The arrival of iOS 14 has brought with it a whole bunch of new features to the iPhone. Few are more important and more prominent than the addition of widgets to your home screen. Marking the first time Apple has changed up its grid style home screen since the iPhone first launched, these widgets are more than just eye candy. These widgets can provide information and direct access to some of the most popular iPhone functions including email, news, calendar and web browsing. Here are some of the best widgets you can add to your iPhone home screens.
1. Spark
Of all of the functions of the internet, email probably matters most. Spark, one of the most popular third-party email providers, has a useful set of widgets that can be added. Everything from a simple look at your inbox to taking a look at calendar appointments can all be done through Spark’s widgets. Depending on which widget you select, you can even choose one widget that incorporates both email and calendar with the option to dial in to your next meeting right from the widget.
2. Fantastical
What Spark is to email, Fantastical is to iPhone calendar apps. Long one of the most powerful and feature-rich options available, it’s no surprise Fantastical quickly added powerful widgets. Choose the most basic widget to see today’s date or go up in size and see a full 30-day calendar. Alternatively, you can also choose to see today’s date and your next set of appointments or reminders all in one widget. Fantastical can even incorporate a weather outlook showing you the current temperature and conditions outside. Fantastical does require a subscription to use its full feature set, but the widgets are available on the free tier.
3. Apollo for Reddit
When it comes to Reddit on the iPhone, few apps do it better than third-party standout, Apollo. With ten widgets to choose from, you can add everything from a post, wallpapers, the news feed or shortcuts to subreddits. You can even pin a random shower thought to your screen that changes regularly. While Reddit may not be for everyone, Apollo is the gold standard for widget design on the iPhone right now. Did we mention there is a joke widget as well? There is and it’s pretty great.
4. Weather Line
In the same way Spark and Fantastical are among the best replacements for default apps, Weather Line is a favorite. There are dozens of solid weather apps on the app store ,but Weather Line visualizes its forecasts and data in a unique and minimalistic way. Want to see the exact time rain is going to start falling in your area? Weather Line is the answer. It has an excellent set of widgets offering a healthy dose of information with everything from forecasts, sunset and sunrise, wind speeds, UV index and more.
5. Google App
No matter how often you might try a competitor, Google is the de facto search engine. Thankfully, the company quickly upgraded its search app with a beautiful widget. Available in two sizes, the smaller square is just a quick shortcut to get into the app. The larger, more rectangular widget enables search but also shortcuts directly to Google Lens, Voice Search or Incognito mode. With light or dark options to match your iPhone, the Google widget is the best web browsing widget available.
6. Soor Music
Apple Music subscribers are fortunate to have some awesome widget options out right now like Soor Music. A beautiful music player for the iPhone, its gesture-driven interface is second to none. With iOS 14, Soor introduces widgets that can show current songs, current and upcoming music and playlists or favorites. Alongside its beautiful app, Soor’s widgets are another top-notch widget addition to iOS.
7. Sticky Widgets
This widget is about as basic as it gets, but it comes in handy all the same. Remember sticky notes? These are the notes you peel off a pad and stick to a notebook, desk, monitor or anywhere else in an office. They are now back on your phone with Sticky Widgets. The app offers three different sizes to align with Apple’s available widget sizes as well as some personalization options including font, colors, alignment and more. When you just need a quick note to pick up your dry cleaning or a few things at the grocery store, Sticky Widgets is the answer.
8. Aviary
There are a small number of really great third-party Twitter apps available on the iPhone, but the new entry Aviary is already one of the best. The lone developer is jumping headfirst into widgets with three different size options. It’s likely that other Twitter apps will follow suit, but for now, and likely for the foreseeable future, Aviary is one of the best.
Widgets are a new feature in iOS 14. While they are still in their infancy stage, expect the number of available widgets to grow exponentially by this time next year.
David is a freelance tech writer with over 15 years of experience in the tech industry. He loves all things Nintendo.
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