Anyone else’s home screen gotten a little unorganized over these past few months?
I’m pretty sure I organize my iPhone’s home screen about once a year…and it always ends up getting cluttered again in a matter of months as I download new apps. However, the new iOS 14 has introduced widgets and some other new options that will make it easy to organize your home screen and make it look aesthetically pleasing as well!
I used an app called Widgetsmith to add custom widgets to my home screen, and I am in love with the result! Today, I’m going to show you how to customize widgets on iPhone and how I organized my home screen.
How to Customize Widgets on iPhone with Widgetsmith
How I Organized My Home Screens
I organized my home screens for four different workflows:
Screen One: I truly wanted this to be my “Home” screen. I added the custom date and weather widgets from Widgetsmith and some of the built-in Apple apps that I use the most, including Camera, Photos, Chrome, and Calculator. I love this setup because it’s great for when I’m on the go. I can open my phone up quickly, take a photo, glance at the weather, calculate a tip, or check my health, and then put my phone away.
Screen Two: This screen is all about business. You guys know that I blog full-time, so this screen is jam-packed with video and photo editing apps, social media, and some of the apps I use to schedule out my edit calendar and social posts. I also included a clock that displays Phoenix’s local time because my management company is based out there. Most of Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Savings Time, so depending on the time of year, Phoenix is either 2 or 3 hours behind the East Coast. One little thing that helps me stay organized!
Screen Three: This is my “GSD in your personal life” screen. It includes health, finance, and communication apps. I’ve also included some education apps as well, so I can work on improving my skills in my free time.
Screen Four: I call this my “self-care” screen. It has food, travel, and shopping apps. I separated out the four food apps and the two travel apps that I use the most and then grouped the rest of them in a folder to keep things neat.
How to Create Custom Widgets in Widgetsmith
First things first: go ahead and download the Widgetsmith app here.
When you log into the app, you have the option to create a Small, Medium, or Large widget. The Small widget will be a square (it takes up about two rows and two columns of icons of space on your home screen), the Medium widget takes up four columns and two rows of space on your home screen, and the Large widget will take up four columns and four rows of space. You can make as many widgets as you’d like!
Once you add a widget, then you can go in and customize it. You’ve got many options here: you can display the date, time, a photo, an album of photos, custom text, upcoming events, reminders, activity, tides, and astronomy. If you upgrade to the premium plan, which is $19.99/year, you can add weather as well.
I snagged some photos on Pinterest to add to some of the widgets you see above. The “You Can” image on my “work” home screen is an inspirational quote that I love that will help me power through the workday (and overcome any imposter syndrome!)
How to Install Your Custom Widgets
Go into your home screen and do a long press on your screen. Here, you’ll see your app icons get all jiggly. Hit the “+” button in the top left corner to add any widgets you desire.
Apple has a bunch of built-in widgets that are great as well, and you’ll see them on the next screen. To get to your Widgetsmith widgets, scroll all the way down until you see “Widgetsmith” on the menu.
Hit that Widgetsmith button, and select the size of the custom widget you had in mind. It’s automatically going to place the first version you have saved of each size widget. To change the widget, you can long-press the widget and hit “Edit Widget.” Once you see the pop up, hit the “Widget” button, and then you’ll be taken to a list of your previously saved widgets. Pick the one you want, and voila!
Do you have any questions I didn’t answer about how to customize widgets on iphone? Let me know in the comments below!
Top photo by Tom McGovern
hey how are you, where can i find the wallpaper that you have on your phone
where did you find your pictures for the background and widgets?
either Pinterest or they’re photos I personally took!