iOS 14 basics: How to add widgets to your iPhone's home screen 1

iOS 14 basics: How to add widgets to your iPhone’s home screen

One of the most notable changes introduced in iOS 14 that aroused great interest is the addition of widgets that can be added to any page. There are all sorts of weird and useful things you can do with them (especially Shortcuts and widget master). To get started, here’s how to add an existing widget to your home screen:

  • Touch and hold an empty area on your screen until your apps vibrate and show minus symbols
  • Tap the plus sign in the upper left corner and you will open a menu of available widgets.

Touch and hold your screen and tap the plus sign.

Touch and hold your screen and tap the plus sign.

You will get a number of widgets to choose from.

You will get a number of widgets to choose from.

  • Tap the widget you want to add. Swipe left and right to choose the size and shape of the widget.
  • Tap “Add Widget”
  • After adding the widget, tap anywhere on the home screen to exit edit mode

Swipe left and right to choose the size and shape you want.

Swipe to choose the size and shape you want.

Long press a widget to remove it.

Long press a widget to remove it.

Note that the first time you tap the new widget, you may be prompted to set its properties (for example, to tell a weather widget what you want it to report).

To move the widget around the screen or to another screen, long press until it starts to shake and then move it to where you want it. If you want to get rid of the widget, long press it to bring up an uninstall option.

But wait – there’s more:

Build a widget stack

If you want to save space or have a widget that you only want to use occasionally, you can create a widget stack.

To create a stack:

  • Choose a widget for your home screen as described above and place it wherever you want. Select the next widget you want to stack (you can stack up to 10) and save it to your home screen
  • Long press and place the widget on top of the first one to be able to move the widget around the screen. Note that the widget must be the same size and shape; you cannot embed a small widget into a medium sized widget.

Swipe the top widget up or down to see each widget in your stack and the next widget will appear.

You can stack your widgets (note the dots on the right side of the stack)

You can stack your widgets (note the dots on the right side of the stack).

Long press a stack to edit it.

Long press a stack to edit it.

If you want to change the location or remove any of the apps in the stack:

  • Long press the stack and select “Edit Stack”
  • Press the three lines next to each app to change its position in the stack
  • Swipe left to uninstall the app

Build Smart Stack

Apple has also created a feature it calls “Smart Stack” that will automatically choose which widget is at the top based on your location, what time it is, or what you look at most often.

iOS 14 comes with a prebuilt Smart Stack consisting of a bunch of selected apps. You add this stack the same way you add any widget:

  • Long press your home screen and tap the plus icon in the top left corner
  • Scroll down until you see the widget named “Smart Stack”
  • As with other widgets, swipe to select the size you want and then tap “Add Widget”.

You can stack your widgets (note the dots on the right side of the stack)

Select the “Smart Stack” widget as you would any other widget.

iOS 14 basics: How to add widgets to your iPhone's home screen 4

“Smart Rotation” turns almost any stack into a Smart Stack.

After adding it, you can change the order of the included apps or remove the ones you don’t want, just as you remove the stacked apps. Or if you want to start from scratch you can create your own Smart Stack:

  • Long press any stack you created and select “Edit Stack”
  • Turn on “Smart Rotation”

Use widgets on iPads

You can also use widgets (and stacks of widgets) on iPads; however, they can only be placed in the Today view on the left side of the leftmost screen. Otherwise, the process of adding and stacking widgets is the same as on the iPhone – much like the process of creating Smart Stacks.

If you want to keep your widgets on display no matter what screen you are on, you can.

  • Press and hold an empty space in the Today View
  • When you see the “Keep on Home Screen” option, turn it on

In the meantime, if you want to start creating your own widgets or learn what you can do with the new App Library, check out these articles:

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