When Apple first added widget support to the iPhone and iPad, Apple fans had mixed feelings. Many Apple users had been waiting for widget support for years, and they had hoped to see home screen widgets similar to the ones available on Google’s Android platform. Instead, Apple confined its widget support to the Notification Center, where widgets stay hidden from sight until the user swipes down from the top of the screen.
There are definitely pros (battery life!) and cons (no zero-touch information) to Apple’s approach, but the very fact that widgets are almost always hidden from sight has led many people to forget about them all together. Let’s fix that: Here are 10 apps with some of the best iPhone widgets available right now, and many of them are completely free to download and use.
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Weather Underground
Weather Underground for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch is your everything weather app. Powered by our network of 100,000+ personal weather stations, this app provides hyper-local forecasts and current conditions, interactive radar, customizable alerts, and much more to ensure you’re always prepared for whatever the weather brings.
CURRENT CONDITIONS
• Get current conditions from local weather stations or drop a pin in your neighborhood
• Stay updated with the best weather data including temperature, “feels like”, wind speed
and direction, today’s rain accumulation, humidity, dew point, visibility, and pressure
• Swipe through hour-by-hour and 10-day forecasts including chance of precipitation and daily
weather summaries
• Compare today’s weather with local historical data
• Report local weather and hazards to help your community
• Monitor air quality, UV risk, and local flu outbreaks with the Health tile
• Know when first and last light will happen with the Sunrise/Sunset tileINTERACTIVE MAP
• View the weather map’s improved layers including weather stations, radar, satellite, heat
map, rain accumulation, crowd reports and more
• Scroll through time with our interactive play-bar for radar and satellite
• Track global storms on the Hurricane and Tropical Storm tileAPPLE WATCH
Get all your weather data at a glance with Weather Underground for Apple Watch. Quickly view current conditions, hourly and 10-day forecasts from local weather stations, and stay ahead of the storm with severe weather alerts and radar.WIDGETS, ALERTS, & MORE!
• View weather at a glance in your notification center with forecast and radar widgets for iOS 8
• Keep an eye out for extreme weather with severe weather alerts
• Discover real-time weather on webcams around the world
• View stunning weather photos with the WunderPhotos tile
• Access Weather Underground’s wealth of online resources including ski reports,
infographics, scientific discussion and more
• Geek out with the weather radio tile
• Customize your experience with light & dark modes, map types, units and rearrangeable tiles
Download Weather Underground (free)
YoBu
Swipe and Tap, its that easy to make a phone call.
Where ever you are and in what ever condition you are, you could have never searched or dialed a number so fast in your iPhone.
YoBu is a simple iPhone application and a Widget in the Today’s Panel for easy and swift calling.
YoBu is the fastest calling application which a widget on the iPhone.
Calling could have never been better.
Simple and Easy. :)
Battery Graph
Battery Graph Widget tracks the battery level of your device and displays the graph with battery level. Furthermore, it calculates the estimate when the battery will be empty based on your past usage.
The graph and the estimates are displayed in the Today view of the Notification Center as well as in the app. The widget in the Today view is not displayed by default. You will have to add it with a few simple steps.
Both the graph in the app and in the Today view widget are customizable. You can select the color of the graph, translucency of the graph fill and turn on/off the grid lines.
In the widget, you can select one of the these time periods: 1/2 day, 1 day, 2 days or 3 days.
In the app, you can select one of the these time periods: 1 day, 1 week or 1 month. You can also use use the pinch gesture to set another period.
Download Battery Graph ($1.99)
Launcher
Launcher is the first must-have app for iOS 8 that puts your favorites at your fingertips. When you install it, you get a new iOS 8 Today Widget which can be added to Notification Center on your iPhone or iPad so that it’s always just one swipe away!
Top 10 Productivity App in over 80 countries and counting!
“It belongs on everyone’s iDevice for one-swipe access to favorites” – AppAdvice.com
“One of the most flexible widgets out there.” – Gizmodo.com
“It will speed up your iOS usage in a real way.” – Tidbits.com
“One of the best time-saving apps out there.” – BusinessInsider.comWhy worry about what apps to put in your dock or your home screen when you can put over a dozen app, web and contact launchers in your Launcher widget? Unlike the dock or home screen, Notification Center can always be accessed with one swipe even if you’re in an app, an app folder or even the lock screen.
With just one tap in the Notification Center you can:
– Call, message, email, and facetime the people you contact the most.
– Get directions home or search for nearby restaurants, coffee shops, or whatever you’re looking for at your current location.
– Quickly access your favorite web sites.
– Perform actions within a number of apps. Send a Yo, load a specific page on Facebook, fire off a canned email or message, tweet, run Workflows, and more.
– See current weather conditions and forecasts, Uber time estimates, world clocks, and network, disk, and battery status with dynamically updating magic launchers! (Pro Version only)
– Start playing your favorite music immediately with music launchers.
– Launch your most frequently used apps — thousands of apps built-in. (NOTE: Not all apps on your device are supported, see the NOTE below)FEATURES:
– Innovative auto-setup of launchers which will set up contact launchers for the people most important to you and your most frequently used apps.
– Incredibly easy setup and editing of launchers. Just a few taps and you’re done.
– Many different icon choices so that you can configure each launcher just how you like it.
– Ability to create custom launchers for apps and actions that aren’t yet supported.
– Pro Version users get the ability to change the icon sizes and hide labels to make widget more compact.All of this is available for free! Upgrade to the Pro Version (with an in-app purchase) to enable 3 more rows of launchers and customize the size of the widget by changing the size of the icons and/or hiding the labels. Please support further development on the app by buying the Pro Version today.
Evernote
Evernote for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch is the modern workspace that syncs between all of your devices. Work everywhere and stay productive:
• Write notes, checklists, and research
• Organize web articles, docs, and photos
• Discuss your work with others, right within the app
• Present ideas without creating a slide deck—
“When it comes to taking all manner of notes and getting work done, Evernote is an indispensable tool.” – PC Mag
—100 million people use it to move projects forward:
WRITE & ORGANIZE
• Stay focused: write in an uncluttered workspace
• Get things done: make to-do’s and checklists
• Attach files: keep Office docs, PDFs, and photos
• Get organized: notebooks and tags keep work tidy
• Find anything: searchable text in notes and photosDISCUSS & COLLABORATE
• Work chat: discuss notes without leaving the app
• Work together: share notebooks for team projects
• Meeting prep: create agendas and action itemsYOUR DIGITAL ASSISTANT
• Make connections: turn biz cards into contacts
• Track expenses: organize receipts, bills & invoices
• Plan travel: save research and reservationsEVERNOTE FOR APPLE WATCH
• Dictate notes: audio will be transcribed in Evernote
• Recent notes: view newly created & updated notes
• Dictate searches: get results on your Apple Watch
• Never forget: set reminders and get notificationsACCOMPLISH EVEN MORE WITH EVERNOTE PREMIUM
Evernote is free to download and use. Evernote Premium unlocks even more productivity:• Offline access – work anywhere, even without a connection
• More space – get more done with 10 GB of new uploads each month
• Better search – search inside Office docs and attachments
• Greater privacy – add a Touch ID or passcode lock
• PDF annotation – use shapes and comments to give visual feedback
• Presentation mode – turn notes into beautiful presentations, no slides required
Stocks Widget
View streaming stock quotes and portfolio changes (gains/losses) inside the Today notification center without having to open the app or unlock your device!
The widget supports a watch list as well as gains and losses for holdings in your portfolio. Changes are filterable based on day or total value.
Streaming real time quotes for some markets (including the US). Just enter the app or open the notification widget and watch quote prices and your portfolio’s gains and losses update in real time.
Features:
– Streaming quotes with widget support without having to enter the app or unlock your device
– Widget supports 2-line per quote mode and 1-line mode (compact)
– Real time data for some markets (such as the US)
– Quotes watch list
– Portfolio gains & losses and portfolio holdings
– In-app experience that shows your full watch list and holdings
– View details and news for individual quotes
DataMan Next
DataMan is the simplest and clearest app to track your data usage. In just a glance, you can know if you’re safe from busting your data cap. Never worry about overage again.
Watch Glance. Now you can use DataMan on your Apple Watch. Optimize with just the right amount of information, right on your wrist.
Data Widget. Instantly check your usage at any point from any screen. Just swipe down to Notification Center to view.
Smart Forecast. The advanced Forecast predicts if you'll stay within your data cap. And tells you in brilliant colors.
Real-Time Stats. Your latest statistics are retrieved directly and immediately from iOS. No more waiting for your carrier to update.
Beautiful Design. Simply gives the key stats you need most in an incredibly clean interface. It’s so easy to track your data usage.
Additional features include:
・ Track cellular (LTE/4G/3G) and Wi-Fi
・ Monitor activities with Stopwatch
・ Support monthly, 30 days, weekly plans
・ Auto reset on bill cycle date
・ Four custom alert thresholds
・ Work with all carriers
・ View past usage by bill cycle
・ Secure and private – no VPN, no login“Simplest and clearest” NYTimes
“The widget you should be using” Business Insider
“We like the easy-to-use DataMan” TIME
“Download this great app right now” BGR
“Superpretty, superuseful” Cult of Mac
“Handy money-saver with colorful alerts” Guardian
Featured on USAToday, Macworld, 9to5Mac, AppAdvice, SlashGear and many more.⌘ Checkout DataMan Pro if you want more power. Compare DataMan apps at http://xvision.me/dm
Fresh Air
Graph the weather and see the weather for your calendar events. Use a 7 day scrollable minute-by-minute graph of temp, feels like, wind, precip, humidity, etc. It’s easier to understand weather and it’s beautiful.
(Weather data by forecast.io)
Business Insider: “Fresh Air is my new favorite weather app for iPhone”
BGR: “Fresh Air is the app I use when I really want to check the weather.”
GIZMODO.COM: “few weather apps are as nicely designed and useful as Fresh Air”
Fresh Air (now for Apple Watch!) gives you a weather graph, notifications and calendar for your existing events. It is a beautiful and intuitive way to see the weather and immediately understand what it means for your plans. Weather, intimately personal to you.(Weather data by forecast.io)
We convey 7 days of minute-by-minute weather in a beautiful minimalistic graph. We also show you the predicted weather for your calendar events with optional notification updates. Wondering if the concert will be rained out? How cold will your morning run be? Is your climbing session going to get lightning? Fresh Air makes it easy to find out.
Seamlessly part of your life, you'll no longer have to remember to check the weather. We’re your cozy morning companion that will make your brain tingle.
• Beautiful and intuitive visualizations of temperature, precipitation, wind, humidity, sunrise, sunset, and more
• Seven day minute-by-minute interactive weather graph
• Severe weather warnings (storm warnings)!
• Calendar integration that simplifies your weather experience. Import your existing calendar entries to see the predicted weather for your events.
• Daily weather notifications for your current location.
• Schedule weather notifications for calendar events. If you have an upcoming weather-dependent event, Fresh Air will keep you updated on the conditions.
• An iOS8 Today Extension for quickly seeing weather and calendar information.Weather data includes:
• Temperature, precipitation likelihood and amount, wind, humidity, sunrise/sunset times, “feels like”, cloud cover, snow accumulation and more
• Celsius/Fahrenheit
• English/Metric
Orby Widgets
# If you use Today’s view or Notification Center on your iOS device often, Orby Widgets is an essential utility for you #
— Unlimited addition support for Conversations, Speed Call & App Launcher widgets —
Don’t keep yourself in the dark anymore. Know all about your device in the Notification Center with beautiful, orb shaped Orby Widgets.
Orby Widgets bundles 12 widgets which includes widget for almost everyone. These widgets are –
****************
– Conversation widget: you can pick up already initiated conversations or start a new one in many messaging services from Today’s view. With conversation widgets, you never miss an important conversation with your friends or family.
– App Launcher widget: all your favorite applications can be accessed via a single tap on an icon in Notification Center. You can either choose from many pre-defined applications list or add your own URL for quick access.
– Calculator widget: make calculations a hassle free experience, right from the Notification Center. It comes without an equal sign, so you have absolutely no chance of error.
– Speed Call widget for iPhone: now speed call and even dial numbers using the inline dialer keypad, right from the Notification Center.
– Music sharing widget: Share thoughts or music on Facebook or Twitter using Music sharing widget.
– Memory widget: Know how much memory is being used and available on an iOS device.
– CPU widget: know how much CPU is idle and being used on an iOS device.
– Storage widget: know free and used storage on an iOS device.
– Battery widget: know how much time is remaining until your device’s battery runs out of juice.
– Data usage (Network) widget: know how much data has been sent or received from Cellular or Wi-fi.
– Network addresses widget: know MAC or IP Addresses on Notification Center.
– Runtime widget: know for how long you have been using your iOS device since last boot up.
– And many more in the pipeline
You can even customize your widgets with an array of colorful themes to match your style!
Day One
2014 Mac Apple Design Award Winner, 2012 Mac App of the Year, Award-winning journaling app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac: 2011 #1 Best Apps of Mac App Store, and Jan 2012 App Store App of the Week.
Record life as you live it. From once-in-a-lifetime events to everyday moments, Day One’s elegant interface makes journaling your life a simple pleasure.
—
“Makes journaling as easy as tweeting.” —Cameron Moll, esteemed design and tech leader
—
“A simple and always accessible new kind of micro-journaling…” —The Verge
—Capture all your favorite memories and photos with Day One.
Day One provides:
## Superior writing experience ##
• Clean, distraction-free interface
• Multi-Markdown text formatting
• Full screen mode
• Privacy passcode lock
• Photographic entries## Apple Watch App (iPhone only) ##
• Location check-in
• Voice dictation
• Customizable quick entries (including tags and activity data)
• Last photo taken
• View recent entries## Context ##
Each Day One entry automatically tracks:
• Photo EXIF data
• Temperature and weather data
• Locations (GPS and Foursquare Places)
• Time and date
• Activity data – Motion and step count (iPhone 5s)
• Music playing## Encouragement ##
• Customized writing reminders
• Inspirational quotes and questions (Mac version)## Organization ##
• Search by keyword
• Create tags and #hashtags
• Star favorite entries
• Browse past entries by calendar, timeline, maps, and more## Sync and Backup ##
• Sync entries across all your iOS devices with Dropbox or iCloud (Mac sync with purchase of Mac app)
• Backup/PDF export (with date range and tag filters) and Printing## Sharing ##
• Handpick entries to share with family, friends, and the world.
• “Publish” by Day One creates an individual webpage on dayone.me for each entry you choose to publish.
• If you want to share entries with more people, you can post to social services like Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare on a per-entry basis.
• Each entry retains social sharing stats and links, including views, likes, and shares.
• Learn more about Publish at http://dayone.me/publish.
• Email entries (PDF, HTML, or Plain Text)
