Widgets provide quick access to helpful app information right from your home screen. At a glance, you can check the weather, keep an eye on device battery levels, and stay on top of your daily reminders. Here are my absolute favorites.
The Weather widget is one of my top favorites. Whether deciding what to wear, planning errands, or scheduling an outdoor walk, this widget gives me real-time weather updates and forecasts, making it easy to plan my entire day without opening a single app. When traveling to different locations, I add cities to get weather updates for my destination.
As the iPhone’s built-in weather app offers this widget, you won’t have to download third-party weather apps to get this functionality.
I used to dread searching through a list of icons every time I wanted to open my most-used apps. Then I found the Launcher widget, which lets me add and find frequently used apps and access them directly from my iPhone’s Home Screen. Download the Launcher app, open it, create a widget, and add your frequently used apps.
Now, you’ll have a new launcher widget with app icons for quick access. The app is free to use, but the premium version offers a few advanced features.
3 Battery
If you’re a fan of the Apple ecosystem and use multiple Apple devices, you’ll likely appreciate the Battery widget just like I do. It provides an at-a-glance view of the battery levels for your iPhone and any connected devices, such as AirPods or an Apple Watch. This was you don’t have to check each device individually.
From your iPhone’s home screen, you can easily monitor your device’s battery levels and know when to recharge, so you’re never caught off guard by a low battery.
To manage my IBS, I need to stay active every day, so I’ve been using the Pedometer++ app to track my physical activity. It allows me to set daily goals and its widget displays steps taken, distance traveled, and floors climbed right on my home screen. This makes it easy to see how close I am to reaching my goals at a glance.
The app uses my iPhone’s sensors, and after granting it permission once, it works seamlessly without any complicated setup.
5 Screen Time
I consistently monitor how much time I spend on my iPhone, and the built-in Screen Time feature makes this task simple. I use its widget, which shows my daily usage broken down by apps and categories. Every time I glance at my Home Screen, I’m reminded to take a break from the applications that consume too much of my day.
If you’re already using Screen Time to monitor your usage, I highly recommend adding this widget to help keep yourself accountable for the time you spend on your phone.
I enjoy playing the classic Chrome Dino game. Jumping over obstacles in an endless desert landscape is my go-to way to pass the time when the internet is down. With the Chrome Dino widget, I can bring the game to my iPhone’s Home Screen. I don’t need to manually open the Chrome browser, I just tap the widget and I’m instantly in the game.
To add it to your Home Screen, simply install the Chrome browser app and select this widget from the available Chrome widgets. Just play fairly and avoid hacking the game.
I use the Shortcuts app on my iPhone to automate various tasks that can’t be handled natively on my phone. The Shortcuts widget brings my most frequently used workflows directly to my Home Screen. This allows me to perform automated tasks with just a single tap.
Whether I need to send a morning text to friends, control my smart home devices, launch my favorite playlist, log my weight, or extract audio from a video; I simply open my Home Screen, tap the relevant shortcut, and the task is done.
If you use shortcuts to automate tasks, this widget will boost your productivity and save you the hassle of repeatedly opening the Shortcuts app.
I use the Brave browser as my primary browser on my iPhone due to its strong focus on user privacy. It offers several widgets, and I particularly like the Brave Shortcuts widget. This widget allows me to quickly access the search bar with a single tap and lets me add links to three browser elements directly in the widget.
For example, I add links to Private Tab, Bookmarks, and Brave Playlist, keeping these features easily accessible. To use this widget, simply install the Brave browser app.
I use the Reminders app on my iPhone to manage my to-do lists, and its helpful widget displays my daily tasks right on the Home Screen. This keeps me aware of how many tasks are pending and what they are. However, it doesn’t show task deadlines, so I still need to open the Reminders app to check deadlines and mark tasks as complete.
If you don’t mind this minor limitation, the Reminders widget is an excellent tool for tracking your upcoming tasks. You can also use it for various other tasks.
There are certain occasions I can’t afford to miss, like sending birthday wishes to my siblings or parents. Likewise, as a freelancer, I have to keep track of deadlines for long-term projects, which can’t always fit into my daily reminders. I use the Countdown app with a helpful widget displaying key countdown dates on my Home Screen.
Watching the days, hours, and minutes count down keeps these events fresh in my mind, ensuring I never miss them and can plan ahead. To use this widget, download Countdown from the App Store, set up reminders for the events or occasions you want to track, and add the widget to your Home Screen.
As a freelance writer, I try to expand my vocabulary regularly, and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary widget is perfect for this. It displays a new word on my Home Screen daily, including its verb form and meaning. If I want more details, I can tap the widget to open the app to see examples of the word in sentences and learn more about its background.
Download the Merriam-Webster Dictionary app, enable its widget, and start finding new words right from your iPhone’s Home Screen.
Add widgets to your iPhone home screen by tapping and holding an icon until your app icons wobble, then tapping the plus “+” button in the top-left corner of the screen.
These are my favorite widgets that I always use on my iPhone. Consider adding these widgets to your iPhone’s Home Screen if you think they could save you time and effort. The App Store has hundreds of other apps with useful widgets to explore, so keep experimenting with new ones to customize your experience further.
