Have you ever swiped right on your iPhone’s lock screen or home screen? This is the display of the day screen with widgets from Apple’s stored apps. If you want to personalize this screen, you can add and customize widgets from third-party apps as well as rearrange anything that already exists.
By default, Apple shows you the Weather app widgets, Siri Suggestions, Music, Favorites, and more. But that’s not all. When you enter edit mode, you will find that many of the apps you have installed (whether popular apps or standalone apps) include useful widgets.
You can add additional features to your iPhone using third-party app widgets. Here are some recommendations:
- Pedometer ++ to add a step counter.
- Dictionary.com to add a word of the day.
- Fantastic to add a calendar.
- Shortcuts application to quickly trigger Siri shortcuts.
- PCalc Lite to add a calculator.
Soon: What are iPhone shortcuts and how do I use them?
To get started, swipe right when you’re on your iPhone’s Home screen to access Today view. Here you can slide your finger up to view more widgets and press any of the arrow buttons to expand or collapse a widget.
Swipe all the way to the bottom of the Widget screen and press the “Edit” button to customize the Today View screen.
You will now see a list of enabled widgets at the top of the menu.
In the More Widgets section, you will find a list of widgets for the apps installed on your iPhone. A single application can have multiple widgets.
When you find a widget you want to add, tap the Plus (+) button next to the widget. It will instantly be added to the bottom of the list of activated widgets. Do this for each widget you want to add.
Then swipe to the top of the page and take a look at the enabled widgets. You’ll probably want to put your frequently used widgets at the top of the list.
To rearrange widgets, tap the three-line handle icon on the right edge of the screen, then drag each item to rearrange the list.
After you’ve added and rearranged the widgets, you might want to remove some of Apple’s stock widgets. To do so, just press the red Minus (-) button.
Press the “Delete” button.
Once you are happy with the layout of your widgets, press the “Done” button.
You will be redirected to your widget screen, with your new widgets and any new functionality added to your lock screen and home screen.
When you install new apps, you can go back to the edit screen and add new widgets to Today view by following the steps above.
Additionally, you can add widgets to your iPhone by long pressing the app icons. On the Home screen, press and hold a newly installed app. If it supports widgets, you’ll see it in the context menu. It’s a quick way to use widgets without even going to Today view.
And if you like the widget, tap the “Add Widget” link to add the widget at the bottom of the Today View screen.
IPads also support widgets, but a little differently. You can actually pin the Day View section directly to the home screen for quick access.
