTML file on an iPhone, iOS saves the page in a format that opens only in a text-rich form when accessed from the Files app. This page will not feature any images or media that were part of it when the page was open on Safari. Thus, to save webpages in a better way that’s more easily accessible, you can add a page from Safari to other lists like bookmarks, reading lists, favorites, or your home screen.
Add it to Reading List
Safari allows you to add webpages to a Reading List and is intended to save articles that you find interesting. Reading List should serve as a database of web pages that you would want to continue reading at a later time. Although the webpages you save to your Reading List won’t be downloaded automatically, Apple allows you to individually select any webpage you add here for offline reading, so you can access the pages without connecting to the internet.
To add a webpage to your Reading List, launch the Safari app on your iPhone and open the webpage that you want to save.
When the page loads up, tap on the Share icon at the bottom underneath Safari’s Tab Bar.
In the iOS Share Sheet that appears, scroll down and select Add to Reading List.
The webpage will be instantly added to Safari’s Reading List. To access your Reading List, tap on the Bookmarks button (indicated with a book icon) at the bottom.
When a popup menu appears, tap on the Reading List tab (marked by the eyeglasses icon). Here, you’ll see all the web pages you have added to your Reading List.
You can tap on a webpage to open it or long-press on a webpage to get the option to Save Offline among other options.
Webpages in your Reading List will continue to be listed under this section indefinitely unless you remove them manually from this list.
Add it to Bookmarks
Bookmarks offer a similar kind of experience as adding a webpage to a reading list as it allows users to save links and unlike a reading list, you can save bookmarks across different folders for easy access and less clutter.
While Reading List is designed to download and stored articles you find interesting on the web, bookmarks are generally intended to save the link to a website’s homepage, although you can also save links to certain webpages as well. Unlike a Reading List, no website you add as a bookmark will be accessible without the internet, so no offline saving.
To add a website to Bookmarks, launch the Safari app on your iPhone and open a website you want to bookmark.
When the website opens, tap on the share icon at the bottom.
In the iOS Share Sheet that appears, scroll down and select Add Bookmark.
In the Add Bookmark screen that appears, enter a desired name for the website or page you’re adding and then tap on Save at the top right corner.
The selected website will be instantly sent to your Bookmarks list. To access your bookmarked sites, tap on the Bookmarks button (indicated with a book icon) at the bottom.
When a popup menu appears, tap on the Bookmark tab and here you’ll see all the websites you have bookmarked on Safari.
You can arrange the order of your bookmarks or create a folder to add certain bookmarks to by tapping on Edit at the bottom right
Add it to Favorites
Favorites is an extension of the Bookmarks feature on Safari as the list of websites you add to Favorites is visible directly on Safari’s homepage. Any website or page you add to favorites will be accessible from the homepage when a new tab is opened on Safari. Although websites you add as Favorites will also be accessible inside the Bookmarks section, adding favorites makes it easier to open those pages that you often open regularly.
To add a website or page as a favorite, launch the Safari app on your iPhone and open the website that you want to favorite.
When the website opens, tap on the share icon at the bottom.
In the iOS Share Sheet that appears, scroll down and select Add to Favorites.
Inside the Add to Favorites screen, enter the name for the website or page you’re adding to Safari and tap on Save at the top right corner.
The selected website will now be visible inside the Favorites section when you open a new tab on Safari. If you’ve saved a bunch of websites (more than 8) to the Favorites section, the newly added favorites bookmark will be accessible after you tap on Show All at the top right corner.
Add it to the iOS home screen
While adding a website to Favorites lets you access it from Safari’s homepage, you can open a preferred website directly from your iPhone’s home screen by adding it as a shortcut. This shortcut will behave like that of an app’s shortcut and tapping on it will open the website you saved as a shortcut directly on the Safari app.
To add a website to your home screen, launch the Safari app on your iPhone and open the website that you want to create a shortcut for.
When the website opens, tap on the share icon at the bottom.
In the iOS Share Sheet that appears, scroll down and select Add to Home Screen.
This will open the Add to Home Screen page where you can enter a name for the home screen shortcut. To create the shortcut, tap on Add at the top right corner.
The selected website will now be added to your home screen as a shortcut and you should be able to see this shortcut as an icon on the iOS home screen.
When you wish to open the website, you can tap on this shortcut and iOS will load the website on Safari.
Should you download pages as HTML files on iOS?
Although Safari offers you an option to download a webpage onto your iPhone, the HTML file that gets saved on your device will only be available for previewing inside the Files app. The downloaded file will open inside Quick Look on the Files app but it may not display images and other media that would have been present on the original webpage that you saved. This is why downloading pages as HTML files on an iPhone doesn’t make sense.
If you wish to access a specific page on Safari more quickly, you can instead save it as a bookmark, favorite, or home screen shortcut. For pages that you want to view later without an internet connection, you can add them to your reading list on the Safari app and save them for offline viewing for ease of access.
That’s all you need to know about downloading pages as HTML files on an iPhone.
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