You took a look at a dear friend ‘s iPhone , you noticed how his Home screen was full of boxes containing information in real time and, at your request for explanations, he revealed the existence of widgets , that is of small boxes configurable that can show information, data and quick functions from apps. Intent on doing something like this on your phone as well, you immediately opened the internet in search of a guide that would teach you how to create iPhone widgets and that’s why you ended up here, on my website, hoping that I can help you. succeed in your business.
If this is the case, I am happy to let you know that you are in the right place, at the right time! In the course of this guide, in fact, I will explain to you in detail how to add iPhone widgets to the Home screen and to the today view of the “iPhone by” and, later, I will show you the operation of some apps that allow you to create customized widgets in every aspect.
So, without waiting any longer, make yourself comfortable and carefully read everything I have to explain to you on the subject: I’m sure that, at the end of reading this guide, you will be perfectly able to reach the goal you set yourself, without any difficulty. Having said that, there is nothing left for me to do but wish you good reading and have fun!
Index
- How to add a widget on iPhone
- How to create iPhone widgets: Photos
- App to create iOS 14 widgets
- Widgetsmith
- Other apps to create an iOS widget
How to add a widget on iPhone
The widget is available on the iPhone (and iPad) for some time, but have found their highest expression with the release of iOS 14 : Previously, in fact, the personalization margin was little and widgets could only be added in the view ” Today ”of the device. Starting from iOS 14, however, these small “bits of app” can also be added to the iPhone home screen and customized in many aspects.
Indeed, I’ll tell you more: it is possible to create containers called smart collections , within which you can add multiple widgets (to switch from one widget to another, simply swipe to the right or left on the collection panel) , or you can create widgets from scratch and customize them in all their aspects, with the help of dedicated applications.
In any case, once you have chosen (or created) a widget, you can add it to the home screen or to the “Today” view of the iPhone in a very simple way: you have to make a long tap in an empty point of the chosen screen, until the icons and / or the other widgets present do not begin to “vibrate”, then press the (+) button that appears at the top right and select the widget to add via the panel that appears later.
To modify a widget, just click on the relevant box and select the Edit widget item attached to the panel that appears; to delete it, simply call up the same panel seen a little while ago and select, this time, the item Remove widget .
How to create iPhone widgets: Photos
Do you have every intention of creating an iOS 14 widget with photos to add to the Home screen of your “iPhone by”, but you just don’t know how to do it? In this case, I have good news for you: everything you need is already on your phone and, unless you have special needs, you won’t have to download any applications to succeed.
The default manager for the iPhone photo gallery, the Photos app , already has a widget that you can easily insert on the device’s home screen: therefore, make a long tap on an empty spot on the same, press the (+ ) that appears at the top right and type the word Photo into the search bar located in the next panel.
Now, if prompted, choose the size of the widget you prefer to apply and tap the Add widget button , to insert it on the phone home screen; if you do not like the position automatically assigned to the new element, make a long tap on the relevant box and, without lifting your finger, drag it where you prefer.
If the default photo widget of iOS is not to your liking, you can contact one of the many third-party apps designed for the purpose: personally, I recommend that you contact Photo Widget: Simple , a free application (supported by advertisements ) that allows you to easily create widgets containing images chosen from the iOS roll, or from other albums on the device.
To get it, open the App Store, search for the name of the app using the appropriate tab (or tap on the link I reported to you earlier, to speed things up) and press the Get / Install button , in order to start it the download. When prompted, verify your identity by authenticating with Face ID , Touch ID, or Apple ID password .
When the download is complete, tap the Open button to start the application and choose whether or not to allow the sending of notifications , by pressing the button compliant with your choice. Now, touch the item Skip located at the top left and proceed with the creation of the photo album to be displayed in the widget, by tapping first on the My button (bottom right) and then on the Photo button , visible in the The box . my album .
Now, tap the Create album button , assign a name to the collection by tapping on the default one (usually AlbumX ) and tap the (+) and Set my photo buttons , to select the images of your interest; once you have selected the photos you prefer, tap the Add and Completed buttons to add them to the album. Please note that you can insert up to a maximum of 30 images at a time and 100 images for each album.
Once you have created your photo collection, it’s time to insert it on the iPhone home screen: start adding a new widget as I explained earlier, tap on the Photowidget item , choose the size to assign to the item and tap the Add widget button to place it on the Home screen.
At this point, tap on the widget you just added (or make a long tap on its box and select the Edit widget item ), touch the Choose item located in the panel that appears later and tap the word Photo , to indicate your willingness to make a photo widget.
We are almost there: now, tap on the item Choose corresponding to the item Select album , to select the specific album to be displayed in the widget and repeat the same operation for the Photo range and Read the image options to select, respectively, the time interval after which to change image and whether to read the photos from the album in sequence , or randomly .
App to create iOS 14 widgets
How do you say? Are you interested in making a fully customized widget to use to beautify the home screen of iOS 14 and later? In this case, you can turn to a third-party app designed precisely for this purpose: below you will list the ones that, in my opinion, represent the best in the category.
Widgetsmith
The first application I want to talk to you about is Widgetsmith : it allows you to create a very large number of custom widgets based on calendar, reminders, tasks, weather, photos and much more, with the ability to customize their size, style, color, the background image and other graphics.
After downloading the app from the iPhone store (just follow the link I gave you a little while ago, press the Get / Install button and, when prompted, authenticate with Face ID , Touch ID or Apple ID password ), open it and choose the size of the widget you are going to create, among those available: Small , Medium and Large .
Having made your choice, use the next screen to indicate the specific function of the widget: photos ( Photos ), time ( Time ), date ( Date ), meteo ( Weather ), pedometer ( Step counting ) and so on; once this aspect has also been defined, select the graphic style you prefer to apply, among those available.
At this point, tap on the Aestetic / Theme tab located at the bottom and choose the graphic theme to use for the widget, among those available: some can be used for free, while others, marked with a padlock , can be unlocked by subscribing to a Premium subscription to the app (with prices starting at € 1.99 / month).
The fun begins now: once you have also set the graphic theme, touch the Customize Theme button and use the buttons and options available to apply further customizations to the color of the text, background, borders and so on. When you are satisfied with your work, tap the Save button located at the top right and select the Apply to This Widget Only item , if you intend to use the graphic style created only for the current widget, or the Update Theme Everywhere item , to apply the same customizations also to the widgets created in the past (and to those you will create in the future).
To finish, return to the previous screen, tap the Save button again and exit the app. To add the widget you just created, make a long tap on an empty spot on the home screen, press the (+) button at the top right, select the Widgetsmith item from the list that appears later and choose the size of the widget created previously , among those available.
Finally, tap the Add widget button to insert the item on the home screen and move it where you prefer. Keep in mind that, if you have created several widgets of the same size, you can change the one currently displayed in the following way: make a long tap on the newly added box, select the Edit widget item from the menu that opens, touch the Widget item and affix the sign tick next to the name of the widget of your interest.
Other apps to create an iOS widget
There are many other apps that allow you to create fully customized and impactful widgets: below I list the ones that, in my opinion, are among the most interesting in the category.
- Color Widgets: this is a free application, which allows you to create widgets starting from numerous basic functions (date, time, battery, countdown, music, playlist, clock, random quotes, reminders and many others), with the possibility to customize the graphic style in practically every aspect. Basically the app is free but, to unlock its full features, you need to subscribe to a paid Pro plan (with prices starting at $ 1.99 / month).
- Colorful Widgets: this app also allows you to create customized widgets in all their aspects. In addition, it allows you to customize the entire home screen, changing its font, color and graphic style. The app is free, but to unlock some elements and / or features you need to make dedicated in-app purchases or subscribe to a paid Pro plan, the price of which starts at $ 4.99 / month.
- ScreenKit: is an application designed for the complete customization of the home screen, which works in a very similar way to the one seen previously. Some content, however, is paid: you can get it by activating the Plus + option, at a price of $ 7.99 / month ($ 1.99 the first month) or $ 2.49 / week.
- Glimpse 2: unlike the applications seen previously, Glimpse 2 allows you to insert widgets containing Web pages, so as to always have them in sight. It is free (with the possibility of supporting development upon in-app purchase).
I recommend: always pay attention to when looking for apps for the aesthetic personalization of the smartphone; the latter, in fact, are among the most numerous on the App Store and among them there are some that are not very valid, full of advertising and often rather deceptive and expensive subscriptions. Read the reviews carefully before installing any kind of app of this type!
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