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Widgets are one of my favorite iPhone tools, and widgets can turn your boring grid of app icons into a pleasant, useful home screen. Some widgets give you quick information at a glance, but I like widgets that can help me out and remind me to do things I’d forget to do. When I’m out, these are the widgets I use to make sure I’m on top of everything, whether it’s missing an important event or just a fun show I want to binge-watch later. I want to see
What is a widget, anyway? A widget is an app, or part of an app, that sits on your home screen and does its job whether you have it open or not.
You don’t need to open the weather app to check the weather, you can just add the weather widget to your home screen. Similarly, you can find widgets that tell you the battery life of your phone and accessories, widgets that show you photos from your gallery, and widgets that track your steps and fitness, just like the great Apple Watch.
In addition to widgets that give you information at a glance, I also like widgets that are a quick shortcut to an app, especially a to-do list. I don’t even need to open my Notes or To Do List app, I can just tap on a widget instead and it will automatically create a new entry.
Lastly, I want reminders, not just a simple alarm or countdown timer. I like to know roughly how much time I have left. For example, how long until my next vacation! I also like reminders for some of the habits I’m trying to build. Instead of getting a notification or opening the app, I can simply tap the widget to keep track of what I’ve accomplished and build on my streak.
Widgets need to look nice, otherwise I wouldn’t want to use them. It’s my iPhone, after all, so my widgets should match my taste and aesthetic, without being too loud or getting in the way. I’ve handpicked a selection of the six most useful widgets I use to help keep me on track, and it doesn’t hurt that they look pretty while doing most of the work.
Widgets come with apps that come with them, so when you download an app, you get its widget too. For most apps, Widgets won’t appear as an option until you’ve opened the app at least once and used it past the welcome screen. Once you’ve done that, you can find your widget in Apple’s list of widgets.
To create a widget, place your finger on an empty area of ​​your Home screen. The icons will start wiggling and blinking and a plus “+” sign will appear at the top right of the screen. Tap on that icon to see the widget list.
There are three sizes of widgets on iOS 16 and you cannot resize them. You can have a small square, a long bar, or a very large rectangle. I chose the small square because six widgets fit perfectly on one home screen, giving me the useful page I need.
- shuffle widget color
- change your location or keep it fixed
- Be very careful about subscription prices
Even though I had a weather widget on my iPhone 14 Pro, I was constantly asking my smart speaker about the temperature. I almost forgot that the forecast was sitting on my screen. It’s because they look boring and blend in. I forgot my weather app existed.
So I downloaded Cute Weather. It looks cute in Japanese “kawaii” style with a trendy color scheme and a playful look. I can set the widget to shuffle through the colors so I don’t get bored. It keeps the weather moderate so I know what to wear and what umbrella to bring. If I need more than that, I can click over to the app, which has a similarly sweet design and nicely customizable layout.
You can subscribe to Cute Weather, but be very wary of its predatory trial pricing. After a short free period, it costs $3.99 per week, which is a huge amount to spend on a weather app. The $19.99/year price is more reasonable if you feel the need to subscribe.
cute weather download
bear countdown
- Easy countdown clock widget with cute bear
- Lots of bears to choose from including Gaming, Baby and Self-Help
- Mac OS apps to sync too
Sometimes I need to know when I have 10 minutes left, but often I just want to know how many days are left until something happens. How many days do I have until the kids leave for summer camp? How many days until the Broadway show? For a friendly countdown, I like Bear, which you can get for your iPhone and Mac.
Bears is a simple countdown timer for the day. You cannot set a specific hour, only the day. There are plenty of bears to choose from to depict your timer, playing bear video games if you’re countdown to launch a game, or if you’re counting down to your spa day.
You can have the widget countdown to an event, or you can cycle through events if you’re waiting for a few things. There are silly little stories and articles attached to the app, but the widget itself is enough to enjoy. I especially like being able to set up events on my Mac Mini and have them appear on my iPhone, which is a rarity these days.
Download Beer Countdown for Mac
Download Bears Countdown for iPhone
Find My (by Apple)
- Apple App Tracks Your iCloud Device
- Great for keeping an eye on your kids and stuff
- Track airtags as well as mobile devices
There are plenty of Apple-made widgets that are worth checking out, but I keep the Find My widget on my home screen all the time, and sometimes more than one. The Find My widget can track any device linked to your iCloud account, including your family’s account. I keep track of my kid’s iPhone on a home screen widget, just to make sure nothing weird is happening.
There are different widget options depending on whether you’re tracking a person or an object. You can also track AirTags, so if you have luggage or a vehicle you need to keep an eye on, the Find My widget can help with that too. If you have multiple items you need to track, try stacking the widgets on top of each other so you can flip through them quickly.
Todoist: To-Do List & Planner
- Simple to-do app that could be more robust
- Create a widget shortcut pre-tag
- arrange everything later, or not
There are lots of to-do list apps available, and I’ve tried a number of them – but I keep coming back to Todoist. It honestly could be because it has great name recognition and has been around forever, so I have a history with the app and it hasn’t let me down.
Todoist can be as simple or as complex as you want. I use a widget to create new items for my to do list and send them to my inbox, then organize them later if I need to. If you want to apply a specific label, the widget can automatically tag your posts as you create them.
You can also use Todoist to set goals and record streaks, and you can set up commands with Siri that will make the necessary entries for you. I mostly use it as a home screen widget, and since it synchronizes well with iCloud, I’ve used it on several different iPhones over the years.
download todoist
Sofa: Downtime Organizer
- for the show i want to watch but forget later
- track shows, books, movies, podcasts
- App grabs a title card to make a nice looking widget
It never fails – when I’m out and about and I see a poster for a show I need to see. Later, when I’m home, I can’t remember anything good that I want to watch. Along comes Sofa, a list-making app specifically designed for keeping track of the things you want to watch, listen to, or read.
What makes Sofa great is that it finds a title card for whatever material you’re trying to remember. You don’t just get a list of accessories, you get pictures of book covers and board games, music albums and podcast avatars. Whichever you prefer, Sofa gives you a more visual approach which also makes it a lot easier to remember what you’re looking at.
I wish more list-making apps were like this, but I’m glad Sofa is there to remind me of everything I need to look for in the vast landscape of streaming services. You can fine-tune the look and behavior of the device, and there’s a premium tier if you really love your leisurely lists, but I’ve never found the need to subscribe to Sofa incredibly useful .
download sofa
streaks
- Build one or more streaks to build a habit
- Great for reminders to take medications, write in a journal, drink water
- Whether or not to add notifications for Streaks is your call
It’s one thing to seek self-improvement, but if you really want to get better, you need to change your habits. It starts with tracking your habits and building a streak. To do this, I like the very simple tracking app Strix. I keep a few habits listed on the Strix widget and it reminds me whether I’ve done them today or not.
This is especially useful if you are someone who needs to take daily medication and has trouble remembering what happened. I’m using Streaks to remind myself to start by drinking water every day, and I’m creating a bullet journal habit.
I like Strix because it doesn’t notify me unnecessarily, it just reminds me that there are 3-4 things I want to do, and keeps track of whether I’ve done them or not. For simple habit building, this is an effective start. It helps that there are nice color choices and stylish graphics that make it a pleasure to use.
download streaks
