How to Do more with widgets in iOS

1 Launch Center Pro

If you like customising for efficiency, you’ll love this powerful widget, which lets you create a mini Home screen of selected apps within your Today view. You can also invoke actions, such as messaging a regular contact.

3 IFTTT

This automation service offers a range of ready-made ‘recipes’ through its app. Turn on the IFTTT widget, then tap it to go to a list of widget-enabled tasks, from changing your Hue lights to saving a snap to Google Photos.

5 Quick Notes

Apple’s Notes widget misses the point by showing only a couple of lines of each note. Michal Kos’s gives you the whole note (with a Show Less option). It lacks extras like syncing, but it’s perfect for shopping lists.

2 Weather Underground

This has two widgets. WU Weather shows similar info to iOS’s own weather widget, but with better use of space and more options. WU Radar maps rainfall nearby. The free apps have ads, but these aren’t shown in the widgets.

4 Google Transit Departures

Apple’s Maps Transit widget only shows your favourite routes. This one, available with Google Maps, requires no setup and shows all buses and trains leaving your vicinity soon, all in the Today view, and so from the Lock screen.

6 Steve – The Jumping Dino

Steve is a dinosaur. He jumps. In the Today view. On your iPhone. Just tap to play. Yes, that’s all this does: it’s a 2D infinite running game featuring a T-Rex. Called Steve. In a widget. Stop thinking and install it.