Q. Does PurpleAir have an app?

FAQ
1

PurpleAir’s Real-Time Map is a Progressive Web App (PWA) which can be installed on Android, IOS and desktop devices. Look for the “Add to Desktop” options on your phone or the install button in your web browser.

Below are steps on how to install a PWA on Chrome:

Android:

  1. On your Android device, open Chrome Chrome.
  2. Go to a website with a web app that you want to install.
  3. On the right of the address bar, tap More More|autox18 and then Add to home screen and then Install.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions.
  5. If you want the map to remember your location and selected map settings, save cookies.

IPhone:

  1. On your iPhone or iPad, open Chrome .
  2. Go to a website that you want to add.
  3. On the right of the address bar, tap Share .
  4. Find and tap Add to Home Screen.
  5. Confirm or edit the website details and tap Add.
  6. If you want the map to remember your location and selected map settings, save cookies.
Accepting Cookies

Accepting cookies is required for the map to save your location and selected map settings such as the data layer.

You can change your cookie preferences at any time by selecting “cookies” on the bottom bar. This can be difficult to see on mobile and may be obscured. The following screenshot is from an iPhone. Although “cookies” is partially covered by a black bar, it can still be clicked to change your cookie settings.

For further details, navigate to the following link: Use web apps - Computer - Google Chrome Help

If you use a different browser that isn’t listed here, search using the following keywords:
 
browser's name + PWA

There are also many other options available to you for viewing data.

The PurpleAir Map

The PurpleAir Map is as easily accessible on a phone as it is on a computer. Simply navigate to a browser of your choice and enter map.purpleair.com into the address bar.

Additionally, you can create a bookmark with all of your preferred map settings for ease-of-access.

Google

Google has added PurpleAir as a data source for Google Maps on Android and IOS. Tap on the button in the top right corner of your screen on mobile or the bottom left on a computer to see available map layers. Then select “Air Quality.”

Screenshot 2024-12-17 at 11.24.08 AM

Third-Party Apps

A number of third-party apps use PurpleAir data and could provide what you are looking for. A list of those apps is below.

Apps
AirCare
Air Matters
AirNow
AirVisual
AQ Alert
Local Haze
Paku
popAir
Watch Duty
Weather Underground
Windy.com

We know how beneficial an app could be, and hope to release one in the future.

4 Likes
4

An app would be perfect for this set-up. That way we can get notifications when the sensors that get a reading that is too high and/or dangerous.

4 Likes
5

What happened to Airwyn? Was using it regularly, so very sorry to see that it is no longer available. Which app would people recommend to use in its place where I can track my own sensor data quickly?

2 Likes
6

I’m trying to add a PurpleAir home screen shortcut to my iPad (iPadOS 18.3) using Chrome, however I would like it to link directly to a specific sensor.

I have the URL I would like it to link to, and when opening it in the browser it correctly shows the sensor I want on the PurpleAir map. However, when I go to Share and select Add to Home Screen, the UI that appears defaults to “PurpleAir” and a URL of “https://map.purpleair.com/” – i.e. it strips all URL parameters. The behavior is the same when using Safari.

I think this might have something to do with the https://map.purpleair.com/manifest.json file specifying “start_url”: “/” for the PurpleAir PWA, which ends up overriding the actual URL being shared in this add to home screen flow.

Anybody aware of a solution to this? Or is it an issue that should be fixed via the PurpleAir PWA manifest.json?

1 Like
8

Highly recommend Paku if you use iOS.

1 Like