diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c29e72f47..516579db6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,4 +7,5 @@
 platformio-device-monitor*.log
 logs/device-monitor*.log
 platformio_override.ini
+webapp_dist/
 .DS_Store
diff --git a/pio-scripts/compile_webapp.py b/pio-scripts/compile_webapp.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ace042bf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pio-scripts/compile_webapp.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import os
+import hashlib
+import pickle
+import subprocess
+
+def check_files(directories, filepaths, hash_file):
+    old_file_hashes = {}
+    file_hashes = {}
+
+    for directory in directories:
+        for root, dirs, filenames in os.walk(directory):
+            for file in filenames:
+                filepaths.append(os.path.join(root, file))
+
+    for file_path in filepaths:
+        with open(file_path, 'rb') as f:
+            file_data = f.read()
+        file_hashes[file_path] = hashlib.md5(file_data).hexdigest()
+
+    if os.path.exists(hash_file):
+        with open(hash_file, 'rb') as f:
+            old_file_hashes = pickle.load(f)
+
+    update = False
+    for file_path, file_hash in file_hashes.items():
+        if file_path not in old_file_hashes or old_file_hashes[file_path] != file_hash:
+            update = True
+            break
+
+    if not update:
+        print("webapp artifacts should be up-to-date")
+        return
+
+    print("compiling webapp (hang on, this can take a while and there might be little output)...")
+
+    try:
+        # if these commands fail, an exception will prevent us from
+        # persisting the current hashes => commands will be executed again
+        subprocess.run(["yarn", "--cwd", "webapp", "install", "--frozen-lockfile"],
+                       check=True)
+
+        subprocess.run(["yarn", "--cwd", "webapp", "build"], check=True)
+
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        raise Exception("it seems 'yarn' is not installed/available on your system")
+
+    with open(hash_file, 'wb') as f:
+        pickle.dump(file_hashes, f)
+
+def main():
+    if os.getenv('GITHUB_ACTIONS') == 'true':
+        print("INFO: not testing for up-to-date webapp artifacts when running as Github action")
+        return 0
+
+    print("INFO: testing for up-to-date webapp artifacts")
+
+    directories = ["webapp/src/", "webapp/public/"]
+    files = ["webapp/index.html", "webapp/tsconfig.config.json",
+             "webapp/tsconfig.json", "webapp/vite.config.ts",
+             "webapp/yarn.lock"]
+    hash_file = "webapp_dist/.hashes.pkl"
+
+    check_files(directories, files, hash_file)
+
+main()
diff --git a/platformio.ini b/platformio.ini
index f9435984c..b7917a10e 100644
--- a/platformio.ini
+++ b/platformio.ini
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ lib_deps =
     plerup/EspSoftwareSerial @ ^8.2.0
 
 extra_scripts =
+    pre:pio-scripts/compile_webapp.py
     pre:pio-scripts/auto_firmware_version.py
     pre:pio-scripts/patch_apply.py
     post:pio-scripts/create_factory_bin.py
diff --git a/webapp_dist/favicon.ico b/webapp_dist/favicon.ico
deleted file mode 100644
index 68e73986d..000000000
Binary files a/webapp_dist/favicon.ico and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/webapp_dist/favicon.png b/webapp_dist/favicon.png
deleted file mode 100644
index 278aac84f..000000000
Binary files a/webapp_dist/favicon.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/webapp_dist/index.html.gz b/webapp_dist/index.html.gz
deleted file mode 100644
index be84fc7db..000000000
Binary files a/webapp_dist/index.html.gz and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/webapp_dist/js/app.js.gz b/webapp_dist/js/app.js.gz
deleted file mode 100644
index 42d83ecb0..000000000
Binary files a/webapp_dist/js/app.js.gz and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/webapp_dist/site.webmanifest b/webapp_dist/site.webmanifest
deleted file mode 100644
index 3be246091..000000000
--- a/webapp_dist/site.webmanifest
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-{
-    "name": "OpenDTU",
-    "short_name": "OpenDTU",
-    "display": "standalone",
-    "orientation": "portrait",
-    "icons": [
-        {
-            "src": "/favicon.png",
-            "sizes": "144x144",
-            "type": "image/png"
-        }
-    ]
-}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/webapp_dist/zones.json.gz b/webapp_dist/zones.json.gz
deleted file mode 100644
index 02f82db68..000000000
Binary files a/webapp_dist/zones.json.gz and /dev/null differ