{"id":34743,"date":"2025-10-24T17:17:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T00:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/?p=34743"},"modified":"2025-12-02T11:19:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T19:19:02","slug":"unite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/2025\/10\/unite\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Site-Specific Browsers with Unite"},"content":{"rendered":"

You may remember way back in 2008, when Bart Busschots taught us about site-specific browsers<\/a>. A site-specific browser is kind of what it says on the tin: it\u2019s a browser designed to go to one specific site. We\u2019ll go through how site-specific browsers can be created, and I\u2019ll explain what problems can be solved along the way. We\u2019re going to look first at a way Apple provides, and then I\u2019m going to tell you about a more advanced method using a tool called Unite by developer Binyamin
\nGoldman from BZG Apps<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s Solutions<\/h2>\n

With the advent of so many web-based services, it\u2019s convenient to create a site-specific browser that opens just one website as though it was a \u201creal\u201d app. Apple allows you to do this on the iPhone with the Add to Homescreen option under the Share button. With the introduction of macOS Sonoma, you can do the same thing from Safari by going to File \u2192 Add to Dock\u2026<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll use my Elapsed Time Adder web app that I built and maintain over on GitHub\u2019s servers. The URL isn\u2019t pretty: https:\/\/podfeet.github.io\/time-adder\/, and remembering where it is might be hard. After navigating there and choosing to Add to Dock, I\u2019m invited to change the name of the new app. By default, Safari sees the page name, \u201cA Web App to Add Time\u201d. I can change that to Elapsed Time Adder, which makes more sense to me. I don\u2019t have a favicon for this site yet, so the app\u2019s icon will be a generic W.<\/p>\n

\"Add
Apple’s Add to Dock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once added to Dock, this also creates an app inside your user-level Applications folder, so not the one available to all users of your Mac. You can move it to the normal Applications folder if you like.<\/p>\n

\"Elapsed
Look in User Applications Folder for “Add to Dock” Apps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The resulting web app is kind of halfway between an app and a web page. It doesn\u2019t have a URL bar at the top, so it looks more like an app than a browser, but it does have buttons for any plugins you have installed in Safari. I can see 1Password, Keyword Search, Velja, and Grammarly, along with the share icon. The window also has a forward and back button, which makes sense since you may navigate around while in this little web app.<\/p>\n

\"Elapsed
Elapsed Time Adder with Add to Dock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But here\u2019s where Apple\u2019s implementation of site-specific browsers breaks down. Remember that my Elapsed Time Adder web app is hosted at podfeet.github.io. I have another web app hosted on GitHub, and that\u2019s my Time Shifter Clock. Its URL is podfeet.github.io\/time-shifter-clock\/. If I click on a link to Time Shifter Clock app, it won\u2019t open in my normal browser; it will open in my Elapsed Time Adder web app created by Safari.<\/p>\n

\"Time
Add to Dock Apps Get Confused<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That example may have been too esoteric, so let me give you one you might actually run into. Imagine you\u2019ve got a Google Sheet you work in all the time. It would be handy to have a web app for that sheet. Once you create it using Apple\u2019s Add to Dock, all<\/em> links to any<\/em> Google Doc from any source will open in that site-specific browser. That makes the Add to Dock web app pretty much useless.<\/p>\n

You also can\u2019t be logged into two different accounts at the same time with a Safari-created site-specific browser. If you have a work account and a play account for Google, you would want them to be independent, site-specific browsers.<\/p>\n

Enter Unite<\/h2>\n

And that brings us to why I turned to Unite from BZG Apps. This is an app that is purpose-built to help you create site-specific browsers. It\u2019s $30 for a solo license, which is for only 1 Mac. If you need a license for more than one Mac, you can get the Pro version for $50, or if you want to have fun for the whole family, the $90 Family license will give you a license for 5 Macs. Unite requires macOS 12 Monterey or later.<\/p>\n

\"Unite
Unite Pricing – Not a Subscription!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re a Setapp user, you\u2019ll be glad to know that Unite is also available<\/a> with your existing subscription.<\/p>\n

I would be remiss if I didn\u2019t mention that Kurt Liebezeit told me about Unite two years ago. He even offered to do a review, but the new feature of Add to Dock had just been introduced in Sonoma, and we thought Unite had been Sherlocked. But like most examples of Sherlocking, Apple makes a minor feature available to all, but dedicated apps often have capabilities far beyond that simple offering.<\/p>\n

Security<\/h2>\n

Most NosillaCastaways keep security front-of-mind, and we\u2019re not fond of how websites leak data through the use of cookies. In the BZG Apps support article entitled Understanding Privacy in Unite<\/a>, there\u2019s a section on App Isolation I\u2019d like to quote:<\/p>\n

\n Each Unite app operates independently, providing a layer of isolation from other apps. This approach prevents the possibility of cross-app data leakage and ensures the safety of your data.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They also explain on that page that Unite apps are based on WebKit, the same browser engine that powers Safari. They chose WebKit because of its security, performance, and compliance with standards. Unite apps even come with their own built-in password manager, and they explain in the same article how it\u2019s secured. You can toggle it off if you\u2019re not interested in using it.<\/p>\n

Setting up a Site-Specific Browser with Unite<\/h2>\n

When you first launch the Unite app, you\u2019ll see suggestions for six pre-built web apps. As of the time I\u2019m writing this article, the suggestions are ChatGPT, YouTube, Duolingo, X, Gmail, and WhatsApp.<\/p>\n

\"Unite
Unite Offering 6 Suggested Apps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the upper right, there\u2019s a button that says \u201cSee all\u201d, which reveals a GIANT list of pre-built web apps. I was too lazy to count them myself, so I asked ChatGPT, and it said there were 97 separate apps listed! Steve Mattan wasn\u2019t too lazy, and as seems to be more and more frequent, the AI lied. There are 84 pre-built apps.<\/p>\n

Luckily, they are helpfully sorted into categories of AI, Social Media, Entertainment, Messaging, Storage & File Sharing, Productivity, Documents, Finance & Production Markets, Shopping, and finally Learning & Writing. I highly recommend you take a look through these prebuilt web apps before constructing your own. You might just find the one you want to create is already in the list.<\/p>\n

\"Scrolling
Scrolling Screenshot of All 97<\/s> 84 Pre-built Apps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ChatGPT Unite App<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s create a ChatGPT app with Unite since it\u2019s right there on the front page of suggestions. On the Create application page, you\u2019ll see the name ChatGPT has been added, along with the URL of https:\/\/chat.openai.com. We can edit these fields, and I would suggest, as a best practice, adding the word Unite to the title. I find it useful from time to time to tell my \u201creal\u201d apps from my Unite apps.<\/p>\n

\"Create
Creating an Application<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ll also see the ChatGPT icon to the left with a customize button which lets you choose from the default flat icon, to a rounded rectangle or circle with some depth. If this was an app you were creating from scratch, you might want to make your own icon or copy it from somewhere, so Unite lets you do that here by browsing your Mac for an appropriate image file.<\/p>\n

\"Customize
Customization Options for App Icon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There\u2019s a lot more we can do in the creation of our Unite app for ChatGPT, but let\u2019s use the Create application button to see how it looks right out of the box. After a second or two, you\u2019ll be told your application was successfully created and be invited to launch it now.<\/p>\n

\"ChatGPT
ChatGPT Site-Specific Browser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When your ChatGPT Unite app opens, you\u2019ll see the familiar left sidebar for ChatGPT and the Ask anything text field in the middle, but you\u2019ll notice it doesn\u2019t really look like a webpage. It has the red\/yellow\/green buttons in the top left, but there\u2019s no URL bar at the top. In the top right, you\u2019ll see three tiny, little icons. The first button will unfold (and fold back up) the URL bar. Sometimes you do need it, but it\u2019s nice to have a clean interface.<\/p>\n

The next button is to open a vertical tab sidebar. Since this is a proper web browser, there will be times you\u2019d like to have tabs. If you don\u2019t enable the sidebar, they\u2019ll be across the top like a traditional browser.<\/p>\n

The final button opens some settings, but I\u2019ll circle back to those in a bit.<\/p>\n

Accessibility … Nope<\/s> Mostly<\/h2>\n