How to convert a website into an Android app

Creating your own mobile app for your website may seem like a daunting task, but by using WebView in Android Studio, the process can be much easier. Let’s take a look at the steps to create a minimal app with WebView and discover small opportunities for tweaking it.

Step 1: New Project in Android Studio

First, let’s create a new project in Android Studio by selecting “Empty Activity”. This will give us a clean wireframe to get started.

Step 2: Add the WebView to the layout

Open the activity_main.xml file and add the WebView component to the layout. This component will be responsible for displaying your website.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <WebView
        android:id="@+id/webView"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="match_parent"/>
</RelativeLayout>

Step 3: Customizing WebView in the code

Now let’s move on to the MainActivity.java file. In this file, we will customize the WebView by allowing JavaScript and specifying the URL of our website.

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.webkit.WebSettings;
import android.webkit.WebView;
import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        WebView webView = findViewById(R.id.webView);
        WebSettings webSettings = webView.getSettings();
        webSettings.setJavaScriptEnabled(true);

        // Указываем URL вашего веб-сайта
        webView.loadUrl("http://your-website-url.com");
    }
}

Step 4: Add permission to access the internet

Don’t forget to add the permission in the AndroidManifest.xml file before the tag so that the app can access the internet.

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

Step 5: Launch and Test

Now you’re ready to run your app on an emulator or a real device. Verify that your website displays correctly within the app.

Refinements and additional features

This basic example can serve as a starting point for refining and adding functionality to your app. You can improve it by adding event handling, cache handling, interface optimization, and more.

If you don’t have time to build it yourself or need a functional app with extensive features, our experts are ready to help you. We specialize in converting websites into mobile apps with advanced functionality and can even help with publishing to Google Play. Contact us for full support and create your own mobile app!