How to install a4norm on your phone or computer

a4norm works right in the browser; there is nothing to install. But if you need scans often, it is handier to open the scanner with one tap from your phone's screen, like any other app. That is what the app page is for: it holds only the scanner, and it can be installed.

This is not an app from a store. The browser keeps the page and opens it in a window of its own. No account, no download from the App Store or Google Play.

What installing gives you

• an icon on your phone's screen or among the programs on your computer;
• the scanner opens in its own window, without the address bar and tabs;
• it works offline — once it has been opened with a connection;
• the photos never leave the device, just as on the normal page;
• the last scan stays on this device until you start a new one.

The processing is the same as on the a4norm page. Installing adds nothing to it; it only removes a few steps.

The shortest way: the button after a scan

Make a scan on the a4norm page. Once the PDF is ready, Chrome and Edge show an install button next to it. It opens the browser's own dialog; choose "Install" there. This works on Android, Windows, macOS and Linux.

If there is no button, you can install by hand — see your browser below.

iPhone and iPad

The iPhone has no install dialog, so there is only one way: through the Share menu.

1. Open the app page in Safari.
2. Tap Share. In newer versions of iOS this button sits in the menu behind the three dots.
3. Scroll down the list and tap "Add to Home Screen". If it is not there, you can add it at the very bottom of the list with "Edit Actions".
4. If there is an "Open as Web App" switch, leave it on.
5. Tap "Add".

Chrome on the iPhone (iOS 16.4 or later) works the same way: Share, then "Add to Home Screen".

One thing to know about the iPhone: an app on the Home Screen keeps its data separate from Safari. A scan made in Safari will not show up in it, and it loads the processing engine again. So open it with a connection the first time and wait until the scanner says everything is loaded.

Android

In Chrome:

1. Open the app page.
2. Tap the ⋮ menu to the right of the address bar.
3. Choose "Install and create shortcut", then "Install". The item is worded slightly differently in different versions of Chrome — look for "Install" in the menu.

In Samsung Internet, open the menu (three lines at the bottom), then "Add page to" and "Home screen". In other browsers, look in the menu for an install item or for adding to the home screen.

Computer: Chrome and Edge

Windows, macOS and Linux work the same way.

1. Open the app page.
2. Click the install icon on the right of the address bar, then "Install" in the dialog.
3. If there is no icon: in Chrome, ⋮ menu → "Cast, save, and share" → "Install page as app…". In Edge, the same item is in the "…" menu, under "Apps".

a4norm then appears among your programs — on Windows, for example, in the Start menu. You can pin it to the taskbar or the Dock like any program.

Firefox

Firefox on a computer does not install apps like this. The exception is Windows: since version 143 there is a button in the address bar that puts the tab on the taskbar as a separate window.

On macOS and Linux, simply bookmark the app page. Open it once with a connection and wait until everything has loaded. After that it opens from the bookmark offline too — in an ordinary tab, not in a window of its own.

How to remove it

• Phone. Touch and hold the icon, choose to remove it and confirm. On Android you can also do this in Settings, under Apps.
• Computer. In the app's window, open the ⋮ menu ("…" in Edge) and choose uninstall. Chrome asks whether to delete its data as well: if you tick "Also delete data from Chrome", the last scan goes with it.

If you would rather not install anything, all of this works on the a4norm page in any browser. And for a scan that comes out right the first time, there are a few habits when taking the photo.