Home Screen Shortcuts

OmniGate supports adding resources to the iOS home screen as shortcut icons. Tapping the icon opens the corresponding resource directly, without manually navigating through the domain list and resource list.

Creating a Shortcut

1. Swipe left on a resource in the resource list and select "Shortcut."
2. Safari opens a setup page displaying the resource and domain information.
3. Follow the setup page instructions:
   • Tap the Share button at the bottom.
   • Select "Add to Home Screen."
   • Tap "Add."

After adding, a new icon will appear on the home screen with the resource title as its name.

Using Shortcuts

Tap the shortcut icon on the home screen:

1. OmniGate automatically launches.
2. It automatically activates the resource's domain.
3. It opens the resource page directly.

Shortcuts use the omnigate:// URL scheme to redirect and do not go through a Safari intermediary page.

How It Works

OmniGate uses a public shortcut service combined with deep links to implement home screen shortcuts:

• On creation: The app opens a setup page in Safari. The setup page URL contains resource information (name, domain, type).
• The setup page is saved as a Web Clip through Safari's "Add to Home Screen" feature.
• The setup page removes the setup marker from the URL, so that subsequent opens from the home screen redirect directly via deep link without showing the setup content.
• The page sets apple-mobile-web-app-capable, so when opened from the home screen it runs in standalone mode and does not leave a Safari tab open.

Common Issues

Tapping the icon does not open OmniGate

Verify that OmniGate is installed. If the app has been uninstalled, the shortcut icon will remain but cannot redirect.

The icon shows a webpage screenshot instead of the resource name

Safari sometimes captures the current page as the icon. Try creating the shortcut again, and wait for the setup page to fully load before proceeding.

Safari cannot open the page when creating a shortcut

Verify that your phone has network connectivity. The shortcut page is hosted on a public server and requires internet access.