6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (2024)

What To Know

  • A widget is like a small app window on your Home Screenthat can display information in real-time.
  • Many widgets are interactable, meaning you can engage with the app without actually opening it.
  • While Apple has a great selection of native app widgets, there are a few non-native widgets that are an excellent addition to any iPad.
6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (1)

iPhone widgets are cool, but iPad widgets are even better. Why? The iPad's larger display means you can add more detailed widgets that show inspiration, updates, and needed information from your apps without ever leaving your Home Screen. We've tested the most popular optionsand created this roundup of some of thebest widgets foriPad.

Rather than focusing on native Apple widgets and apps, we've also opted to focus mainly on third-party apps and widgetsto help take your iPad Home Screen inspiration in new directions.If you're interested in learning more about how to get the most out of your iPad, I recommend checking out our free Tip of the Day.

1. Kitchen Stories6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (2)

This well-designed cooking apphas one of the best iPad widgets I've come across.Whether you're a seasoned foodie or just looking to spice up your cooking, this widget will take your chef-ly aspirations to a new level with simple, savory, and healthy meal ideas. This large widget option is ideal for your iPad screen and displays a daily recipe recommendation withestimated cook time, difficulty level,andingredient list. What I love about this food widgetis that it displays the ingredient list right on the iPad Home Screen, so before I even open the app, I know if this daily recommendation is a recipe I'm interested in.

6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (3)

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2. Flipboard - Latest Stories6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (4)

Flipboard is a popular news app that sets itselfapart from the pack by helping you to scan the latest news in a readable format. While the Apple News app is also a great option, a few things make the Flipboard widget preferable. For one thing, the Flipboard app is incrediblyeasy to customize to your interests, and this, in turn, means the widget will only display topics you are interested in. Want to avoid political news on your iPad Home Screen and instead focus on food and travel? You can customize this in the Flipboard app with just a few taps on your screen. The Flipboard widget is one of the best widgets if you're a news junkie, as it morefrequently updates the headlines displayed than the Apple News widget.

3. Streaks6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (5)

You don't even have to love to-do lists to appreciate this cool widget. Streaks acts as a visual habit tracker, making for a fun addition to your iPad Home Screen, reminding you to walk your dog, exercise, or drink that daily green smoothie. If you have tasks that need to be completed daily or a few times a week, and you don't want to receive pushy notifications reminding you about them, the Streaks widget is an easy way to add a visual reminder on your Home Screen. As you use the widget over time, it will also display your running "streak"—how long you've been meeting the daily or weekly goal without missing it. The large widget will display up to four tasks, and offers different color schemes and over 600 task symbols, so you can create a fun to-do list that will inspire you on your worst days.

4. Daily Budget Original6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (6)

The Daily Budget Original widget proves that you don't have to take up a lot of space to add a lot of value. While lesser known than other budgeting apps, Daily Budget Original is one of the few budget apps that offers a Home Screen widget. The widget itself can display daily spending or track daily savings and display whether you're on track to meet your financial goals. If you're like me, and cringing a little at the thought of seeing your savings on your Home Screen, this widget might be just the thingto get your spending back on target. What makes this widget valuable is that it not only displays daily spending and savings, but also shows your progress toward set financial goals.

5. Deliveries6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (7)

If you do very little online shopping, this iPad widget might not be useful for you. But if you tend to frequently order packages online, I highly recommend the Deliveries app and widget. Once set up on your iPad Home Screen, the widget will display yourcurrent order status, location, and estimated date and time of delivery. This is especially useful if you live on a busy street or in an area that often has inclement weather. With the ability to closely track your packages, you can be on hand for expensive or fragile packages or those that require a signature for delivery.

6. Shortcuts6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (8)

Admittedly, I've saved the best for last. After all, who doesn't want an iPad Home Screen widget that helps them to more efficiently complete common tasks? While most of the widgets discussed in this article are third-party apps, Shortcuts is a native Apple widget andapp. If you have an iPad, this simple and colorful app is likely already installed.The function of the Shortcuts app is in the name—it allows you to set up handy shortcuts for tasks such as settings you often adjust orinformation you often need to reference. Once you set up the large widget on your Home Screen, you can implementthese shortcuts with a single tap.

FAQ

  • How do I get cool widgets on my iPad? To add widgets to your iPad home or lock screen or the Today View, long-press on your iPad's Home Screen until the apps enter wiggle mode. Then tap the plus button in the top left corner to add widgets.
  • Will iPad get Lock Screen widgets? The iPad Lock Screen gained the ability to addwidgets with iPadOS 17.
  • How do I organize my iPad home screen widgets? To reorder or organize widgets, long-press on the widget you want to move, tap Edit Home Screen, and then move the widget where you'd like it to be.

If you add one (or more) of these widgets to your iPad Home Screen, we'd love to hear about your experience!

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6 Best iPad Widgets for Your Home Screen (iPadOS 17) (2024)

FAQs

What are the widgets on the iPad with iPadOS 17? ›

New features available with iPadOS 17. Widgets on the Lock Screen. Place widgets on your iPad Lock Screen on the left side. Larger widgets are available to glance at information like the weather, time, date, battery levels, upcoming calendar events, alarms, and time zones.

How to get new widgets for iPad? ›

Go to the Home Screen page where you want to add the widget, then touch and hold the Home Screen background until the apps begin to jiggle. at the top of the screen to open the widget gallery. Scroll or search to find the widget you want, tap it, then swipe left and right through the size options.

What are the interactive widgets on iOS 17? ›

Interactive widgets.

Widgets on your Home Screen, Lock Screen, and StandBy are even more useful with interactivity. Just tap a widget to complete tasks like checking off a to-do item, controlling your living room lights, or playing a new podcast episode. See Add, edit, and remove widgets on iPhone.

How to add widgets to iPad Lock Screen iOS 17? ›

How to add widgets to your Lock Screen
  1. Touch and hold the Lock Screen until the Customize button appears, then tap Customize.
  2. Select Lock Screen.
  3. Tap Add Widgets.
  4. Tap or drag the widgets that you want to add to the Lock Screen.
  5. When you're finished, tap the close button. , then tap Done.
Apr 24, 2024

How to customise an iPad home screen? ›

Apple iPad - Customize Your Home Screen
  1. From the App Library, touch and hold an app. To access the App Library, swipe left from a Home screen.
  2. Drag and drop the app to the preferred Home screen. For the app to be successfully added, there must be sufficient space within the selected Home screen.

What is a widget used for? ›

In computing, a widget is an element of a graphical user interface that displays information or provides a specific way for a user to interact with the operating system (OS) or an application.

How do I see all the widgets on my iPad? ›

To view widgets in Today View, swipe right from the left edge of the Home Screen, then scroll up and down.

How to make custom widgets for iOS 17? ›

How to add and edit widgets on your iPhone
  1. From the Home Screen, touch and hold a widget or an empty area until the apps jiggle.
  2. Tap the Add button. in the upper-left corner.
  3. Select a widget, choose a widget size, then tap Add Widget.
  4. Tap Done.
Apr 24, 2024

What does the new iOS 17 update do? ›

iOS 17 brings big updates to Phone, Messages, and FaceTime that give you new ways to express yourself as you communicate. StandBy delivers a new full-screen experience with glanceable information designed to view from a distance when you turn iPhone on its side while charging.

What is the top update widget? ›

The Top Updates widget shows you important updates about your activity on Facebook. You'll see both notifications and related posts. When you tap a notification in the widget, it will open in the Facebook app. Learn more about notifications on Facebook.

Does iPad OS have Lock Screen widgets? ›

You can personalize your Lock Screen by choosing a wallpaper, showcasing a favorite photo, changing the font of the time, adding widgets, and more. See Create a custom iPad Lock Screen.

How to edit widgets on iPad? ›

Edit a widget on your Home Screen
  1. On your Home Screen, touch and hold a widget to open the quick actions menu.
  2. Tap Edit [widget name] or tap Edit Stack, if it's a Smart Stack), then choose options. ...
  3. Tap Done.

Where can I get widgets for my iPad? ›

To add more widgets, tap the Edit button again and then tap the + button at the top of the screen. Swipe down the list of potential widgets and tap one you wish to add. You can also turn Apple's built-in apps into widgets. Swipe down the screen until you see the list of apps in alphabetical order.

What is the difference between widget and app on iPad? ›

An App, or application is what you'd run on mobile devices. For Android and iOS there are specific tools to build these apps, and specific technologies. A web widget is any object you can copy/paste to your site, to display your content. For example a video player is a web widget.

Does the iPadOS 17 have AirDrop? ›

Apple in iOS 17 is improving the AirDrop sharing feature that is designed to allow two Apple devices to share content with one another quickly and easily.

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