12 Best Tips to Customize Widgets in iOS 14 Like a Pro

Jun. 29, 2020

To ensure you can easily explore a ton of widgets and choose the ones that can go along nicely with your needs, iOS 14 comes with a Widgets Gallery. Though right now only a handful of apps offer widgets, I expect more apps to jump on the bandwagon once the latest iteration of iOS officially rolls out this fall.

More importantly, Apple has introduced a new API to let developers create their own widgets. So, it’s just a matter of time before you will be spoilt for choices.

Widgets come in different sizes so that you can design your home screen beautifully by placing them at the right spot. Don’t want to use too many widgets thinking they may make the home screen look clutter? Well, Apple offers stack widgets to let you use widgets with better control.

What’s more, there are alsoSiri Suggestionwidget and smart stacks that use on-device intelligence to display actions you might take as per your usage patterns. With all that said, let’s get going!

1. First off,touch and hold the home screenin a blank space until the apps start wiggling.

2. Next, tap on the“+” buttonat the top left corner of the screen.

3. On the next screen, you should see theWidgets Gallery. Now, it’s time to explore and pick your favorite widgets.

Once you have found a nice widget, you can easily put it on the home screen to take a glance at the needed information without having to go through the roundabout way.

1. Navigate to theWidgets Galleryon your iOS device.

2. Now, choose a preferred widget and then tap on theAdd Widgetbutton to put it on your home screen.

3. Next, drag the widget at the preferred spot on the home screen. In the end, tap onDoneat the top right to confirm.

There is also a quick way to edit a widget. So, if you ever want to make some adjustments in a widget, you can do so with ease.

1.Touch and hold a widgeton the home screen. Then, select theEdit Widgetin the contextual menu.

2. Now, edit the available options.

3. Next, hit the“X” buttonto finish.

If you no longer want to use a widget, you can get rid of it right away.

1. Simplytouch and hold a widget. Now, selectRemove Widgetin the contextual menu.

2. Next, a popup will appear asking you whether you want to remove the widget in question. Tap onRemoveto confirm.

If you love to use a variety of widgets, chances are pretty high that your home screen might already have begun to look flooded with widgets. What if you want to keep them all but without making the home screen appear cluttered. Well, this is where the stack widgets come into play.

Keep in mind, you are allowed to stack widgets of the same sizes. So, be sure to select the right size before dropping a widget on another one.

1. LaunchWidget Gallery(touch and hold the screen on the home screen -> “+”) and choosea widget.

2. Now, select thepreferred sizeand then tap on theAdd Widget.

3. Next, tap onthe “+” buttonat the top left again. Select a widget and add it. Make sure to choose the same size.

4. Next, you need todrag and dropthis widget on the first one. Finally, tap onDoneat the top right to finish.

Note:If you already have multiple widgets on your home screen, you can drag a widget and drop it on another one to create a stack.

If the stack has won you over, I guess you would find the Smart Stack even more helpful. What makes it super handy is the on-device intelligence that shows up a specific widget based on various things like time, location, and preference.

For instance, a weather widget would welcome you in the morning and a Starbucks widget might be ready to catch your attention in the evening. This is just the tip of the iceberg as the possibilities are endless.

2. Now, select thepreferred sizeand then tap onAdd Widget.

3. Finally, drag it at the desired spot on your home screen. Be sure to tap onDonelocated at the top right of the screen to confirm.

Customization plays a vital role in enhancing user-experience. And even in this regard, Smart Stack has looked quite good to me.

To get going,touch and hold the Smart Stackand then chooseEdit Stackin the popup.

Now, fine-tune the stack in line with your requirements.

Turn off Smart Rotation for Stack

While I really find the auto-shuffling of widgets based on usage quite helpful, I don’t think it might appeal to the taste of everyone. If you are one of them, disable. Just turn off the switch forSmart Rotate.

Re-Arrange Smart Stack Widgets

There is also a quick way to rearrange the Smart Stack widgets. So, if you prefer some widgets more, you can keep them at the top. Simply,dragthree horizontal lineslocated next to a widget and then drop it at the desired spot.

Stack Widget consists of several widgets including Weather, Podcasts, Photos, and more. If you ever don’t want to use a specific one, you can easily remove it.

1. Simply, long-press the Stack widget and choose Edit Stack.

2. Now,swipe left on a widgetand selectdelete.

Note:Alternately, scroll through the Stack. Then, touch and hold the widget in question and choose the Remove “name” option.

Deleting a stack widget is same as deleting normal widgets. All you need to do is long-press on the unwanted stack and hitRemove Stackin the contextual menu. Tap onRemoveagain in the popup to confirm. You can use this same method to get rid of Smart Stack as well.

Along with Smart Stack widget, Siri Suggestions widget has attracted me the most. With the help of on-device intelligence, it offers very helpful widget suggestions to keep you in sync.

1. OpenWidgets Galleryon your device and choose theSiri Suggestions Widget.

2. Now, select theright sizeand tap on theAdd Widget button. Then, drag it at the right place on the home screen.

Note:If you ever want to remove the Siri Suggestions Widget, touch and hold the widget and choose Remove Widget.

Apple also allows you to quickly move widgets from the Today View area to home screen. If you already have a widget in your Today View area, you can simply hold and drag that widget to your home screen to add it.

Unlike before the edit button, which allows you to edit widgets, on the Today View screen is hidden in iOS 14. And it took me some digging to discover that edit button. And I guess, I’m not alone who might be wondering where it has gone.

1. Simplytouch and hold the empty home screenon your iPhone. Then, swipe left from the right edge of the screen to access Today View and tap onEdit buttonat the bottom.

2. Next up, tap on the“+” buttonto the left of each widget you want to use. If you no longer want to use any widget, tap on the“-” buttonto the left of each widget. To rearrange the place of widgets, touch and hold the three horizontal lines and drag it at the right spot. In the end, tap onDoneto confirm.

One of the coolest things about iOS 14 widgets is that you can design your home screen with just widgets. Yeah, you got it right! If you have some useful widgets and you want to view them on a separate screen, it could be a better implementation. To do so, drag all your favorite widgets a home screen.

Frequently Asked Questions

Developers create widgets for their apps to let users access certain information and perform quick actions without having to take the long route. As of now, iOS doesn’t offer a tool to turn an iPhone app into a widget for users.

You should consider iOS widgets as the small parts of the corresponding apps. They are designed to make it pretty simple access to certain information. Currently, widgets are there just to show information. You can tap on a widget to launch an app or a specific section of app, but you cannot perform actions from widgets alone. This is the biggest drawback of iOS widgets right now.

As mentioned above, widgets make it incredibly straightforward to access specific information. For instance, if you like to keep a track of the weather information of your city, you can use a weather widget to monitor weather right from the home screen of your device.

Yeah, they do – but not as much as a full-fledged app. So, if you are super conscious about the battery life of your device, you should avoid using too many home screen widgets.

Using a widget on the iPhone had never been so easy and fun. All you need to do is dive into the App Gallery and then choose the widget that seems in line with your preference. Then, drag it at the preferred spot on the home screen.

So, these are the cool tips and tricks to make the most of the widgets in iOS 14. Though Apple has taken several years to offer customizable widgets, the long wait seems to be worth it. And I expect them to get even better with time. Recently, we have been exploring the latest iteration of iOS and covered many notable hacks like –

Catch up with these posts, if you have missed out on them. Also, share your valuable thoughts on the new iOS 14 update with us.

An old school bibliophile who turned a tech nerd out of obsession. When he is not digging into hacks and tracking down stories that are breaking the internet, you may find him reciting poems.