Help me iPhone users, you're my only hope!

May 4, 2018 6:59 PM

I'm considering switching back from Android to an iPhone, but I have some very specific questions around iOS 11 widget functionality. I primarily use my phone as a tool, and it's really important to me that I have quick, at a glance access to time, date, day of week, next alarm, battery, calendar, weather and to do via widgets, and not by needing to repeatedly open apps. There are multiple questions inside, but I'd really appreciate if you even answered one question. Thanks!

1. From what I can tell, the iOS 11 widget screen no longer has date, time of day or day of the week. Is there a widget that adds all three?

2. Is there a widget that shows me only the next alarm? I believe the built in "Up Next" widget does this, but does it show every alarm between calendar events every day or only the next one? If I have multiple calendar events that day, is the next alarm hidden?

3. Is there a to do list widget/app that shows me the contents of a specific to do list, that is also available via the web and/or a Windows app? I believe Wunderlist and ToDoist both only show their "Today" view, and not a specific list. I believe "Today" doesn't show undated to dos, but let me know if I'm wrong on that.

4. Is there a battery widget that shows percentage?

5. From what I can tell, weather and calendar aren't a problem, but feel free to make recommendations if you like specific apps/widgets.

Thanks again!

posted by cnc to Technology (15 answers total)

If I swipe to my widget screen from the lock screen, it shows the time, the day of the week, and the date. Not as a widget, just on the screen. If I get there from the home screen, OTOH, it doesn't, but the time is still on the status bar

If I add the calendar widget, its icon is a tiny picture of a calendar page that says "Friday 4" on it. It's too small to read, and only says the day and not the month, so this is more of a silly answer than a real answer.

The "Up next" widget only seems to show me one thing. If the next thing is an alarm, it shows that. If there's a calendar appointment before that, it shows that instead.

I dunno about todo apps.

I don't know if there's a battery widget but you can make it always just show the battery percent on the status bar.

I like the Fresh Air weather app. Though with my wallpaper the widget's not easy to read.
posted by aubilenon at 7:15 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Looks like there's a third party date and time app that basically exists to make a widget. It's free so I tried it and it works.
posted by aubilenon at 7:18 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

I also found a battery percentage app with a widget. It's free, but you can pay $0.99 to support them and then they'll let you pick a different font.
posted by aubilenon at 7:26 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

There absolutely is a native battery widget.

I can test a few different to do list apps to find your answer, but I’m guessing at least one will work the way you want it to.
posted by Night_owl at 9:04 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

If by native you mean built-in without any apps, I see people talking about it on iOS9, but I don't see it on my iOS11 phone.
posted by aubilenon at 9:10 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

I don’t know, aubilenon, I have iOS 11.3.1 and I have a widget labeled “Batteries” that I don’t know what else it could be for. Maybe it only exists because I have an Apple Watch?

Regardless, I checked the first to do list app on my phone (I have several, I’m not really an adult yet) and its widget allows you to easily switch between a “due today” view, a starred tasks view, and all tasks (including undated) belonging to a specific list. The app is 2do, and according to their website you can use the web interface called Toodledoo.
posted by Night_owl at 9:29 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Okay after googling around yeah, the Batteries widget appears if you've ever paired a suitable bluetooth device (such as an Apple Watch). But if you've never done that, it's not available on the list of widgets you can enable.
posted by aubilenon at 9:47 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Up Next widget only shows my next alarm and/or my next calendar item, if I've asked for the calendar item to have a reminder. There is a link to "Show More" in the upper right corner of the Up Next field on my widget screen.
posted by assenav at 10:18 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all, for the answers so far. Super helpful!

@assenav What does the "Show More" show?

Thanks!
posted by cnc at 10:29 PM on May 4, 2018

Show more gives the Apple map to my next calendar item. Tapping the small calendar in the upper left corner of Up Next opens the calendar app.
posted by assenav at 10:31 PM on May 4, 2018 [1 favorite]

Instead of "up next", I use "agenda: widget+" which has the major advantage of showing you more than one upcoming entry.
posted by mr_silver at 11:02 PM on May 4, 2018 [2 favorites]

TickTick allows you to choose which of your to-do lists shows on the widget screen.
posted by jon1270 at 3:31 AM on May 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Battery widget shows by default regardless of a linked watch. I felt the need to correct this untruth.

I use Timepage and Clear for my todo lists.

https://youtu.be/_5ZYIncbPgU

A view of my screen and widgets.
posted by squirbel at 12:28 PM on May 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

squirbel, the part about watches is just what I read (that is, it’s hidden until the first time you pair with something it can show battery status for, and then it’s visible forever even if you put the watch down the garbage disposal or something). All I know for sure is that my phone doesn’t have a battery status widget available.
posted by aubilenon at 12:46 PM on May 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Super helpful all, and special thanks to squirbel for the video.
posted by cnc at 9:51 PM on May 7, 2018