iOS 14 introduced detail-rich and resizable widgets that not only work in Today View but also within the Home screen itself. Now that the stable iOS 14 release is out, we are starting to see lots of third-party apps either updating their old widgets or introducing widget support for the very first time. If you hate rummaging through the App Store looking for third-party apps with top-notch widget support, do not worry — we’ve done the hard work for you.
So without any further ado, let’s go through a list of the best third-party widgets that you can get on your iPhone right now.
The Best Home Screen Widgets for Your iPhone
1. Weather Line
Compared to the native iOS 14 Weather widgets, the ones from Weather Line not only look catchy and interesting but also provide lots of weather-related information at a glance. The larger-sized Weather Line widget, for example, packs in a ton of detail such as Humidity, Pressure, UV Index, Sunset/Sunrise, and more.
You can also get additional weather-related information (such as an Air-Quality Index) and customize widgets with different themes for $3.49/mo.
2. Wikipedia
Wikipedia’s widgets will pique your interest throughout the day and make you read a lot more. Tack the Top Read widget onto your Home screen, and you will see an intriguing list of the most popular Wikipedia articles at any given time.
There’s also a Picture of the Day widget that will feature a stunning image curated by the Wikipedia community.
3. Apollo for Reddit
The third-party Reddit client Apollo comes with an astounding 15 widgets that let you keep tabs on the latest posts from your Reddit feed. The Multiple Posts Widget and the Post Feed Grid, for example, are perfect examples of how widgets should be built in iOS 14.
There’s also a Subreddit Shortcuts widget that features your favorite subreddits — you can edit it by long-pressing and selecting Edit Widget. You also get widgets that link to popular subreddits such as Showerthoughts and Jokes. They are definitely worth checking out even if you aren’t an active Reddit user.
4. Aviary
Want to stay on top of the latest tweets? Aviary will help you do that. You can quickly view an automatically updating list of one to four tweets (depending on the widget size) from your Twitter timeline. The catch — Aviary costs $4.99.
5. PDF Expert
PDF Expert is a comprehensive app that lets you accomplish any task PDF-related — as long as you are willing to upgrade from the free version. That said, the app comes with ten different widgets (of varying sizes) that let you get to your PDFs faster.
The Shortcuts widget, for example, deep-links to the Recents, Favorites, and Computer section of the app, helping you jumpstart your workflow in seconds.
6. Agenda
The date-focused note-taking app Agenda comes with three different widgets sizes that help you keep track of upcoming notes. The larger-sized Agenda widget is the best out of the lot and ensures that you won’t miss out on anything important.
7. Dark Noise
Dark Noise helps you relax with over 40+ high-quality soundtracks. It also comes with customizable widgets that you can deep-link to your favorite tracks.
You also use what’s dubbed the Single Sound widget to start a track with a pre-configured timer and volume setting. Dark Noise costs $5.99.
8. Documents by Readdle
Documents by Readdle is a comprehensive file manager that puts the iPhone’s native Files app to shame, letting you manage, read, listen, view, and annotate files (as well as do a ton of other stuff) easily.
It comes with over ten different widgets, but the best pick is the Actions widget that lets you access the app’s best features in a jiffy — Music, Browser, Wi-Fi Transfer, etc.
9. Unwind
Unwind is an app that helps you focus, relax, and sleep better with use of breathing exercises. To top things up, you also gets widgets that relay your daily mindfulness stats with a matching background image.
10. Spark
The third-party email client Spark comes with several widgets that can show information such as your latest messages and upcoming calendar events.
However, the Emails and Actions widget is the best of the lot. It provides quick access to your Inbox and offers a neat row of shortcuts — Search, Calendar, Attachments, and Compose.
Don’t forget that you can also set Spark Mail as the default email client on your iPhone — head over to Settings > Spark > Default Mail App and select Spark on the list that follows.
11. Soor
Soor is a third-party Apple Music client that offers a handful of widgets superior in functionality to their native counterparts in almost every way.
For example, the Now Playing widget lets you figure out the exact song that is currently playing right from the Home screen (or Today View). Another widget, dubbed the Collection widget, offers quick access to Favorites, Playlists, New Releases, and so on. However, Soor comes with a price tag of $4.99.
12. OneDrive
If you use OneDrive for your photo backups, then it’s worth checking the OneDrive widget. It doesn’t do anything crazy, but shows you a photo taken from the ‘On This Day’ and ‘Recent Photos’ categories. There are also two sizes to pick from — medium and large.
13. Brief
Brief is an impartial and unbiased news app. Add the Brief widget to your Home screen and keep up with the latest news without having your emotions run high.
14. HabitMinder
Whether it’s exercising, meditating, or spending time with your family, HabitMinder is a fun app that helps you build good habits. And with a collection of over five Home screen widgets, you should have a much easier time tracking how well you are faring.
15. WaterMinder
WaterMinder, built by the same folk behind HabitMinder, lets you keep tabs on your water intake habits. It also comes with ten different Home screen widgets to help make that easier. Unlike HabitMinder, though, the app costs $4.99.
16. Todoist
Todoist is an excellent alternative to the native Reminders app and comes with five crisp-looking Home screen widgets to boot. You have three Tasks widgets that let you track your daily to-dos, a Productivity widget that showcases your daily and weekly progress, and a smaller-sized Add Task widget that lets you add new tasks to Todoist quickly.
17. Dice by pCalc
The dice simulator Dice by pCalc comes with widgets that you can add to the Home screen or Today View. Not only do they show your most recent results, but they also help bring up the app and start rolling dice immediately. Before you head over to the App Store to install it, just be prepared to shell out $1.99.
18. Things 3
The fantastic task management app Things 3 (costs $9.99) comes with up to five live widgets that you can configure to display any task list that you want to keep an eye out on. You can also check upcoming projects and urgent to-dos right from the Home screen itself.
19. Tangerine
The habit-forming app Tangerine features multiple widgets that help you keep tabs on your daily goals.
20. Nudget
Nudget is a personal finance app that makes it easier to check your spending habits and budget with numerous widgets. Easily see the categories that have experienced the biggest jump in spending, the biggest drop in spending, and so on, with a quick glance at the Home screen. Nudget costs $2.99.
21. Copilot
Unlike Nudget, Copilot is a personal finance app that’s free to install (although it still has in-app purchases). It also comes with a number of Home screen widgets that let you keep a close eye on your purchases.
22. I am
How about reading a positive statement each time you head into the Home screen? The app I am – Positive Affirmations helps you do just that. You get three widget sizes with customizable backgrounds to choose from.
23. Motivation
Positive affirmations aside, you can also get your daily dose of motivational quotes with the Home screen widgets from the Motivation – Daily Quotes app. Just like with ‘I am,’ you get to pick from three different widget sizes.
24. Birch
Birch is a third-party photo app that lets you organize images with notes. It also comes with a Featured Photos widget that lets you plaster any photo of your choosing on the Home screen.
25. Widgetsmith
Unlike the other apps on this list, Widgetsmith lets you build you own widgets by pulling information from Weather, Calendar, Reminders, Photos, and Health. You get to choose widget sizes, modify font types, change background colors, and so on. It also lets you schedule widgets to appear on the Home screen at different times of the day.
Widgetsmith is rather rough around the edges, but it’s an app that’s definitely worth checking out.
Start Adding
We are still early on in the iOS 14 release cycle, so don’t be disappointed if your favorite apps lack widget support. Keep updating them regularly, and you should start seeing new widgets crop up in the widgets gallery all the time. Also, don’t forget the fact that you can ‘stack’ widgets to prevent them from cluttering up your Home screen.
So, know of any other apps with fantastic-looking widgets? Drop in a comment and let us know.
