You're probably staring at a grid of colorful squares. It's been the iPhone's look for over a decade. But honestly, just opening and closing apps all day is exhausting. You want to see the weather without tapping the cloud icon. You want your calendar front and center so you don't miss that 2:00 PM meeting. Learning how to add widgets on iPhone isn't just about aesthetics; it’s about making your phone stop wasting your time.
Apple used to be really restrictive about this. Remember when widgets were stuck in that weird side-panel on the left? Those days are long gone. Now, you can pepper them anywhere. They can be tiny squares or massive rectangles that take up half the screen. It’s flexible, but if you don't know the specific long-press tricks, it feels like fighting the software.
Getting the Basics Right: The Jiggle Mode Secret
Everything starts with the jiggle. If you want to change anything on an iOS home screen, you have to make the apps dance.
Find a blank spot on your screen. Any spot works, as long as it isn't an icon. Press and hold your finger there for a second or two. Suddenly, every app starts shaking like they're nervous. This is officially called "Edit Mode," but let's be real—everyone calls it jiggle mode.
Once you're in this state, look at the top left corner of your screen. You’ll see a little plus (+) button. That is the gateway. Tapping that button brings up the widget library. This isn't just a list; it’s a searchable menu of every app on your phone that supports a widget. Scroll through it. You'll see Apple’s defaults like Weather, Photos, and Battery, but keep scrolling. Third-party apps like Spotify, Todoist, or Google Maps have great ones too.
Picking the Right Size
When you tap an app in that menu, you aren't stuck with one choice. Most apps offer three distinct sizes. Small takes up the space of four apps ($2 \times 2$). Medium is a horizontal bar ($2 \times 4$). Large is a massive square ($4 \times 4$).
Pick one. Drag it. Drop it.
If you drop it on top of other apps, they'll scurry out of the way to make room. It’s pretty intuitive once you get the hang of the physics. If you don't like where it landed, just drag it again.
Smart Stacks: The Power User Move
Having ten different widgets is a mess. Your screen gets crowded fast. This is where the Smart Stack comes in, and honestly, it’s the best thing Apple has added to the interface in years.
A Smart Stack is basically a pile of widgets. You can swipe through them vertically. Think of it like a Rolodex on your home screen. You can have your weather on top in the morning, your calendar during work hours, and your fitness rings in the evening.
You can create one by dragging one widget of the same size directly on top of another. They’ll merge. Or, you can select the "Smart Stack" option from the widget gallery itself. Apple uses on-device intelligence to try and guess which widget you want to see based on the time of day or your location. If you're at the gym, it might show your workout controls. If it's 11:00 PM, it might show your alarm clock.
You can even turn off the "Smart Rotate" feature if it gets annoying. Just long-press the stack, hit Edit Stack, and toggle it off. Sometimes you just want to be in control of the scrolling yourself.
How to add widgets on iPhone Lock Screens
Since iOS 16, the home screen isn't the only place for this stuff. Your lock screen—the thing you see before you even unlock the phone—has its own widget row now.
It’s a bit different here. You have to long-press on your lock screen, then tap Customize. Select the Lock Screen preview, and you’ll see a rectangular box right under the clock. Tap that.
The options here are much smaller. They look more like complications on an Apple Watch. You can see your battery percentage, the next sunset, or your activity rings. These are designed to be "glanceable." You shouldn't need more than half a second to digest the information.
The "Today View" Variation
Don't forget the old-school spot. If you swipe right from your very first home screen (or your lock screen), you hit the Today View.
Some people hate this screen. I think it's great for things you need but don't want to see all the time. Think of stuff like your data usage tracker or a detailed stocks list. You add widgets here the exact same way: scroll to the bottom, hit Edit, then the plus (+) button.
Why Your Widgets Might Be Missing
Sometimes you download a cool new app and it just doesn't show up in the widget list. It's frustrating.
Usually, this happens because the app hasn't been opened yet. iOS needs you to launch the app at least once after downloading it to "register" the widget options. If it still isn't showing up, try restarting your phone. It sounds like tech support cliché #1, but it actually clears the cache that populates the widget gallery.
Also, keep in mind that some older apps haven't been updated to support the "new" widget system. They might be stuck in the "Legacy" section at the very bottom of the Today View. You can't put those on your home screen. They are destined to live in that side panel forever, or until the developer gets with the times.
👉 See also: Apple Watch Ultra 2: What Most People Get Wrong
Customizing the Look
If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, look into apps like Widgetsmith or Color Widgets.
The default Apple widgets are fine, but they're a bit... white and gray. Third-party customization apps let you change the font, the background color, and even use your own photos as the backdrop for a clock or calendar. This is how people get those "aesthetic" home screens you see on Pinterest. It takes a lot of time to set up, but the result is a phone that looks uniquely yours.
Managing Battery Drain
Here is the thing nobody tells you: widgets eat battery.
If you have a widget that is constantly checking your GPS (like a weather app) or constantly refreshing data (like a live sports score), your battery life will take a hit. It’s usually negligible, but if you have twenty widgets all firing at once, you’ll notice your iPhone dying a bit faster by 6:00 PM.
Be selective. If you don't need to see it every hour, maybe it doesn't need to be a widget.
Making it Practical
- Audit your apps: Go through your home screen and identify the three apps you open most just to check a single piece of info. Those are your widget candidates.
- Start with a Medium Weather widget: It’s the most useful one for most people. It gives you the hourly forecast, which is way more helpful than just the current temperature.
- Use the Battery widget: If you use AirPods or an Apple Watch, the small battery widget is a lifesaver. It shows the charge level for all your connected devices in one spot.
- Group by Context: Put your work widgets (Calendar, Mail) on one page and your personal widgets (Photos, Music) on another. You can use Focus Modes to hide the work page when you’re off the clock.
- Clean up the mess: If a widget stops being useful, remove it. Just long-press the widget and hit Remove Widget. Don't let your screen become a graveyard of old data.