You can divide the concept of iPhone widgets — large icons that show auto-refreshed, real-time data from apps — from before iOS 14 and after iOS 14. That’s because, with iOS 14, widgets have been transformed in both form and function, and can now be added to the home screen. These new widgets provide information and direct access to popular iPhone functions — such as the weather and time — at a glance and can give you fast access to news, TV shows, and more. Widgets can also use A.I. to show you items you’re most likely to seek at various times of the day.
The new iOS 14 widgets can profoundly alter the way you use your iPhone, letting you dispense with meticulously constructed home screen folders, and changing their appearance presents new opportunities for functionality and organization. This has inspired some users to use widgets to customize and personalize the look of their home screen. Not surprisingly, there are a number of apps that help you accomplish this visual creativity. Here are some of the best iPhone apps for customizing widgets.
Widgetsmith (free)
Widgetsmith offers a broad collection of customizable widgets covering date, weather, astronomy, and everything in between. Each adjusts to fit your taste and can be dynamically scheduled to appear on your home screen via rules you set. So, you can view the weather in the morning, your calendar during the day, and perhaps the Activity ring progress later in the evening. The app’s collection of tools includes a weather app, time zone converter, and calendar. A premium subscription is available monthly or yearly.
App Store
Widgeridoo (free)
Widgeridoo lets you combine various blocks into widgets, such as calendar events, birthdays, text and images, date and countdown health data from your Health app, website data, battery percentage, and clocks. Use the app to combine blocks of information into a single widget in the size you prefer.
App Store
My Widgets (free)
My Widgets offers access to information and actions on your phone, allowing you to add widgets according to your preferences. You can add a calendar to display the current month plus your busy days, or you can add photos of family and friends, add a horoscope, online photo of the day, audio notes, or world clocks. You can view and edit text notes and reminders, while the Decision widget lets you to randomly choose a single item from among choices.
App Store
Color Widgets (free)
With Color Widgets, which lets you customize and style your home screen, you can start with a selection of pre-made designs, or you can make your own. There are hundreds of design options to create useful widgets, and you can even edit the widget’s font, theme color, or background color.
App Store
Widget Wizard ($2)
Widget Wizard hooks into your Health app to track up to 35 health stats that you can combine with customized calendars and render in various color combinations, fonts, and backgrounds to create your own original theme. You can also use widgets to add data such as water intake or distance walked. The Agenda widget combines calendar events and reminders, letting you see countdowns to those items, as well as clock and battery percentage. Combo widgets let you choose the data you want to include in a single widget.
App Store
Pixel Widgets ($1)
Give your home screen a distinctive retro look with Pixel Widgets, either by using the app’s signature widget designs or by customizing your widget set with more than 150 color themes and fonts. You get hundreds of widget designs to choose from, including configurations of time and date or year in progress. Just choose a ready-made design or customize one, tap on your widget, and select Set Widget, and you’re done.
App Store