These Are the Best Interactive Widgets for IPhone
After years of waiting, widgets on iPhone finally have buttons thanks to the new Interactive Widgets feature in iOS 17. You can finally do simple tasks like resuming a podcast or checking off to-dos in Reminders without opening the app. Not exactly revolutionary, but incredibly useful for those whose iPhones are full of widgets.
But the benefits don’t stop there: many developers have found ways to extend this functionality by adding new features right to the iPhone’s home screen. Now you can set up a focus session, calculate, convert units, monitor your calendar, and track habits, all without opening the app.
Fantastic
Fantastical is already one of the best calendar apps on iPhone, and the new interactive widgets make it even better. You can have a simple calendar view where you can switch between months at the top, or you can have a detailed calendar that will show appointments for each one as you switch between days at the top. It is extremely useful and does not require a Premium subscription.
Calculator 17
I used to always have a calculator widget in the Today view. This was before widgets appeared on the home screen. Now that time is back, I can finally do simple calculations when splitting bills or counting bills right from the iPhone home screen.
Calculator 17 app provides a customizable, ad-free calculator on your iPhone home screen. You can also edit the colors and theme of the calculator.
TikTik
The Reminders app now has a really handy widget that lets you complete tasks right from the home screen. But if you want extra features like calendar integration and cross-platform syncing, TickTick is a great choice.
And now, with the iOS 17 update, TickTick lets you tag tasks directly from your home screen widgets (something Todoist still doesn’t have).
Launcher lock
Lock Launcher was originally created as a way to launch apps from lock screen widgets. But now that home screen widgets have become interactive, they have also found their place on the home screen, becoming a great customizable alternative to adding app icons to the home screen. One Lock Launcher widget can display 20 app icons without labels.
This solves the problem of choosing between widgets and apps on the home screen. You can now place 12 apps at the bottom of your home screen and two medium-sized widgets at the top. In the application, you can customize everything: from the size of application icons to widget skins.
Overcast
Overcast is a great alternative to the iOS-only Apple Podcasts app. It’s fast, sleek, and packed with features that enhance your podcast experience. Now, with iOS 17, it offers new widgets that let you quickly resume watching a podcast.
What I really like is the large Overcast widget that shows several recently played and recently added episodes, so you can start playing a new episode from the home screen with one tap.
Stripes
Streaks ($5.99) is a no-nonsense habit tracker that won an Apple Design Award back in 2016. It’s pretty simple: you have a few pages and you create the habits you want to form. Each habit has an icon, and some can be tracked automatically.
You open the app, tap and hold the icon, and the habit is tracked. Now, thanks to iOS 17 app widgets, you can track your habits right from your Home screen.
Focus
Focus is a Pomodoro app that will allow you to start, pause, and track all of your focused work sessions right from the widget. You can also use this widget to quickly add tasks and track them.
Anti-aircraft gun
If you practice mindfulness meditation and want to track your silence, the Zenitizer is a must-have. The app will allow you to set a timer with internal calls and background audio, and will also provide information about your practice.
The app widget is pretty cool too. You can start one of the preset meditations and follow the timer and intervals without even opening the app.
Widgetsmith
Widgetsmith is a popular widget customization app that adds some cool new interactive widgets to iOS 17. Some free widgets let you scroll through music album covers and photos from your library. Additionally, there are a couple of widgets that are only available if you subscribe to the Premium plan.
I found the calendar widget quite useful. You can switch between days of the week from the top to see all your appointments without even opening the Calendar app. And since it’s Widgetsmith, you can also customize the color and theme of the widget.